Have you ever seen a prosthetic baby’s head sliced off, a death administered by an eight-foot syringe, or a 63- year old heavy-metal rocker?
1500 Canberrans did, as they were stunned and rocked by the Godfather of ‘shock-rock’, Alice Cooper, at the Convention Centre, last Tuesday night.
Opening up the night was the incredible Australian band Electric Mary. With an explosive half-hour set, the band managed to show why they are one of the greatest undiscovered bands in Australia. Performing a genre which the headline act helped define, Electric Mary did not consider playing second fiddle to Alice Cooper’s band. With blistering and brain-bending guitar solos, and musicianship which breaks down any misconceptions about ‘heavy rock’, they set down a challenge to the band of the almighty Alice Cooper.
Alice Cooper, whose real name is Vincent Damon Fernier, is well-known for his theatrical shows, combining both legendary music and mind-blowing theatre. Coming to Canberra for the second time in 4 years, Cooper clearly had no intentions of slowing down at the Convention Centre.
There is often pressure on legendary acts like Cooper to perform their older, ‘sacred’ pieces, as opposed to new material. However, it was clear that Cooper also delights in re-appropriating his rock ‘canons’ through dramatising them. The show was in fact produced by renowned Broadway director Robert Roth.
This was evident in the song ‘Poison’ which has been the song of choice for too many karaoke singers. As the song climaxed, a troupe of balaclava-clad stage intruders brought onto stage a large syringe, proceeding to stab Cooper. Who says that age brings about mild manners?
The drama continued as Cooper flailed dead bodies (manikins) around the stage with reckless abandon, as he sang hits such as ‘Welcome to my Nightmare’.
Those who had been privy to Cooper’s shows previously would have recognised the inclusion of the song ‘Nurse Rozetta’. Throughout the song the nurse stripped behind a screen, as Cooper sang lyrics such as ‘secretly my eyes undress her’. Toward the end of the song he walked behind the screen and strangled the nurse with her pantyhose.
I was startled to discover who played the role of the stage nurse; it was Calico Cooper, Cooper’s daughter.
The shock tactics did not relent, as Cooper was guillotined. The level of musicianship was shown in the eery anthem ‘Only Woman Bleed’, which showcased a rare, quiet side to Cooper.
It was an incredible set list, with Cooper roaming the stage, and performing with reckless abandon. The show was brought to an end with a reprise of ‘Schools Out’.
This show was an essay in the power of theatrics, and proved that despite his multiple deaths on stage, Alice Cooper is not going to be dying anytime soon.
