There has been an addition to the setlist

Yesterday's show (August 7th) at the Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center in New York featured 'Desperado' between 'Eighteen' and 'Billion Dollar Babies'

This is the first time that the song has been played since the 'Psychodrama' tour in 2008, promoting the 'Dirty Diamonds' album

A couple of new concert reviews

Herald-Whig

"Alice Cooper shows no signs of slowing down in return to St. Louis

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On July 25, the godfather of macabre rock himself, Alice Cooper made his return engagement to the St. Louis area, bringing a brand new tour to the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre. Along with his own superstar-packed band, “Ol' Black Eyes” brought along some other friends to help create a night of dark, heavy rock in the Gateway City.

With a whole new stage set-up, a brand new set list, and the same over-the-top theatrics, Alice Cooper's new “Ol' Black Eyes Is Back” tour has everything you could want in a rock show: Screaming guitars courtesy of the triple-threat attack of Ryan Roxie, Tommy Henricksen, and “Hurricane” Nita Strauss, the beastly bass of Chuck Garric, the marvelous cacophony of sounds from Glen Sobel and his drum kit, and a stage full of performers led by Sheryl Cooper's demented nurse and featuring a giant FrankenAlice in chains, a swarm of helmeted knights populating the “Nightmare Castle,” and truly the creepiest baby you may ever see. And this entire three-ring circus is orchestrated by the madman himself, Alice Cooper, standing in the center of the maelstrom like a rock in the ocean, unmoved and in control at the same time.

Right out of the gate, this tour kicks off with “Feed My Frankenstein,” with a brief appearance of the aforementioned FrankenAlice before launching right into the classic hit “No More Mr. Nice Guy.” Celebrating thirty years of the release of one of Alice Cooper's most successful albums, “Trash,” the band kicked into “Bed of Nails” next. Throughout the night, a blend of classic tracks and newer numbers brought something for everyone. From “Billion Dollar Babies” and “I'm Eighteen” to “Poison” and “Fallen In Love”, every era of Alice Cooper was represented. Following “Dead Babies,” a staple of Cooper's stage shows – the guillotine taking off the head of the frontman – led into “I Love the Dead.” “Teenage Frankenstein” closed out the main set, with a return of the massive monster, joining the band at the front of the stage this time and taking his own moment to shine with the rest of the rockers.

The encore launched with the fast, brief rocker “Under My Wheels” before the band – already overflowing with talent – was joined by Lzzy Hale for the big closing number of the night, “School's Out” with a taste of “Another Brick in the Wall” for good measure.

Alice Cooper rarely rests, it seems. Between his own band, and his Hollywood Vampires project, he always has an iron or two in the fire. If you haven't seen him live in concert, then you need to do yourself a favor and make that happen. I can honestly say that any time they're in the neighborhood, as long as they let me in the door, the role of photographer/reviewer for any show I can get to will be played by….Me!"

Substream Magazine

"Alice Cooper proves we’re still not worthy in Nashville

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Five decades hasn’t slowed Alice Cooper down one bit. The 71-year-old Detroit native seduced the crowd with his trademark top hat and cane as he sauntered onto the stage for the opening song “Feed My Frankenstein,” which is a genius song to start off a show just by the intro alone. If you are going to an Alice Cooper show, you expect the drama and theatrics and this performance was not a disappointment. The Nightmare Castle-themed stage set up was just the beginning of the amount of detail that went into the elaborate production for the night. Guillotines, straight jackets, money themed confetti as well as a dead bride portrayed by Cooper’s real life bride Sheryl Goddard are all just a glimpse into the mind of a mad genius.

Theatricality aside, the music was the heart of the show and what keeps fans coming back year after year. The setlist spanned a 50-year discography with timeless hits like “Poison”, “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, and “I’m Eighteen” as well as deeper cuts like “Bed of Nails.” Fans also were able to see a softer side of the rocker when he paid homage to the local hockey team by donning a Nashville Predators jersey during the encore song “Under My Wheels”. Each of Cooper’s band members are an intricate part of the show dynamic. Nita Strauss (guitars), Ryan Roxie (guitars), Chuck Garric (bass guitar), Tommy Henriksen (guitars), and Glen Sobel (drums) bring their own unique style to the music that came before them. Alice and company finished off the night with the song “School’s Out” by bringing out Lzzy Hale and Joe Hottinger of Halestorm and adding a snippet from Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall”.

