The Alice Cooper Thread

[Susan Foreman]

Alice has just started his latest tour - Too Close For Comfort - with a show at the Soaring Eagle Casino, Mount Pleasant, Michigan on April 28

The setlist was:

Lock Me Up (First time ever performed live)
No More Mr. Nice Guy
I'm Eighteen
Under My Wheels
Bed of Nails
Billion Dollar Babies
Fallen in Love
Snakebite (First time live since 1991)
Be My Lover
Lost in America
Hey Stoopid
Drum Solo
Welcome to My Nightmare (First time live since 2017)
Cold Ethyl
Only Women Bleed
Poison
Feed My Frankenstein
Black Widow Jam
Ballad of Dwight Fry
I Love the Dead (Band only)
Escape
School's Out / Another Brick In The Wall
Elected

It's a bit of a shame that both 'Roses On White Lace' and 'Freedom' have been dropped from the set, given that they are two songs that Nita wanted to play

Billion Dollar Babies

Be My Lover

Elected

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Susan Foreman

School's Out / Another Brick In The Wall


It's a bit of a shame that both 'Roses On White Lace' and 'Freedom' have been dropped from the set, given that they are two songs that Nita wanted to play

It's a shame they were dropped yet they still play a shitty Pink Floyd cover.

freedom could easily tie in with School's Out given that school's out and now we're going to ring that (school) bell, it's freedom to rock, freedom to talk.

[Susan Foreman]

Review of the first night of the tour

http://=ttps://ultimateclassicrock.c... Classic Rockl

"The title of Too Close for Comfort Tour, which Cooper and his band premiered Friday night at the Soaring Eagle Casino Resort in Mount Pleasant, Mich., references the shock rocker’s first foray into extensive on-stage video production. Four high-definition panels at the rear of the stage brought fans closer than ever to every grimace and sneer, the details of makeup, the nuances of the costuming, the fleet fingering of guitarists Nita Strauss, Ryan Roxie and Tommy Henriksen.

A brand new stage show allowed Alice Cooper to bring out some new toys, as he sings about in “School’s Out” – and to return to some old, well-loved tricks as well.It was particularly effective during “Snakebite,” which, appropriately, marked the return of the snake draped across Cooper’s shoulders for the first time in nearly a decade; the boa got as many close-ups as the singer, and looked calm but engaged under the spotlight. The screens also allowed Vincent Price to be seen as well as heard during “Black Widow.”

With its combination of live footage and prepared videos, often blended, it was a strikingly fresh way to experience the Cooper spectacle, which only made the fast-paced 95-minute, 22-song show more intriguing and enveloping.

It was also not as tightly scripted as some of his previous productions, although the familiar crime / punishment / redemption arc still played out. It was in many ways more of a rock band kind of concert, the focus more on the song and the playing (incredibly tight after a couple weeks of rehearsals, with a sound mix to match) than the theatrics – though, as you’d expect, there were still plenty of those.

Cooper’s wife Sheryl was on hand with her classically trained dance skills as the “Cold Ethyl” Cooper abused, and to serve as a blue-gowned and powder-wigged Marie Antiodeath, straight out of mid-19th century, who marched Cooper to the guillotine after “The Ballad of Dwight Fry.” The giant monster puppet prowled the stage during “Feed My Frankenstein,” and a crew member shot paper bills into the crowd during “Billion Dollar Babies.”

A ferocious “School’s Out” was accompanied by giant balloons that bounced around the ballroom, and for the lone encore, “Elected,” Cooper dressed as a horror movie Uncle Sam perched atop a tall podium, flanked by American flags and declaring, “Why not me?” – although during the final bows he cautioned, “Whatever you do, DON’T vote for me.”

The opening night set list mixed things up a bit as well. The show opened with a partial rendering of “Lock Me Up” from Raise Your Fist and Yell, the first time that song’s been worked into the show, before the band tore into “No More Mr. Nice Guy.” Hey Stoopid’s “Snakebite” made its first appearance since 1991, while “Welcome to My Nightmare” returned after a nearly six-year absence.

“I’m Eighteen,” “Under My Wheels,” “Be My Lover” and “Poison” were as bulletproof as ever, while the blues-tinged “Fallen In Love” opened with Cooper on harmonica jamming with Strauss and Roxie. “Lost in America,” still eerily topical nearly 30 years after its release, was given a torrid treatment, while deep cuts such as “Bed of Nails” and “Escape” were as potent as any of the big hits.

