Alice Cooper Live At The Palais
The more that time goes on, the more I become a fan of Alice Cooper. I own most of his recent albums and he is still capable of putting on an impressive show.
Thankfully Alice Cooper remains popular in Australia returning recently for his No More Mr Nice Guy Tour, which I needed no encouragement to go to.
I missed the opening act, but wasn't overly concerned particularly as I had a great spot to see the concert. This was very pleasing because a downfall of the Palais has been that it is difficult to get a decent view there.
The voice of Vincent Price comes on, The Black Widow kicks in and Alice Cooper appears high above the stage. Pretty much the perfect start to the point I thought it couldn't get much better than this. I was quickly proven wrong. After this some familiar industrial music followed and I thought it couldn't be. Sure enough it was Brutal Planet. Clearly this was the best song of the set. Being a track I never imagined hearing live made it very special.
While being less theatrical than last time this was a stellar performance from Alice Cooper. With classics like Billion Dollar Babies and No More Mr Nice Guy, surprises like Hey Stoopid and Feed My Frankenstein and personal favourites like Cold Ethyl and Poison I was enthralled throughout.
The theatrical side saw Alice dancing and throwing a doll, which I thoroughly enjoyed. At one point a massive puppet appeared that actually put Iron Maiden's Eddie to shame. During School's Out large balloons were thrown into the crowd and Pink Floyd's Another Brick In The Wall was incorporated, which had everybody singing. To top off the night the encore of Elected saw Alice appear with the Australian flag. I totally wish I had photos of it.
Reflecting this was not as good as last time. There was no Department Of Youth or Welcome To My Nightmare and I would like to have heard something from Dragontown.
Being critical of Alice Cooper though is simply being pedantic. He continues to defy his age, once again showing he has plenty left. If he keeps touring, I'll keep going.
Set list
The Black Widow
Brutal Planet
I'm Eighteen
Under My Wheels
Billion Dollar Babies
No More Mr. Nice Guy
Hey Stoopid
Is It My Body
Halo of Flies
I'll Bite Your Face Off
Muscle of Love
Only Women Bleed
Cold Ethyl
Feed My Frankenstein
Clones (We're All)
Poison
Wicked Young Man
Killer
I Love the Dead
School's Out
Encore
Elected
