Alice Cooper
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- Start date
Pulled from my list thread, and my experience at my Alice Cooper concert.....
Concert: Rick Derringer and Alice Cooper - July 1, 1977
Let me start with a preface... As you have seen on these lists, I had quite an admiration for AC and especially his stage show, which still to this day is among the best in rock history. With that, I wanted to make sure I got a front row (literally) seat to the event, and got there early to stand in place front and center to the stage. Derringer played his hits in about a 45 minute set with no problems. Everybody got to see Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo
When AC entered the stage, the crowd surged forward, and by the first 1/3 of the first song, I among several others were severely pinned against the plank of the stage. It felt like my lungs were getting crushed, and every breath was a ghasp of almost nothing. When someone finally noticed on stage, an individual came out and started screaming.... Everyone on the Floor 2.... steps back NOW!!!!... Everyone on the Floor... 3 Steps back NOW!!! The crowd start dispersing back, but by then I noticed about 10-15 feet away a young petite girl and another kid had passed out from the crush of the crowd. After a couple of minutes of pleaing for the crowd to move back, a couple of paramedics made it to the kids, and they were pulled out of the crowd. It is hard to explain how harrowing it is, to think you are crushed and strangulated from the sheer force of a few hundred people behind you trying to get to the stage. I do not know what the final outcome of these kids, but it didn't make any news. Likely because the venue was run by the city.
But the concert itself? Stage show was fabuous, as this was the show supporting the "Lace and Whisky Tour". But it seems he kept the "Welcome to My Nighmare" stage theme. Great effects and props. Did not like seeing the band without founding members, or like the fact that AC was drunk and slurring his lyrics. The bruisng around my upper torso also came at no charge.
Concert: Rick Derringer and Alice Cooper - July 1, 1977
Let me start with a preface... As you have seen on these lists, I had quite an admiration for AC and especially his stage show, which still to this day is among the best in rock history. With that, I wanted to make sure I got a front row (literally) seat to the event, and got there early to stand in place front and center to the stage. Derringer played his hits in about a 45 minute set with no problems. Everybody got to see Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo
When AC entered the stage, the crowd surged forward, and by the first 1/3 of the first song, I among several others were severely pinned against the plank of the stage. It felt like my lungs were getting crushed, and every breath was a ghasp of almost nothing. When someone finally noticed on stage, an individual came out and started screaming.... Everyone on the Floor 2.... steps back NOW!!!!... Everyone on the Floor... 3 Steps back NOW!!! The crowd start dispersing back, but by then I noticed about 10-15 feet away a young petite girl and another kid had passed out from the crush of the crowd. After a couple of minutes of pleaing for the crowd to move back, a couple of paramedics made it to the kids, and they were pulled out of the crowd. It is hard to explain how harrowing it is, to think you are crushed and strangulated from the sheer force of a few hundred people behind you trying to get to the stage. I do not know what the final outcome of these kids, but it didn't make any news. Likely because the venue was run by the city.
But the concert itself? Stage show was fabuous, as this was the show supporting the "Lace and Whisky Tour". But it seems he kept the "Welcome to My Nighmare" stage theme. Great effects and props. Did not like seeing the band without founding members, or like the fact that AC was drunk and slurring his lyrics. The bruisng around my upper torso also came at no charge.
TACdtf
Senior Member
Lake Charles, Louisiana.
TACdtf
Senior Member
AMAZING!!!
Buckeye Randy
Senior Member
I saw Alice a little over a year ago...here's a review that is better later than never.
Who: Alice Cooper
When: May 17, 2025
Where: Erie Insurance Arena (Erie, Pennsylvania)
Are there artists that you've seen multiple times? Why do you keep going back? Is it that the new material never disappoints or is it because past performances keep calling you back for more? With Alice Cooper, I have not two but three reasons. First, Alice's albums the last 25 years have been (mostly) strong and the new material he chooses to play is always good. Second, I'm always highly entertained at shows by Alice and seeing his head chopped off in a guillotine never gets old. My third reason for going back time and again; Mrs. Buckeye loves Alice Cooper and she's a fun date. It's a Randyland trifecta! Three for three.