Friday’s show was the start of plenty of road work for Cooper this year, including dates with the Hollywood Vampires and co-billed with Rob Zombie during the summer. It was a powerful start, however, setting a high bar for what’s to come."

[Susan Foreman]

In memory of Tina Turner (1939 - 2023)

[Susan Foreman]

The News Gazette has published the Alice Cooper tour rider and stage instructions from the latest tour:

"For those expecting to read about dancing skeletons, giant snakes and live chickens in ALICE COOPER’s rider, we’re sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

No, the raspy-voiced godfather of shock rock hasn’t mellowed much at 75; he just brings the most ghastly stage props — like the guillotine used for his mock beheading — with him from show to show.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer — whose four-bus, three-semi, two-trailer caravan pulled into State Farm Center for a 25-song Champaign show last month — is the focus of our ongoing series digging into the details of entertainers’ tour riders.

Here’s what we learned from Cooper’s, obtained via an open-records request from the University of Illinois.

— Consider yourselves warned, janitorial staffs at the 27 remaining venues booked for shows on the “Too Close for Comfort” tour: “An Alice Cooper show may involve confetti-filled balloons and/or streamers being tossed out into the audience, and/or the use of ‘stage blood’ in some of the theatrics, some of which may drip onto the stage or splatter into the audience,” the rider states. “No additional charges for cleanup will be allowed.”

— Part of the band’s dressing-room drink order depends on the day of the show. If it’s a Monday, Thursday or Saturday, they’ll have one bottle of Grey Goose, Ketel One or Belvedere Vodka (“NO Stolli, Tito’s or Absolut”). If it’s a Wednesday or Sunday, make it a bottle of Kahlua, Baileys Irish Cream, Malibu Rum or Havana Club Dark Rum.

— No matter the day, the band shall also have six bottles of Corona Light, six bottles of Stella Artois, one bottle of Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon (with an opener and four wine glasses) and munchies galore, including Sweet Chili Doritos, Chef’s Cut turkey jerky, Purely Elizabeth granola, Skinny Pop popcorn and Newman’s Own salsa.

— Cooper’s dressing room must-haves include two “easy-to-read” magazines and/or newspapers (“NO Wall Street Journal”); “BRIGHT” lighting; a four-pack of black crew socks (Sundays and Thursdays only); one bunch of bananas (“no spots please”); a box of Tic Tacs (either wintergreen or regular suffice); six assorted-flavor Vitamin Waters (“NO orange”); a large bag of SunChips (“HARVEST CHEDDAR flavor ONLY”); a small platter of sliced hard cheeses (“This is more like a charcuterie cheese platter, not sandwich cheese”); one package of crackers (“unopened”); and a bottle of chardonnay.

— What do Brandon Peters, Mikey Dudek and Alice Cooper share in common? They all wanted to wear No. 18 on campus — the first two while playing Big Ten football, Cooper as part of point No. 38 in his rider, which states: “Promoter to provide an official team jersey, size Large, from a local or national sports team, subject to advance consultation with and approval of Alice Cooper Production or Tour Manager. If possible, the jersey shall be customized with ‘ALICE’ or ‘COOPER’ and the number ’18’ on the back.”

— No-nos in Cooper’s rider: “sugary colorful cereals” for breakfast; pre-made salads for lunch; meat in the marinara sauce for dinner; mushrooms, onions or pecans in any prepared food; Styrofoam; Aquafina, Dasani “or similar reverse-osmosis water”; and professional photographers without written consent from the tour. (Fans are welcome to take pictures all night long, so long as they don’t use flash).

— Also strictly prohibited: armed security guards (“including guns, clubs or knives”); unpaid local help; setting dressing-room thermostats below 68 or above 72 degrees; folding chairs in the dressing rooms (“furniture must be comfortable and cushioned or upholstered”); and washcloth-sized towels to wipe away sweat on stage. (Team Cooper requires 72 towels — 60 freshly laundered, large shower towels and 12 black smaller ones to be used during the show).

— The star’s a septuagenarian, so “Alice Cooper must have direct, secure access to the stage door for arrival and departure. His vehicle must be able to park directly at the stage door, in the closest position to the stage door, for the purposes of his arrival and departure.”

— The tour requires ample “able-bodied, easily identifiable and uniformly dressed security personnel” — four minimum in front of the stage, one each outside Cooper and the band’s dressing-room doors and one at the foot of any stairs leading to the stage, among other spots. But at no point during the 90-minute show are they to ask fans with reserved seating to sit down."

