Alice Cooper
Enmore Theatre, Sydney 26/08/11
Review: Amy Simmons | Photos: Tracey Nicholson
Alice Cooper Enmore Theatre, Sydney 26/08/11 After BLUNT had the once in a lifetime experience of hanging out with Alice Cooper at his album launch, naturally we were more than keen to see if the shock rock doyen still had it – he is 63 years old after all.
One thing that stuck out in BLUNT’s mind was the surprising number of parents herding their kids into seats. It’s clear that Alice has become a multi-generational icon, and we have to hand it to him – charging $45 for a teddy bear is almost as genius as selling lollies at the checkout of Coles.
As a gust of smoke billowed across the stage that resembled a carnage scene from Sons of Anarchy – there’s a body in the garbage, another hanging from a noose – Alice and his crew emerged from the haze and gave the sold out crowd a master class in the art of theatrics.
Ploughing through songs like “18”, “Telephone”, “Billion Dollar Babies” and “No More Mr. Nice Guy” early on, Alice proved he still ruled with a live python draped around his neck. But as awesome as he was, we couldn’t stop staring at his new guitar goddess Orianthi – holy shit that lady can wield her axe. Looking like a doll with her perfectly curled blonde hair, she out-shredded the boys in her crew and we have a big, fat girl crush on her.
A few tracks from Alice Cooper’s new album, Welcome 2 My Nightmare, got a run throughout the set, but it was his greatest hits that most of the audience shelled out $140 for, and that’s what they got. A giant Frankenstein (which wasn’t all that far removed from Iron Maiden’s Eddie) lurched onto the stage during “Feed My Frankenstein”; Alice was beheaded after “School’s Out” and the Enmore Theatre turned into a ticker-tape parade for “I Wanna Be Elected”. So basically to sum it up, it was fucking brilliant.