This was our first trip to the Erie Insurance Arena which besides hosting concerts is home of the Erie Otters (minor league hockey). Apparently, this Alice show was originally planned to be at the smaller Warner Theatre (capacity 2300) which is across the street. Those plans got nixed due to renovations at the Warner and the show was moved over to the larger venue which has a capacity of 9000. That’s quite a discrepancy in seating capacity and the solution is something I have not seen in many years. The last time I saw a similar ‘solution’ was at the 20,000 seat Cleveland Coliseum in the 80’s when it would transform into the ‘Coliseum Theatre’ with a capacity of 6000.
How does this transformation happen? A curtain is hung that essentially cuts the arena in half. The half behind the curtain is left empty while in front of the curtain is the stage and the seating for the fans which is essentially is 1/3 of the arena capacity. Why am I going into detail about all this? Because buying tickets at this makeshift small concert hall totally sucked!! Clearly, not a ton of time was put into diagramming this impromptu set-up into a user friendly format for buying tickets during presale. Without exhausting details of my befuddlement and despair…it all ended reasonably well because we ended up with 7th row aisle seats. I will say that an unexpected bonus to the experience was that tix were south of $100 a piece which is a bargain when seeing an inductee of the RnR HOF.
Before I say anything else I want to say that Erie has a lovely art/entertainment district. The UPMC Park is home to the minor league baseball Erie Seawolves, next door is the Erie Insurance Arena which is home to hockey and and basketball teams plus across the street is the Warner Theatre. There are dozens of bars and restaurants within a couple block radius plus tons of parking around the area. After parking across from a predetermined bar/restaurant, we went into the packed establishment that was hopping with a live band playing at 6PM…yes, 6PM. Erie Rocks! (apologies to Cleveland)
Is rock and roll scandalous and mischievous? Ya know, real chicanery and skullduggery, the stuff of larceny and thievery. What I’m really talking about are guys on street corners selling concert t-shits while asking passers by the question, “why pay $50 inside for what I got here for $20”? Are they legit?? We saw this street vendor before our pre gig snack of pizza and wings and then we see him again afterward albeit on a different corner. We couldn’t resist looking at what he was selling.
The t-shirt checked all the boxes. The front is b/w with the tour name (Too Close For Comfort) with a skull in a top hat, the back is full color featuring Alice and his boa with the 21 tour dates of the second leg of this current U.S. tour. My quality control director in bootleg t-shirts is Mrs. Buckeye who worked in the industry as a purchaser for several years with a company that did screen printing. She looked at the brand of t-shirt, she stretched the ink to see if it was cured and says “looks good”. Discounted concert souvenir purchased, actual ownership of said souvenir to be determined.
The show starts with a drop down newspaper banner that proclaims charges Alice with crimes against humanity. Behind the banner is a silhouetted Alice Cooper who slices through the banner with his sword as the band bursts into “Lock Me Up” from the album ‘Raise Your Fist And Yell’. Following was “Welcome To The Show” from 2023 album ’ ‘Road’ which I particularly like because Alice’s recent material kicks ass! Notice the openers are not from the 70’s!
Afterward, songs from the ’70’s reigned in the following part of the set, “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, I’m Eighteen” and “Under My Wheels”. The band was very rehearsed musically and also very choreographed. The band consisted of Chuck Garric (bass), Ryan Roxie (guitar), Nita Strauss (guitar), Tommy Henriksen (guitar) and Glen Sobel (drums). This is a slightly different cast than I saw in 2022 but still excellent.
There were five video screens behind the band encased in tall, arched doorways. It gave a gothic dungeon effect. Very nice use during the songs as the screens would show close-ups of band members or have something that fit the theme of the song. I’m not a fan of one big video screen as a stage show but these tandem screens that often had different images were used along with smoke, balloons, bubbles and some moving stage parts plus a cast of characters taking the stage at times for an overall ‘wow’ factor.
What do you want from an a show by Alice?? A boa constrictor? Yep, you got it during “Snakebite”. You want to see Alice in a straightjacket? Yep, you got it in the “Ballad Of Dwight Fry”. You want to see him lose his head in the guillotine? Yep, head sliced off with his daughter parading it around the stage afterward. Alice wore at least six different costumes during the performance plus the world’s coolest skull beltbuckle.