From the fans in the venue who paid to see a legend perform to the bands that shared the stage with him, you could see Alice Cooper’s handprint on each and every person in that venue. Nearly written off at the beginning of his career as a flash-in-the-pan freak sideshow, Alice has proven the doubters wrong time and time again as he continues to blow people away after half a century of show-business."

In other news, some 2020 Australian dates have been announced

...And now it looks like it's been dropped again!

Alice has just finished the US leg of the 'Ol Black Eyes Is Back' tour, with a show at the BB&T Pavilion in Camden, New Jersey

There is now a short break until August 31st when he starts the European leg, with a headline show at the Riverside Open Air Festival in Switzerland on August 31st

Whether the set list is the same as the US tour, or has changes remains to be seen

Alice, and a host of other musicians, are featured in a new film about musical legend Chuck Berry

Another live review

As a live act, Alice Cooper has no comparison | Hollywood Soapbox


"HOLMDEL, New Jersey — Alice Cooper brought the goods — dark, decapitated, haunted goods — to the PNC Bank Arts Center for his Ol’ Black Eyes Is Back tour with Halestorm and Motionless in White. The Aug. 15 gig showcased the rocker’s unique and continued talents, and the concert proved to be a true joy to diehards who have been following the singer for decades.

The eerie “Years Ago” played from the speakers for the standing crowd as the band took their place behind an enormous drop curtain sporting Cooper’s iconic blackened eyes. Once the pre-recorded track was complete, the curtain dropped, and mayhem ensued.

Cooper took the stage in his first costume of the night and plowed through an anthemic rendition of “Feed My Frankenstein,” a wonderful kickoff to a 90-minute set that spanned every part of the singer’s career. Backing him was one of the best rock bands in the business: Chuck Garric on bass, Ryan Roxie on guitar, Nita Strauss on lead and rhythm guitar, Tommy Henriksen on lead and rhythm guitar, and Glen Sobel on drums and percussion.

A giant, Frankenstein-like monster joined the band on stage for the opening number. The Halloween prop has become a staple of Cooper’s touring schedule, and the sight was an awesome jolt for the crowd.

Another hit was given to the audience right away: “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” which went down like a double-shot of poisoned espresso. The fans, many banging their heads and pumping fists in the air, sang along to the well-known lyrics and watched as Cooper essentially staged an extravagant Halloween party. Throughout the night there was blood, swords, daggers, confetti, a crutch, a murderous nurse and lots of eye makeup.

Next, the choice rarities came into play, and they definitely elevated this tour to the top of Cooper’s recent output. These were gems that needed to be dusted off: “Bed of Nails,” which is infectious and creepily romantic; “Raped and Freezin’;” and the newer country/bluesy “Fallen in Love,” which came as a surprise only to those who don’t know Cooper’s wondrous and diverse musical styles.

Instead of playing these chestnuts at the expense of the hits, Cooper and his band decided to include anything and everything in the expansive set list. That meant “Fallen in Love,” a rarity, sidled up next to mainstays like “Muscle of Love,” “I’m Eighteen,” “Billion Dollar Babies” and “Poison,” which may be Cooper’s best song live.

Guitar and drum solos ensued. Cooper was ceremoniously executed by decapitation, and he also killed a blood-thirsty nurse on stage. It’s all in good fun — something akin to A Nightmare on Elm Street meets Night of the Living Dead. The singer is clearly the byproduct of a Vincent Price / Rocky Horror Riff Raff mashup.

Of the backing band, Strauss is a highlight. She injects each song with great energy, bounding across the stage and instigating the fans to give her more. Sobel is also an ace on drums, providing the thumping sanity for the night, but letting his fellow performers improv a bit throughout the evening.

Can’t say enough about Roxie and Henriksen, two consummate performers who hit each electrified note with ease, and they love mugging to the crowd. Garric’s work is intricate and fast-paced; it’s a delight to watch his fingers move up and down that instrument, providing the band’s bleeding heartbeat throughout the night.

The rarities came in blocks, so after “Poison,” Cooper reached far back for “Roses on White Lace” and “My Stars.” The band then held down the fort for “Devil’s Food” and a portion of “Black Widow.” Cooper wasn’t there because, of course, he was dead already.

Perhaps the greatest gift of the night was “Steven,” the saddest and scariest song Cooper has ever performed. The opening guitar riff is pure rock at its finest.

“Dead Babies,” with the requisite prop baby, and a quick “I Love the Dead” came next, followed by “Escape,” a wonderful addition to the set list. The main set, right around the 75-minute mark, then finished with “Teenage Frankenstein” and another appearance by the big man himself.

