What a band. Alice Cooper has Steve Hunter back in the band. Hunter played with Cooper on the ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ and ‘Muscle of Love’ albums. He is also the lead guitarist on the amazing opening for ‘Sweet Jane’ on Lou Reed’s ‘Rock and Roll Animal’.
Orianthi is also in the group. She was the young female Australian guitarist for Michael Jackson in the ‘This Is It’ movie. Alice Cooper, you have chosen well.
Alice Cooper is back in Australia for the 7th time, four of those tours have been in the past decade.
This is the ‘No More Mr Nice Guy’ tour, a stripped back version of the Alice Cooper show but with maximum potency. There aren’t as many props this time but guillotine is still there as is a giant Frankenstein.
Alice Cooper always puts on a show, never a concert. There is no small-talk between songs. On stage, Alice Cooper is the character.
The current setlist is a greatest hits show. There is only one song of his new ‘Welcome 2 My Nightmare’. “I’ll Bite Your Face Off” fits perfectly into the set. It is classic Alice in sound, and so it should be. The new album reunites Alice Cooper with producer Bob Ezrin, who recorded all of his classic albums.
Expect a ‘Nightmare’ tour next year. Alice told me he went to see Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Love Never Dies’ in Melbourne during the week. It has inspired him to create a ‘Nightmares’ show featuring both ‘Nightmare’ albums back to back as a big theatre show. More on that soon.
There were a few surprises in the setlist. ‘Clones (We’re All)’ was from the disappointing seller ‘Flush The Fashion’ from 1980. It was a good song, but didn’t work in the time. People didn’t want to hear Alice channel Gary Numan back then. Now, it is all part of the history. ‘Muscle of Love’, the title track of the album sandwiched in between ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ and ‘Welcome To My Nightmare’ was also a surprise addition.
When you see Alice Cooper, you are guaranteed 110% entertainment. The audience was made up of kids with their parents and grandparents.
Remaining dates on the No More Mr Nice Guy Australiasian tour are:
October 2, Perth, Challenge Stadium
October 5, Singapore, Hard Rock Hotel
October 7, Jakarta EX Open Space Plaza
Setlist:
Intro – Vincent Price (from Welcome To My Nightmare, 1975)
The Black Widow (from Welcome To My Nightmare, 1975)
Brutal Planet (from Brutal Planet, 2000)
I’m Eighteen (from Love It To Death, 1971)
Under My Wheels (from Killer, 1971)
Billion Dollar Babies (from Billion Dollar Babies, 1973)
No More Mr Nice Guy (from Billion Dollar Babies, 1973)
Hey Stoopid (from Hey Stoopid, 1991)
Is It My Body (from Love It To Death, 1971)
Halo of Flies (from Killer, 1971)
I’ll Bite Your Face Off (from Welcome 2 My Nightmare, 2011)
Muscle Of Love (from Muscle of Love, 1973)
Only Women Bleed (from Welcome To My Nightmare, 1975)
Cold Ethyl (from Welcome To My Nightmare, 1975)
Feed My Frankenstein (from Hey Stoopid, 1991)
Clones (We’re All) (from Flush The Fashion, 1980)
Poison (from Trash, 1989)
Wicked Young Man (from Brutal Planet, 2000)
Killer (from Killer, 1971)
I Love The Dead (from Billion Dollar Babies, 1973)
School’s Out (from School’s Out, 1972)
Elected (from Billion Dollar Babies, 1973)
See Photos from the show – Noise11 Alice Cooper Photo Gallery