[Susan Foreman]

Looks like the new album is due to be released soon!

There is a pre-order available, but at the moment it seems to only be on a German site - https://www.cede.ch/de/music/?view=r...kn4MOVl9wRekII

Apparently the DVD / Blu-Ray versions contain the concert from Hellfest 2022

**EDIT** - It seems that the pre-order is no longer available on this site! Presumably it was being advertised 'too soon'!

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

I love that album artwork.

[SymbioticFunction]

I'll be very interested to see the prices of the cd/dvd or cd/blu-ray packages. For the prior album, the blu-ray option was so expensive that I just settled for the dvd one (and I still had a blast watching in standard definition). I'm very happy that there'll be another cd and concert package for Road.

[Susan Foreman]

The Hollywood Vampires have just started their latest tour, with a concert at the Romexpo, Bucharest, Romania on June 8th.

Once again, the setlist was a mixture of original songs and covers:

• I Want My Now
• Raise the Dead
• I'm Eighteen (Alice Cooper cover)
• Five to One / Break On Through (to the Other Side) (The Doors cover)
• The Boogieman Surprise
• My Dead Drunk Friends
• You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory (Johnny Thunders cover)
• Baba O'Riley (The Who cover)
• Who's Laughing Now
• People Who Died (The Jim Carroll Band cover)
• The Jack (AC/DC cover)
• As Bad as I Am
• "Heroes" (David Bowie cover)
• Bright Light Fright (Aerosmith cover)
• The Death and Resurrection Show (Killing Joke cover)
• Walk This Way (Aerosmith cover)
• The Train Kept A-Rollin' (Tiny Bradshaw cover)
• School's Out / Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2 (Alice Cooper / Pink Floyd cover)

[Susan Foreman]

More information about 'Road' is starting to appear

The CD is up for pre-order at Amazon US - $15:98

The release date is given as August 25

The written details about the release goes:

"The road will make you or break you. To survive it, you need to be as tough as asphalt and move fast enough to make the competition eat dust. Throughout 2022, Alice collaborated closely with the members of his touring band as well as long-time producer Bob Ezrin, putting together what would become his brand-new studio album “Road.” You can feel the energy and lightness that the band brings with every riff and hear the story behind what inspired them. Bringing everything full circle, it channels the spirit of old school Alice with instantly recognizable grit and plenty of gusto. It’s everything you’d hope for from him and more. And this time his trusted longtime bandmates — Ryan Roxie [guitar], Chuck Garric [bass], Tommy Henrikson [guitar], Glen Sobel [drums], and Nita Strauss [guitar] — are riding shotgun.

Kane Roberts (a touring and recording collaborator with Alice’s in years past who briefly rejoined Cooper on the road in 2022) makes a special guest appearance, contributing the raucous and rip-roaring “Dead Don’t Dance.” Other special contributors to the album include Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello, who co-wrote, and plays and sings backing vocals on "White Line Frankenstein," and Buckcherry's Keith Nelson and MC5's Wayne Kramer, who also co-wrote new songs with Alice."

The track listing (and song writers) is given as:

• I Am Alice (Cooper, Ezrin, A Fastade, K Marcello, Roxie)
• Welcome To The Show (Cooper, Ezrin, Garric, Henriksen, Roxie, Sobel, Strauss)
• All Over The World (Cooper, Ezrin, Garric, Henriksen, Roxie, Sobel, Strauss)
• Dead Don't Dance (Cooper, Ezrin, Kane Roberts, Evan Magness)
• Go Away (Cooper, Ezrin, Keith Nelson)
• White Line Frankenstein (Cooper, Ezrin, Morello)
• Big Boots (Cooper, Ezrin, Garric, Henriksen, Roxie, Sobel, Strauss)
• Rules Of The Road (Cooper, Ezrin, Wayne Kramer)
• The Big Goodbye (Cooper, Ezrin, Garric, Henriksen, Roxie, Sobel, Strauss)
• Road Rats Forever (?)
• Baby Please Don't Go (Cooper, Ezrin, Keith Nelson)
• 100 More Miles (Cooper, Ezrin, Garric, Bacchi)
• Magic Bus (?)

What's interesting is the song 'Road Rats Forever', which may (or may not) be a reworking of the song 'Road Rats' that originally appeared on the 'Lace And Whiskey' LP in 1977, and 'Magic Bus' which might possibly be a cover of the Who song, but then again it possibly won't be!

Time will tell!!

A short (4 second) teaser of the song 'I Am Alice' has been released