Words and Pictures: Adrian Hextall / (C) MindHex Media
By the time you read this, Halloween and the US election will be over. The orange pumpkins have been carved and placed on display. Most of them won’t see light of day again, one however will be taking charge in The White House on January 20th. The best part of 70m people have spoken, Donald will be President again, Alice sadly will not, despite having sold close to the same number of albums globally that Trump garnered in votes. For those in need of escape, the option to step out of reality and immerse themselves in a show that bears no passing resemblance to everyday life, then this, the first of two nights at London’s legendary Hammersmith Odeon (Eventim Apollo) provided exactly that.
At seventy-six years old, Alice is still young enough to stand for President of the United States of America. He’s also someone who can sell out the five thousand capacity Hammersmith Apollo twice over, for the simple reason that he appeals to everyone. If ever we needed an artist that can entertain the kids as much as the grandparents, then we simply look up Alice Cooper in the directory. At 76, he really should either be standing as Governor in a US State or he should be retired, enjoyed his other passion, golf. But Alice Cooper isn’t like most artists his age. He’s not ready for the fairways and nothing else yet and on first of two nights of his hundred city ‘Too Close For Comfort’ tour, it’s an absolute joy to see him in a proper theatre once again instead of the big sheds that he’s favoured on recent tours. To sweeten the deal, to appeal to all of the age groups and demographics that he can, his support came from upcoming rockers The Meffs and the man who played bass on one of the greatest debut albums ever, Glen Matlock.
The Meffs
Having already built up a huge ‘must-see’ live reputation, Essex duo The Meffs got the ball rolling to an interested, intrigued, excited and sometimes bemused crowd. Why all of the superlatives? Well, The Meffs are what we’d classically describe as a ‘breaking’ band. For those in the know, and there were several, their excitement as Lily on vocals and guitar, and Lewis on drums and backing vocals took to the stage, was infectious. Smiles were exchanged, and for a seated venue, there were a notable number of people on their feet dancing away to the trashy punk driven tunes from the pair.
For me, it’s nights like this, one where a bill embraces the new, challenges the mindsets of those established fans who believe that rock music stopped producing anything new in the 80s. The Meffs, did what they needed to, they came, the played, they delivered, they converted a few minds and rock music lives on. A great start.
Glen Matlock
To say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks would be a lie. The bassist from The Sex Pistols seems to have reinvented himself and become, as ZZ Top would say, a sharp dressed man. Resplendent in white shirt, waistcoat, trousers and classy shoes with a leopard print scarf for added visual effect, Glen looked every inch the gentleman rocker and brought a band along with him to ram home the point that Alice isn’t the only one who can still deliver to a crowd when they could be living off their earnings of years gone by.
Rock and roll swagger is probably the best way to describe Matlock’s music and his current band managed to sit perfectly between the bands Glen loved growing up like The Faces, the band he moved to following his departure from The Pistols, Rich Kids and of course, staying true to his legacy, he even found time to pack in a track from that all time classic debut.
Glen’s set might not win many of the youngsters present over, it was very much a set for those who knew exactly who and what they were getting. For those with an appreciation of one of the fine wines of rock music, the set from Glen and his band felt like a masterclass in music, in the country, and city, that pretty much wrote the rule book.
Alice Cooper
Whilst we know who won the election, as he does every time the job is up for grabs, Alice launched his campaign for the American Presidency back in June. It’s something he’s done for decades and this time around was no different, except perhaps for the fact that his approach was “I have absolutely no idea what to do, so I should fit right in.” So true my friend, so true.
The 90 minute set on offer by Coop saw a performance from a band that collectively have the energy of a hungry group of 20 somethings touring the world for the first time. The fact that Alice has been doing this for some 50 years just shows how much he still enjoys it. Ever the showman, he bursts through a curtain done up to look like a Victoria newspaper with the headline “Alice Cooper – Banned in England”. His outfit, straight out of Netflix’s most popular costume drama and an attitude that carried the flair and swagger of Anthony Bridgerton, left us in no doubt just whose show it was. Brandishing a sword and launching into a partial rendition of ‘Lock Me Up’ before a glorious trawl through his back catalogue commenced with ‘Welcome To The Show‘ and ‘No More Mr Nice Guy‘. Of note, just how well the former, from most recent album ‘Road’ sat alongside one of Alice’s old school classics.
The same can be said of most of the material on offer throughout the show. It didn’t matter whether we were talking 70s, 80s or 90s era Alice, all unique and exceptional in their own right, the fact that the material stands shoulder to shoulder across the board reflects both the skill of the artist front and centre but also the quality of his tried and trusted band-mates. Nita Strauss, Ryan Roxie and Tommy Henriksen played off each other perfectly, each one getting their moments in the spotlight without overshadowing their colleagues. Glen Sobel and Chuck Garrick have played alongside each other for years and it showed. Perfect timing and timeless quality, when mixed in with a light and stage show that we’ve come to expect as standard but never fail to appreciate, meant that the decade spanning songs perfectly suited the decades spanning audience.
Alice is a man of many words when it comes to his songs and lyrics but other than the odd nod of appreciation or spoken element to drive forward the theatre, there was little to distract the audience from ‘the show’. The straitjacket, the beheading, the love of the dead, the election pantomime and more make and made an Alice Cooper show utterly memorable. If it was your first time, it won’t be your last, if it was the latest, heck you might have even gone back the following night and done it all over again.
It’s never anything less than fantastic, the ultimate storyteller. In fact to borrow from the person Alice lost out to in the latest 2024 election, he knows words, he has the best words. In fact he has the best band and this proved it and no mistake.
SETLIST
Lock Me Up (Partial)
Welcome to the Show
No More Mr. Nice Guy
I’m Eighteen
Under My Wheels
Bed of Nails
Billion Dollar Babies
Snakebite
Be My Lover
Lost in America
He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask)
Hey Stoopid
Drum Solo (Glen Sobel) (with snippets of Black Juju)
Welcome to My Nightmare (partial)
Cold Ethyl
Go to Hell
Poison
Feed My Frankenstein
“The Black Widow” segment from Alice Cooper: The Nightmare
Guitar Solo (Nita Strauss)
Black Widow Jam
Ballad of Dwight Fry
Killer (Snippet)
I Love the Dead (Snippet)
Elected
School’s Out (With Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 snippet)
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