Hollywood Vampires Swansea review

Hollywood Vampires in Swansea review: Johnny Depp and friends are the weirdest bar band in town / Wales On Line


"Johnny Depp, Alice Cooper, and Aerosmith's Joe Perry are one of the more curious musical combos. Since 2012 the unlikely trio have been touring as the Hollywood Vampires, based on the 1970s LA drinking club formed by Cooper that occasionally included the likes of John Lennon and Ringo Starr.

Legend has it that that group would meet in an upstairs bar in LA’s Sunset Strip and drink until nobody could stand up. Years later Cooper, Depp, and Perry crank out trademark rock classics and original tunes on stages across the world. It’s a bizarre toast to “dead, drunk friends” but in spirit rather than actuality, at least in Cooper’s case – he reportedly swapped vodka shots for golf years ago.

If it sounds like something dreamed up it still feels a little like that when the band take the stage at the Swansea Arena on Friday for the second night of a UK tour that was scrapped back in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Looking someway between a geriatric magic show and the undead crew aboard a lost pirate ship (really, did you think there would be no Pirates of the Caribbean reference here?), the band are clearly all in on the affair. Cooper, now 75, is almost entirely clad in leather and wears his trademark black eye makeup. Depp looks like a slightly toned-down version of his Captain Jack Sparrow alias sporting a crochet hat, layers of bracelets, and a medical boot on his left foot after an ankle fracture that forced the band to cancel some shows earlier this summer.

Cracking through classics by AC/DC and The Who along with tracks from their new album Live in Rio the show frequently veers towards the cartoonish. "We play songs for our dead drunk friends," cries Cooper, wild-eyed and wielding his cane theatrically at the crowd before launching into the opening stomp of The Doors' Five to One.

Band original Dead Drunk Friends sees the singer, whose voice still retains an impressive rasp, tottering around the stage and raising an imaginary glass to the heavens. The world has moved on since Cooper’s heyday when men in makeup singing about the last day of school-induced pearl-clutching and Friday night is less shock rock and more macabre satire.

That doesn’t mean it isn’t immense fun though. Perry and Cooper are nothing if not seasoned performers at this stage of their careers, and they cleverly pepper the set with belters like Baba O'Riley, Walk This Way, and David Bowie's Heroes (led by Depp on vocals.) At one point a giant set of bloodied fangs are hung menacingly from above the stage while there is plenty of smoke shot into the air, dramatic visuals of skulls, and departed legends like Bon Scott, Kurt Cobain and Phil Lynott, and the customary drum and bass solos you'd expect from a pumped-up rock show.

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The star of the show, needless to say, is Depp, who throws nonchalant waves and pats his chest in between guitar riffs, well aware of the reason many have come tonight. "Johnny Depp in the flesh!" one woman is overheard screaming from the hall outside to no-one in particular. I also encounter a woman walking her dog outside who, unprompted, tells me of her devastation at not getting tickets and how she's been wandering the streets "trying to find Johnny Depp". A small crowd gathers near the stage door even before the show is over and you sense there's only one man they're hoping for a glimpse of.

Did Depp take in the exotic sights of Wind Street? Did Edward Scissorhands himself sample a Welsh cake? Who knows. But he certainly seems to enjoy his Welsh trip. One of the last stars of a bygone Hollywood era, the actor smiles through the set, joking and laughing with the band as calls of "we love you Johnny" ring out any time there is a snatch of silence in the packed arena. "Thank you so much," he mumbles in his whimsical way to the crowd as he leads a tribute to the late Jeff Beck and takes vocal duties on Heroes. As someone who never had a chance to see Bowie live, I enjoy it immensely. Judge me as you will.

Some might call the whole thing a vanity project for washed-up rock stars with little else to do but those constantly looking for nuance are likely to be disappointed no matter where they look. Tonight leaves introspection in the dust in place of head-melting guitar riffs, nostalgia, and rock pageantry. Sit back, enjoy it, and don’t think about it too much.

As the final chords ring through the arena the band give it one more burst of bombastic, vampiric (oh, go on then) energy for good measure before greeting the crowd as one. It's odd and ridiculous as all hell but oddly touching too – a few old friends having fun in front of rock (and Depp) fans doing the very same. Who could begrudge any of us that?"

Hollywood Vampires London review from The Telegraph

Hollywood Vampires: Don’t give up the day job, Johnny Depp


""We are the Hollywood Vampires,” announced Alice Cooper to the O2 on Sunday night, “and we play music for our dead, drunk friends.”

