Alice Cooper at the State Theatre, Minneapolis (06 Dec 2015)

Tour Dates

Halloween may have been a month and a half ago…

… but for ninety minutes at the State Theatre in Minneapolis, the spirit of that night had come alive again.  The master of shock rock, Alice Cooper had come to town again, not only to open once more for Mötley Crüe on their final tour (on its third time through locally), but also to perform a full headlining show, a couple nights before.

 

For the faithful, the curious, and the diehards, it was a chance to see Alice at his finest- a full theater show, bringing all the hit songs over forty-plus years, as well as all of the props, drama, and excitement that comes with his now legendary stage show.

Lights dimmed as a Vincent Price spoken word intro echoed about the stage, which was hidden by a large curtain emblazoned with Cooper’s trademark eyes.

The curtain then dropped to reveal the five piece band (Ryan Roxie – guitar; Chuck Garric – bass; Glen Sobel – drums, percussion; Tommy Henriksen – guitar; and Nita Strauss – guitar) and Cooper creeping forward in a black cape for ‘The Black Widow’.

The cape was thrown off for 1989’s ‘House of Fire’, revealing Cooper in a red and black striped tailed suit with massive belt buckle and black leather gloves.

The show pacing was relentless, with songs going rapidly from one into another, the trio of guitarists posing at center stage to show off their licks, and the healthy frontman keeping up with the stamina of a man half his (almost 68 yr.old) age.

For 1973’s ‘Billion Dollar Babies’, Cooper swished a fencing sword speared with wads of “Alice Dollars”, which he dislodged and threw out into the mostly baby boomer crowd, with everyone straining to grab one out of the air.

A couple of ‘90s numbers, 1994’s ‘Lost in America’ and 1991’s ‘Hey Stoopid’ were given new life by the triple-axe band, with relative newcomer Strauss (from The Iron Maidens) more than holding her own, and other guitarist Henriksen making a triumphant return to his hometown.

For 2005’s ‘Dirty Diamonds’, Cooper stalked the stage with a handful of silver trinket necklaces, tossing them into the reaching crowd during the verses, which then led into a brief Sobel drum solo.  ‘Feed my Frankenstein’ was full-on horror theater with Cooper being strapped to a table, smoke and sparks rising, then a larger-than-life Frankenstein monster emerging to shamble about the stage.

 

‘The Ballad of Dwight Fry’ found Cooper in his familiar straitjacket, ducking an enlarged needle stabbed about by a demented nurse (played by his daughter Calico) and the skit would eventually end with the trademark guillotine making its inevitable appearance.

 

Cooper and friends Johnny Depp and Aerosmith’s Joe Perry have recently released an album under the name Hollywood Vampires (UMe Records), the name taken from the celebrity drinking club he helped form in the 1970’s, and his covers portion late in the show is a tribute to those club members now lost.

A hooded masked mute brought out and propped up gravestones in homage to each of the fallen as Cooper and band covered songs by The Doors (Jim Morrison), John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, and The Who(Keith Moon).

Following that, Cooper ended the main set with his own ‘I’m Eighteen’ from 1971 and 1989’s ‘Poison’, which was one of his biggest hits of the music video era,  though its lyrics and meaning were controversial , as perhaps relating to the AIDS epidemic of the day.

 

For the encore, bubbles were everywhere in the air as Cooper emerged in a white shirt and black  gravedigger top hat for ‘School’s Out’, with surprise guest Vince Neil in tow.  Soon, white confetti and red streamers were everywhere, resulting in an outright party to end the show on the highest note possible.

“Minneapolis Rrrrocksssss!” Cooper exclaimed before taking a final bow, his only reference on this night as to where he was playing, but an effective end statement nonetheless.

After this year, we may not be able to see Mötley Crüe perform again, but thankfully Alice Cooper shows no signs of slowing down, and the spirit of Halloween will again swoop in, the next time he plays here.