Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
It could be argued that calling Alice Cooper a “Legend” would be an understatement. His recording career began 47 years ago, in 1969, and since that time he has seen it all and done it all, several times over, to be sure. And here he is in 2016, still full steam ahead with a very robust touring schedule and career.
In fact, Alice is a touring machine, despite closing in on 70 years old (he was born in 1948), having recently wrapped up an approximately 2 year tour as the opening act for Motley Crue on their final tour, and then jumping right back on the road continuing as a headliner…all the while fitting in a summer tour with his supergroup side project, The Hollywood Vampires.
The last leg of Alice’s headlining tour began on 9/22/16 in Waukegan, IL., and I caught that show and then attended and shot this one on 10/6/16 in Milwaukee, the 10/6 show making my seventh time seeing this production since the Motley Crue tour started a couple years ago. The tour wraps up in California on Halloween weekend, a fitting holiday for the macabre imagery that Alice’s show and career has thrived on.
Alice’s current band features Ryan Roxie, Nita Strauss and Tommy Henriksen, all on guitar, with Chuck Garric on bass, and Glen Sobel on drums. The band is noteworthy not only for their musical chops, but their obvious chemistry amongst themselves and with Alice.
The current set features all the hits, some deep cuts, as well as three cover songs from the Hollywood Vampires theme (which is mostly dedicated to covering music from deceased artists…this set features songs from David Bowie, Motorhead, and the Keith Moon era of The Who). The show is theatrical and includes ….spoiler alert…. a guillotine that cuts Alice’s head off, a 10 foot Franken-Alice storming the stage, a huge snake, and a crazy, homicidal zombie nurse (who just happens to be Alice’s wife, Sheryl) who drugs and tries to kill Alice, finally succeeding with the aforementioned guillotine. Did I mention plenty of smoke, confetti and an election year battle royale between a faux Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump? It’s the perfect introduction for the final song, Elected, and the final act of the show: Alice Cooper for President!
**See full gallery below setlist**
SETLIST:
- Black Widow
- No More Mr. Nice Guy
- Under My Wheels
- Public Animal #9
- Billion Dollar Babies
- Long Way to Go
- Is It My Body
- The World Needs Guts
- Woman of Mass Distraction
- Poison
- Halo of Flies
- Feed My Frankenstein
- Cold Ethyl
- Only Women Bleed
- Guilty
- The Ballad of Dwight Fry
- Killer/I Love the Dead
- Pinball Wizard
- Suffragette City
- Ace of Spades
- I’m Eighteen
- School’s Out
- Elected
