Shock rocker Alice Cooper blasted into the capital last week for his Theatre of Death Tour. This is the first time Cooper has visited Canberra in almost two decades, missing the nation’s capital on his last three Australian Tours.
Enlisting the support of Melbourne five-piece rock outfit Electric Mary providing the crowd with a very decent warm up to a night of theatrics. Now obviously to be given the opportunity to tour with the one and only Alice Cooper, you must first earn your stripes – and earned their stripes they have. With support slots for Judas Priest and Whitesnake in their not so distant past, it’s no wonder they were the easy option for Cooper and his people.
Although relatively new to the touring music scene, Electric Mary proceeded to prove why they are bound for limitless success. They showed the crowd that when it comes to rock’n’roll, Australian bands sure know how to take the lead.
Waiting for the man of the moment to take the stage, the crowds’ anticipation was so thick you could hack it with an axe. The crowd on the floor below looked unbelievably uncomfortable, hoping that their general admission ticket would not restrict them to their seats. The lights dimmed and silence fell upon the theatre. The stage, concealed by a floor to ceiling Alice Cooper drop curtain hid any movement happening onstage. An eerie silhouette appeared in a top hat with a cane as a loud school bell rang signalling the beginning to School’s Out, sending the crowd below in a frenzied scramble towards the front of the stage. Scuttling over the top of chairs and other audience members, hundreds made their way to the front leaving security guards powerless to turn them back to their seats. A poor move by organisers who should know that temporary seating and rock shows are not a favourable combination.
A master showman (he should be, he’s had four decades of practice), Cooper moved seamlessly from song to song as they made up parts in his show. This was of course far more than a rock gig, it was pure theatre. With each song a new part of the story was revealed, masked underlings crept around the stage clawing at their Master, waiting for a chance when his back was turned to strike. With an air of anxiousness around the room, one unlucky minion, foolish enough to be caught was impaled by Cooper during Wicked Man.
The minions revolted and a guillotine was wheeled onto the stage, Coopers head was locked into the stocks and the blade dropped, with a sickening thud his head hit the stage. Cooper, who is usually murdered in his stage shows, defied nature this time around by kicking the bucket not once, not twice but four times in the duration of the show.
His nemesis came in the form of a naughty nurse played by Cooper’s daughter Calico, who proceeded to murder, maim and mutilate her father throughout the evening. Cooper not to be outdone, sought his revenge on his adversary by strangling her during the final moments of Welcome to my Nightmare.
The crowd knew it was now only a matter of time until Cooper would be slain again and with the first few notes of Poison it was clear it would be soon. Entering the stage with an enormous syringe, Cooper’s daughter grinned wickedly plunging the needle into his heart.
The theatrics certainly didn’t end there, with death being the theme for the evening there was no shortage of blood, gore and morbidity. Members of the audience were given souvenirs of the show when Cooper began throwing diamante necklaces into the crowd during Dirty Diamonds. The hysterical audience jumping and grabbing for the keepsakes seemed possessed. The sight beared similar resemblance to feeding fries to seagulls.
Finally, with the show coming close to an end, Cooper and his mind-meltingly talented band played No More Mr Nice Guy which delighted the screaming crowd to no end. Cooper threw his cane into the crowd, introduced his band and departed with his band following shortly after.
Not happy with the incredible performance to which they had been privy, the crowd called for an encore and with that familiar bell ringing again Cooper made his way back onstage for a second performance of School’s Out, this time wearing a shiny silver suit and throwing massive “balloons” full of glitter and confetti into the crowd. The crowd was thrilled proving that only Alice Cooper could get away with playing the same song twice in his magnificent show.
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