Come October the mind starts to stray to thoughts of Halloween, of ghosts and ghouls and things that go bump in the night! What better to soundtrack those dark thoughts than a night with the king of scare himself, Alice Cooper.

Tonight was the first UK stop on his ‘Too Close For Comfort’ tour and there was a good sized crowd in the Hydro by the time I managed to take my seat. First support band of the night, The Meefs, had been and gone by the time I arrived, but I made it in time for Primal Scream hitting the stage.

I did think when the tour was announced that Primal Scream and Alice were slightly odd bed fellows and so it proved. Bobby Gillespie was on home territory here and did his best to whip up some enthusiasm in the crowd during opener ‘Love Insurrection’ from their forthcoming new album ‘Come Ahead’, which was due out in the coming weeks.

Another two new tracks were played early in the set and they were met with polite applause at best. It wasn’t until mid-show that things hit more familiar territory, with a bass heavy version of 90’s anthem ‘Loaded’ pumping out the PA, that the crowd showed more interest.

From there it was big hitter all the way with the likes of ‘Country Girl’ and ‘Rocks’ reminding us of Primal Scream’s glory years and sending the band out on a high. The tail end of the set gained the band deserved cheers, however, I still think it was a bit of a mismatch bill wise.

No matter, we were all here for the shock rock of the one and only Alice Cooper. I have seen Alice on many occasions, and he never fails to deliver and tonight was another masterclass.

Appearing through a curtain stage front Alice emerged, top hat in place and sword in hand, to the strains of ‘Lock Me Up’. That was quickly followed by ‘Welcome To The Show’ with Alice stalking the stage and hamming it up for all he was worth. The set proved to be a great mix of ‘must play’ classics mixed with a few deeper cuts to keep the die-hard fans happy.

Alice’s band has remained almost stable for the 10 years and were as tight as a ducks rear end. Having Nita Strauss back in the band, following her brief departure, has meant things have gelled perfectly once again and the musicianship throughout the night was top notch.

The trio of ‘No More Mr Nice Guy’, ‘I’m Eighteen’ and ‘Under My Wheels’ went down a storm complete with great use of the large video screens at the rear of the stage. Alice then droves us like a hammer on a ‘Bed Of Nails’ before breaking out the sword again for ‘Billion Dollar Babies’. Yeah, you know what to expect from Alice on each set piece, but it doesn’t stop it being highly entertaining. After all Alice is the ultimate showman!

Alice then whipped out his large snake (stop sniggering at the back!) for ‘Snakebite’, before a rousing rendition of ‘Be My Lover. We were then given a bit of Stateside social comment with the well observed ‘Lost In America’, a song that always makes me chuckle. We then had a stage invasion from Jason during ‘He’s Back (The Man Behind The Mask)’ passing on his way to a local campsite no doubt.

‘Hey Stoopid’ was followed with a short, but impressive, drum solo from Glen Sobel which then led into the opening bars of ‘Welcome To My Nightmare’. Alice then found ‘Cold Ethyl’ chilling by the refrigerator light…

‘Go To Hell’ was accompanied with excellent visuals projected onto the rear video screens before the opening strains of ‘Poison’ raised the Hydro roof. A 12 foot monster then stalked the stage during ‘Feed My Frankenstein’ looming large over Nita Strauss and Tommy Henriksen.

The video screens flashed into life again with images of Vincent Price as his ‘Black Widow’ intro speech boomed from the PA. This then led into a short Nita Strauss solo before the rest of the band joined here for the tail end section of the afore mentioned track. This only served to further highlight the musical talent that Alice has around him and the loud cheers at the end of the section were well deserved.

As with all Alice shows though, he can only get away with so much before justice prevails and so it is tonight. In his straitjacket and bathed in an eerie green light a tormented Alice sang ‘Ballad Of Dwight Fry’ before getting dragged off to the guillotine for some short, sharp retribution.

Before long his head was off and was being waltzed around the stage whilst a couple of henchmen reorganised the stage for Mr Cooper’s phoenix like return. Climbing to a podium decked out in Stars and Stripes Alice returned triumphantly to encourage us to get him ‘Elected’. Given the imminent US elections the song was given added relevance, and Alice asked several times ‘why not me?’, why not indeed!

Only one song could round off the evening, and as ‘School’s Out’ blasted and the giant balloons bounced around the crowd Alice introduced the band members to huge cheers, the biggest one reserved for the man himself.

Tonight was another Alice Cooper masterclass in what a rock show should be, loud, brash and larger than life. Not sure how many tours Alice has left in him, but on this form I wouldn’t bet against him having four more years, elected or not!

Review and Photos by Dave Wilson

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 1 December 2024.

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)