With Cooper flanked on guitar by Aerosmith’s Joe Perry and actor Johnny Depp, Hollywood Vampires are essentially a very high-profile jam band that’s got out of control. Dealing mostly in classic rock covers by friends no longer with us, and named after the frontman’s 1970s West Hollywood drinking club – which comprised Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, Micky Dolenz and occasionally John Belushi, among others – they are a celebration of rock’s golden era, as well as something of a warning about its excesses. It’s an apt description for the show itself.

At first, things weren’t so far from a normal Alice Cooper gig. Strutting out in a military jacket, Droog-ish eye make-up and brandishing a riding crop, at 75 he is still rock’s finest ringmaster. His own songs – I’m Eighteen, an inevitable, final School’s Out – sound fantastic, while during The Doors’ Break On Through (To the Other Side) and The Who’s Baba O’Riley he captured the spirit of the originals perfectly.

Roles were frequently changed, though. Perry took the mic while Cooper picked up a guitar for a version of Can’t Put Your Arm Around a Memory by late New York Doll Johnny Thunders, and then a harmonica on Aerosmith’s Bright Light Fright.

In these moments, the Vampires’ strengths – plugging in and playing rock’n’roll bangers – were plainly clear. When Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood arrived to jam though a tribute to the late Jeff Beck, with Perry on one of the blues icon’s own guitars, it was genuinely thrilling. The few originals of their own aren’t bad, either, basically sounding like missing Alice Cooper tracks.

But the switching around interrupted momentum, as did some of the song selections. Case in point: AC/DC’s The Jack. Its trudging boogie is boring enough when its authors do it. Here – accompanied by Jack playing card motifs, as if to distract from the song’s actual theme of STD – it was just baffling.

And then there’s Johnny Depp. For some, his presence is reason enough to miss Hollywood Vampires entirely. For those watching, he’s a talented – if obviously Keith Richards-y – guitarist, but his turns as frontman were surprisingly bland. During Heroes, his mumbling vocals failed to articulate David Bowie’s optimistic romance. Attempting Killing Joke’s The Death and Resurrection Show – a song surely unfamiliar to most here – the original’s essential threat and menace were nowhere to be found.

At their best, Hollywood Vampires are exactly what you’d expect when a showman, a guitar hero and an actor walk into a bar. Too often, though, their over-extending of the idea and inconsistent flow robbed them of what should be a much deadlier bite."

The Telegraph clearly have an anti-Depp agenda.

There's absolutely no need for this line in the review.

But there you go. **** 'em.

An alternate review of the London show from 'Far Out Magazine'

Giant stars descend on London

"As the sun began to dip below the horizon and the 1980s approached, the Sunset Strip, nestled in the vibrant intersection of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, became a crucible for what would soon be known as the ‘West Coast Mental Explosion’. This eruption of heavy metal would come to define the Los Angeles music scene for years to come. During this time, at 9015 Sunset Boulevard, a bar called The Rainbow Bar and Grill became the meeting place for the newly born Hollywood Vampires.

This assembly, formed and spearheaded by metal veteran Alice Cooper, initially took shape as a celebrity drinking club boasting iconic figures like Ringo Starr, Micky Dolenz, Keith Moon, and Harry Nilsson, with the occasional honorary presence of John Lennon and Keith Emerson. The initiation rite into this exclusive brotherhood required surpassing the drinking stamina of all existing members: a feat that would later epitomise the supergroup that Cooper would form in 2012.

Today, Hollywood Vampires is still fronted by Cooper along with his friends Johnny Depp, Joe Perry and Tommy Henriksen – all of which ended their show last night at London’s The O2 with tumultuous applause.

The journey from North Greenwich station to the entrance of The O2 transforms into hordes of devoted metal fans. On stage, a tapestry of musical favourites awaits within the band’s own repertoire, from the youthful rebellion of Cooper’s ‘I’m Eighteen’ and the exuberance of Aerosmith’s ‘Walk This Way’ to the charged energy of Vampires’ ‘My Dead Drunk Friends’ and ‘As Bad As I Am’.

Amid the musical ruckus, the covers undeniably ignited the greatest fervour among the crowd. The air crackled as the band unleashed the heart-pumping intensity of AC/DC’s ‘The Jack’, while the rendition of The Who’s timeless classic ‘Baba O’Riley’ saw Cooper’s vocals matching the power of his prime he breathed life into the words once sung by Pete Townshend.