Honestly, I think this current live production is the best I’ve ever seen by Alice. I’m not an expert because I’ve only seen Alice five times over the last 19 years (6 overall) and there are plenty of fans that have seen him a ton more than that. Regardless of how many times, the songs that get the biggest responses speak for themselves; “Poison”, “School’s Out”, “Billion Dollar Babies” and “Go To Hell”. Besides those those songs, my faves from the night include lesser known album tracks like “Be My Lover”, “Lost In America” and “Welcome To My Nightmare”.
The end of the show was “School’s Out” and “Feed My Frankenstein” which featured a 12 foot tall monster chasing band members around the stage. This seemed to only partially satisfy the crowd as they hung around waiting for more. I thought it was interesting that “Feed My Frankenstein” was the opener the last time I saw Alice and the closer on this night. After leaving the arena we saw our t-shirt vendor again surrounded by fans buying concert shirts for $20.
Pretty good night of rock n roll. I didn’t get lost in a strange city, we ate good food and enjoyed a great concert. That’s a successful date night. Well Done!
Erie PA. Setlist
Lock Me Up
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
DrumSolo
Welcome to My Nightmare
Cold Ethyl
Go to Hell
Poison
Guitar Solo
Black Widow Jam
Ballad of Dwight Fry
Killer / I Love the Dead
School's Out
Feed My Frankenstein
Who: Alice Cooper
When: May 17, 2025
Where: Erie Insurance Arena (Erie, Pennsylvania)
Are there artists that you've seen multiple times? Why do you keep going back? Is it that the new material never disappoints or is it because past performances keep calling you back for more? With Alice Cooper, I have not two but three reasons. First, Alice's albums the last 25 years have been (mostly) strong and the new material he chooses to play is always good. Second, I'm always highly entertained at shows by Alice and seeing his head chopped off in a guillotine never gets old. My third reason for going back time and again; Mrs. Buckeye loves Alice Cooper and she's a fun date. It's a Randyland trifecta! Three for three.
This was our first trip to the Erie Insurance Arena which besides hosting concerts is home of the Erie Otters (minor league hockey). Apparently, this Alice show was originally planned to be at the smaller Warner Theatre (capacity 2300) which is across the street. Those plans got nixed due to renovations at the Warner and the show was moved over to the larger venue which has a capacity of 9000. That’s quite a discrepancy in seating capacity and the solution is something I have not seen in many years. The last time I saw a similar ‘solution’ was at the 20,000 seat Cleveland Coliseum in the 80’s when it would transform into the ‘Coliseum Theatre’ with a capacity of 6000.
How does this transformation happen? A curtain is hung that essentially cuts the arena in half. The half behind the curtain is left empty while in front of the curtain is the stage and the seating for the fans which is essentially is 1/3 of the arena capacity. Why am I going into detail about all this? Because buying tickets at this makeshift small concert hall totally sucked!! Clearly, not a ton of time was put into diagramming this impromptu set-up into a user friendly format for buying tickets during presale. Without exhausting details of my befuddlement and despair…it all ended reasonably well because we ended up with 7th row aisle seats. I will say that an unexpected bonus to the experience was that tix were south of $100 a piece which is a bargain when seeing an inductee of the RnR HOF.
Before I say anything else I want to say that Erie has a lovely art/entertainment district. The UPMC Park is home to the minor league baseball Erie Seawolves, next door is the Erie Insurance Arena which is home to hockey and and basketball teams plus across the street is the Warner Theatre. There are dozens of bars and restaurants within a couple block radius plus tons of parking around the area. After parking across from a predetermined bar/restaurant, we went into the packed establishment that was hopping with a live band playing at 6PM…yes, 6PM. Erie Rocks! (apologies to Cleveland)
Is rock and roll scandalous and mischievous? Ya know, real chicanery and skullduggery, the stuff of larceny and thievery. What I’m really talking about are guys on street corners selling concert t-shits while asking passers by the question, “why pay $50 inside for what I got here for $20”? Are they legit?? We saw this street vendor before our pre gig snack of pizza and wings and then we see him again afterward albeit on a different corner. We couldn’t resist looking at what he was selling.
