By Avinash Mittur
November 29th 2012, Orpheum Theatre, Los Angeles CA: The last time Alice Cooper was in this part of California, he played an intimate club show at the Whisky-a-Go-Go in Hollywood. Before that he brought his over the top “Theatre of Death” tour to the Nokia Theater in 2009. This “Raise the Dead” tour stop at the Orpheum Theater was one that truly did justice to his vast catalog, and it ended up being a masterful set by one of the architects of the trade. More than so many other “shock rock” acts, Alice Cooper has the amazing music to match the performance and this show was the direct evidence of that. This was my first time seeing the man live, and I couldn’t have picked a better show to catch.
The capacity crowd was greeted with an opening forty minute set from Kill Devil Hill, an act that’s already made their mark on Hollywood in the last few years. Their no-frills, almost doomy metal turned out to be a great primer for the evening. The road veterans Rex Brown and Vinny Appice were the most entertaining to watch throughout their set, Rex in particular moved about the stage with confidence and energy. Sadly the set suffered from very boomy and muddy sound, but Mark Zavon’s heavy riffing prevailed. Kill Devil Hill’s lack of screamed vocals and inoffensive tempos proved to be much to the liking of the mostly older crowd, and the audience gave them a rousing reception upon the conclusion of their set.
Before long, Ol’ Black Eyes and his troupe took the stage and went right into “Hello Hooray”- the quintessential introduction to an Alice Cooper show. The band banged out the songs one right after another and offered a huge collection of songs from Alice’s entire career. Classics like “No More Mr. Nice Guy” were perfectly mixed in with deep cuts like “House of Fire” and one of my personal favorite Alice Cooper songs, “Hey Stoopid.” While I’m sure some fair-weather fans missed popular songs like “Only Women Bleed,” I would much rather take an obscure treat like “(He’s Back) The Man Behind the Mask” instead. The three-prong guitar team of Ryan Roxie, Orianthi and Tommy Henriksen were more than able for the job of nailing these songs, and consistently offered note-perfect renditions. Orianthi in particular was a standout; her interplay with Alice was frequently fun and she was given the chance to show off her shredding during the band’s cover of “Foxy Lady.”
When it came to Alice himself though, he once again offered proof of his legendary status. His voice was in top form as was his renowned stage presence. For the most part, he let the music do the talking- the only time he talked to the crowd was to introduce the band at the very end of the set. Alice allowed his love of rock and roll theater to come out in his performance instead of using extravagant stage props, opting for mostly minor tools to assist his show. These included an oversize coffee mug during the heavy new song “Caffeine,” a straightjacket for “Ballad of Dwight Fry” and of course, billion dollar bills for “Billion Dollar Babies.” Alice returned to his old ways for “Feed My Frankenstein” though- he was “killed” via an electric coffin and returned as a giant Frankenstein’s monster (Frankenalice anyone?).
The crowd soon got to see Alice pay a visit to the rock and roll graveyard, and the band played a short set of classic rock covers honoring deceased legends. The band gave great performances for all the songs, with Alice truly making the Doors’ “Break On Through” his own; the man’s signature snarl gave the song a heavy metal edge that I never thought I’d hear. The band was also quietly joined for the remainder of the set by none other than Johnny Depp, who managed to hold his own onstage and even exuded some of his Jack Sparrow swagger while rocking a Gibson Explorer.
Alice finished the show off with a final salvo of all-time classics, and the audience’s cheers only grew louder until reaching a climax with the last notes of “School’s Out.” Alice even managed to throw in some lines from Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2” during the song, which was actually a pretty cool way to get the older crowd even more involved while still sticking with the “school” theme of the song.
Alice Cooper Set List:
1. Hello Hooray
2. House of Fire
3. No More Mr. Nice Guy
4. I’ll Bite Your Face Off
5. Be My Lover
6. Caffeine
7. Billion Dollar Babies
8. The Congregation
9. Hey Stoopid
10. Dirty Diamonds (w/ drum solo)
11. Welcome to My Nightmare
12. Ballad of Dwight Fry
13. Go to Hell
14. He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask)
15. Devil’s Food
16. Feed My Frankenstein
Johnny Depp joins the band on guitar.
17. Break On Through (To the Other Side) (The Doors cover)
18. Revolution (The Beatles cover)
19. Foxy Lady (The Jimi Hendrix Experience cover)
20. My Generation (The Who cover)
21. I’m Eighteen
22. Under My Wheels
23. Poison
Encore:
24. School’s Out (w/ Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 snippets)
All in all, this show exceeded my hope for how great an Alice Cooper show could be, albeit in a way I wasn’t expecting. Though I anticipated gruesome decapitations and grand stage shenanigans, I was instead given a stellar, air-tight rock performance with minor assistance from the theater aspect of the show. The band was as professional as one could ask for, and Alice Cooper delivered on the legend he has rightly acquired over the years. With a setlist that perfectly mixed the songs everyone wanted to hear with rare delights, new tracks and a fun classic rock tribute, I couldn’t have asked for a more fun show. Though I paid an arm and a leg for nosebleed seats (and by an arm and a leg, I mean $55), I would absolutely pay that much to see Alice again and I’m willing to bet the other couple thousand or so guests at the Orpheum would agree.