The two-song encore had everyone up, jumping and dancing. “Under My Wheels” reminded the crowd the telephone is ringing, while “School’s Out” gave the thousands in attendance a rockified taste of summer fun. Members of Halestorm and Motionless in White joined Cooper on stage for both vocals and backing guitar work."

Alice has just started the European leg of the 'Ol Black Eyes Is Back' tour, with a show at the Riverside Open Air Festival in Switzerland yesterday (August 31st)

From what I am led to believe, there are no changes to the set list

Dee Snider joined the band for 'School's Out'

Official tour merchandise

Some nice designs available - £30 for t-shirts

New music

Alice covers Bob Seger song 'East Side Story' on the new 'Breadcrumbs' ep

"When Alice Cooper decided to do a "tip of the hat to Detroit" with his new music, he felt compelled to do some Detroit songs with a few famed Motor City players. That led to his upcoming Breadcrumbs EP, a six-song mostly covers set whose high-octane rendition of Bob Seger's 1966 single "East Side Story" is premiering exclusively below.

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"When people say, 'Well, what is your music?' I say it's Detroit rock -- we just put a different slant on it," says the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame shock rocker, a Detroit native who moved with his family to Phoenix when he was an adolescent. "At the bottom of it, all Alice Cooper records are Detroit, Chuck Berry, hard rock and then twisting it up into what we are lyrically and performance-wise. But you take the bottom of all those songs and they're all guitar-driven rock n' roll songs, which is what I associate as the Detroit sound. I wanted to use all Detroit players and songs either about Detroit or written by (Detroit musicians)."

Cooper acknowledges that he never heard "East Side Story" -- a regional hit for Seger and his band, The Last Heard, that was influenced by Them's "Gloria" -- back in the day. Rather, one of Cooper's managers, Toby Mamis, and designer John Varvatos suggested the track and referred Cooper and Ezrin to a YouTube video of Seger performing "East Side Story" on the Canadian TV show Swingin' Time. "I had never heard that song on the radio," Cooper says. "(Ezrin) and I saw that (video) and went, 'We could jazz that song up a little bit and turn it into something else.' It has a great story and I love the chord structure and everything to it. We just treated it a little more hard rock."

Cooper and Ezrin recorded it during a March visit to Detroit at the suburban Rustbelt Studios (where Greta Van Fleet recorded its 2017 EPs Black Smoke Rising and From the Fires) and using players such as the MC5's Wayne Kramer, former Grand Frunk Railroad frontman Mark Farner and drummer Johnny "Bee" Badanjek from Mitch Ryder's Detroit Wheels and the Rockets, who's played with Cooper in the past. "It really does have that Detroit feel all the way through it," Cooper says. "It came out as a pretty unique song, and I think that has a lot to do with those players."

Cooper got a chance to tell Seger about the recording when he caught him in Arizona on his current Farewell tour. "I said, 'We're gonna do one of your songs,' and he probably thought I wanted to do one of the hits," Cooper recalls. "I told him 'East Side Story,' and he goes, 'What?!' I said, 'Yeah, we're gonna do that one.' I hope he likes it. I'm glad we gave it a second life."

The Breadcrumbs EP, out Sept. 13, also includes covers of the MC5's "Sister Anne," Suzi Quatro's "Your Mama Won't Like Me" and Ryder & the Detroit Wheels' "Devil With a Blue Dress On," as well as the new song "Go Man Go" and "Detroit City 2020," a remake of the track from his 2003 album The Eyes of Alice Cooper.

The EP will also serve as an introduction to Cooper's next album, which will be all original but, he says, feature the Detroit flavor showcased on Breadcrumbs. "We knew we couldn't get to this new album until 2020, so (the EP) is kind of 'let's throw them some bread crumbs' and give everybody a feel of what it's going to be," explains Cooper, who's currently on tour in Europe. He's continued working on the album when he has time, collaborating more with Kramer and others and has even spoken with Iggy Pop about contributing to the set. "This way we don't have to put something together quickly and try to make it work. We have time to really make sure all the songs are right.

"But I think people are going to be surprised by the EP. I've never done an EP before. It's a little different than the normal Alice Cooper thing, and I like that. I like stretching it a little bit.""

More new music

'Detroit City 2020' from the 'Breadcrumbs' E.P


The song is a re-working of the track 'Detroit City', originally found on the 'Eyes Of Alice Cooper' album, released in 2003