Alice Cooper @ BrisbaneConvention and ExhibitionCentre (24/09/2011)

Mon 26th Sep, 2011 in Gig Reviews

If it wasn’t for the unfortunate reality of music festival politics, today would have seen Soundwave Revolution tear through Brisbane in a blaze of heavy rocking glory. This, of course, was never meant to be after a still anonymous co-headline act dropped out of the festival, resulting in the cancellation of the entire event. To the organiser’s credit they still managed to get a large portion of the line-up out to Australia for a downsized series of Counter Revolution shows, which today kicked off at the Brisbane Riverstage. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Brisbane River, undeterred fans have faithfully gathered to watch original headliner Alice Cooper on his No More Mr Nice Guy tour at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

It’s a shame to see openers Syndicate trying so hard to be like every other classic rock band to ever exist, as they’ve actually got quite a bit of grunt intertwined with their generic rock sound. But the Sydney band are here to serve a simple purpose – get the crowd going – and they do a decent job, thanks mostly to some damn impressive drumming from Jason Russo. I just wish they would have left the I Love Rock and Roll cover at home where it belongs.

We’re not allowed to see the roadies set up for the main event so they bring out a massive curtain containing Alice’s slightly photo shopped face to hide the stage from view. This in itself serves as an adequate warm up; the crowd knows that when that thing falls shit is gonna get real. At nine o’clock sharp the lights go out and the instantly recognizable sound of seventies horror guru Vincent Price’s voice creeps through the speakers, welcoming us to Alice Cooper’s nightmare. The curtain falls, and oh yes, the crowd was right. There he is, in full make-up, standing on top of a giant platform, pyro blasting all around him as he belts out The Black Widow. It’s like every awesome camp horror movie from the eighties brought to life, and crowd are happy to go along with the story.

Cooper is, of course, most respected for his larger than life stage shows, which have always been a brave blend of theatre and rock and roll. It might not seem that brave now, since that’s what everyone does, but Cooper was the first front man in rock to truly step out as an entertainer and put on a show for his fans. Tonight’s offering is not as theatrical as I was expecting, but the sixty three year old still produces a high energy rock and roll performance for what’s left of his devoted fan base. We see a ten foot Frankenstein, a real life snake, he beheads someone posing as a music journalist (yes, I got nervous), he pops enormous balloons with his sword to cover the audience with confetti and, as noted by the person sitting next to me, “he’s got more costume changes than GaGa!” Undoubtedly a Lady GaGa show would be more shocking than tonight’s spectacle, but without it there would be no GaGa to begin with.

Cooper put out a ‘sequel’ to his seminal 1975 record Welcome To My Nightmare a few months back, but it’s the original album, and all his classic hits, that round out tonight’s set list. Feed My Frankenstein, Only Women Bleed and Poision are all met with an enthusiastic roar from the crowd. But the show hit its’ stride when Cooper allows the musicians behind him to take centre stage. For the tour he’s welcomed back most of the line-up of his original band – guitarists Steve Hunter and Tommy Hemricksen, bassist Chuck Garric and drummer Glen Sobel, and he’s also brought along Aussie guitar prodigy Orianthi, made famous for her part in Michael Jackson’s This Is It! They’re allowed several interludes to show off their individual ability, and together produce a thunderous sound that matches the enthusiasm of their lead singer.

He doesn’t look tired or worn out, but it’s inevitable that by the time we reach School’s Out we’re reminded of just how long Alice Cooper’s been doing this for. But there’s fun to be had chanting “school’s out for summer!” in a room made up of people who have been out of school for a very, very long time. It’s the anti-establishment sentiment that still runs true for tonight’s dedicated fans, who’ll go home and wash their face paint off reassured that their man’s still got it.