The t-shirt checked all the boxes. The front is b/w with the tour name (Too Close For Comfort) with a skull in a top hat, the back is full color featuring Alice and his boa with the 21 tour dates of the second leg of this current U.S. tour. My quality control director in bootleg t-shirts is Mrs. Buckeye who worked in the industry as a purchaser for several years with a company that did screen printing. She looked at the brand of t-shirt, she stretched the ink to see if it was cured and says “looks good”. Discounted concert souvenir purchased, actual ownership of said souvenir to be determined.
The show starts with a drop down newspaper banner that proclaims charges Alice with crimes against humanity. Behind the banner is a silhouetted Alice Cooper who slices through the banner with his sword as the band bursts into “Lock Me Up” from the album ‘Raise Your Fist And Yell’. Following was “Welcome To The Show” from 2023 album ’ ‘Road’ which I particularly like because Alice’s recent material kicks ass! Notice the openers are not from the 70’s!
Afterward, songs from the ’70’s reigned in the following part of the set, “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, I’m Eighteen” and “Under My Wheels”. The band was very rehearsed musically and also very choreographed. The band consisted of Chuck Garric (bass), Ryan Roxie (guitar), Nita Strauss (guitar), Tommy Henriksen (guitar) and Glen Sobel (drums). This is a slightly different cast than I saw in 2022 but still excellent.
There were five video screens behind the band encased in tall, arched doorways. It gave a gothic dungeon effect. Very nice use during the songs as the screens would show close-ups of band members or have something that fit the theme of the song. I’m not a fan of one big video screen as a stage show but these tandem screens that often had different images were used along with smoke, balloons, bubbles and some moving stage parts plus a cast of characters taking the stage at times for an overall ‘wow’ factor.
What do you want from an a show by Alice?? A boa constrictor? Yep, you got it during “Snakebite”. You want to see Alice in a straightjacket? Yep, you got it in the “Ballad Of Dwight Fry”. You want to see him lose his head in the guillotine? Yep, head sliced off with his daughter parading it around the stage afterward. Alice wore at least six different costumes during the performance plus the world’s coolest skull beltbuckle.
Honestly, I think this current live production is the best I’ve ever seen by Alice. I’m not an expert because I’ve only seen Alice five times over the last 19 years (6 overall) and there are plenty of fans that have seen him a ton more than that. Regardless of how many times, the songs that get the biggest responses speak for themselves; “Poison”, “School’s Out”, “Billion Dollar Babies” and “Go To Hell”. Besides those those songs, my faves from the night include lesser known album tracks like “Be My Lover”, “Lost In America” and “Welcome To My Nightmare”.
The end of the show was “School’s Out” and “Feed My Frankenstein” which featured a 12 foot tall monster chasing band members around the stage. This seemed to only partially satisfy the crowd as they hung around waiting for more. I thought it was interesting that “Feed My Frankenstein” was the opener the last time I saw Alice and the closer on this night. After leaving the arena we saw our t-shirt vendor again surrounded by fans buying concert shirts for $20.
Pretty good night of rock n roll. I didn’t get lost in a strange city, we ate good food and enjoyed a great concert. That’s a successful date night. Well Done!
Erie PA. Setlist
Lock Me Up
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
DrumSolo
Welcome to My Nightmare
Cold Ethyl
Go to Hell
Poison
Guitar Solo
Black Widow Jam
Ballad of Dwight Fry
Killer / I Love the Dead
School's Out
Feed My Frankenstein
Buckeye Randy
Senior Member
I think his last several albums all have solid tracks. The Hollywood Vampires are good as well.
I’m one of the few that wishes he would play more newer stuff.
I’m one of the few that wishes he would play more newer stuff.
TACdtf
Senior Member
I really appreciate him still releasing albums. Too many older bands no longer do that. he's been very productive. But I'm also of the feeling that why bother if you're never going to play any of it?
And his recent albums do all have solid tracks.
I definitely agree, but over the last 10 years, he's really diversified his setlist, adding more different songs. His setlist for the previous 10-15 was very stale.
I understand that you have 4 or 5 must plays every night, but he draws too much on those second level classics that remain in the set.
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