During the second half of the set, the band performed a heartfelt rendition of David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’. The crowd’s emotion could be felt as Depp tackled lead vocals, gazing back towards a sea of glistening eyes. Depp has performed this song many times before, but the privilege of experiencing it live becomes akin to a profound glimpse into the band’s very essence.

As the set nears its end, Ronnie Wood joined the men on stage for an emotional tribute to the late Jeff Beck. Images of Beck flashed on the screen as the band performed its accompanying instrumental odyssey. There’s only one song in the encore, but that’s all that’s needed because what better way to signpost the conclusion of a love letter to living and dead legends than with Cooper’s ‘School’s Out’.

Hollywood Vampires is an entity meant to be experienced live. It beckons for personal immersion, and the reward lies not just in the momentary thrill but in the lasting rekindling of a connection with songs once cherished by the greats from the moment the arena lights rise."

Preview of The Hollywood Vampires in Birmingham

Hollywood Vampires with Johnny Depp rock out on stage at Birmingham Utilita Arena / Birmingham Live

"American supergroup Hollywood Vampires hit Birmingham tonight. The band, which features Johnny Depp, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith's Joe Perry and guitarist Tommy Henriksen, thrilled crowds at Birmingham Utilita Arena (July 11).

Having been forced to cancel their planned 2020 tour due to the pandemic, they were keen to return to the UK as soon as possible. They say they loved British rock n roll and pepper their sets with songs from the likes of The Who, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie and Motörhead.

Johnny Depp whipped fans into a frenzy when he visited Birmingham last year to perform at Symphony Hall with the late great Jeff Beck where fans shouted 'I love you Johnny' as he walked on stage. Crowds of people waited for hours outside the The Grand Hotel and screamed with delight when they caught a glimpse of the Hollywood star leaving the building.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star famously splashed out on a £50k private dining experience at Broad Street curry house Varanasi, ordering a customised banquet, which he was said to have enjoyed so much that he took leftovers back to his hotel.

Speaking ahead of tonight's Hollywood Vampires show at Birmingham Utilita Arena show, Alice Cooper said: "Well, it’s already been three years since the Vampires have toured because of Covid. Also, Johnny has his movies, Joe’s in Aerosmith and I’m in Alice Cooper, so we have to look at that whole thing and see when we can all get a month or two off where we can go out and tour."

He added: "I really love being in that band. My band is great and wonderful but playing with the Vampires is an entirely different situation. I don’t necessarily do any theatrics at all, I’m just the lead singer, in a band, and the band just happens to be one of the best bands around!"

Depp, Cooper and Perry came together to record in 2015, bonding over 'a desire to celebrate their dead, drunk friends’ by playing the music of their fallen heroes. The name comes from Alice’s 1970s drinking club said to have been frequented by the likes of John Lennon, Keith Moon and Mickey Dolenz.

Self-described as the 'best bar band in the world', they like to play tribute to bands like The Doors and AC/DC and, of course, Alice Cooper and Aerosmith’s hits together with their own original material, released on their studio album ‘Rise’. Hollywood Vampires were voted the 'best performance' of 2018 at London’s Wembley Arena on their last UK journey."

(Almost a) review of the Birmingham concert

Hollywood Vampires with Johnny Depp rock out on stage in Birmingham / Express & Star

"Depp jumped on stage with fellow bandmates and rock legends Alice Cooper, Aerosmith's Joe Perry and guitarist Tommy Henriksen.

The band was joined on stage by legendary Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, who joined the Vampires for a rendition of Paranoid.

One Facebook user posted on Facebook: "It was an amazing night! felt like a rock star last night, then back to mom made taking my boy to school."

Another Facebook user commented: "Absolutely amazing night! So many legends on one stage."

The long-awaited Birmingham Utilita Arena gig was highly anticipated following gigs cancellation due to the Covid pandemic.

The Hollywood Vampires is an American rock supergroup formed in 2012 by Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp and Joe Perry, the trio came together out of their love for rock music and have featured artists and music legends such as Duff McKagan (Guns N Roses) Brad Whitford (Aerosmith) and Toni Iommi."

Hope it's nothing serious, and everything is OK with the band members and crew

Wonder if it's to do with Johnny Depp's ankle injury? he was seen on crutches leaving the hotel in Glasgow a couple of days ago.

New song: 'White Line Frankenstein'

Two days later, and another show is cancelled!

Has Ozzy joined the band?