ALICE COOPER
Brighton Centre
5/12/2009
In his hay day Alice Cooper was the untouchable master of Heavy Rock mixed with on-stage theatrics. At 61 not much has changed, we're not worthy...
To kick things off there's some proper rock legends in the way of Man Raze. Featuring Phil Collen (Def Leppard) on vocals and guitar, Paul Cook (Sex Pistols) on drums and Simon Laffy (Girl) on bass, expectations were high and the guys didn't disappoint. With Phil on unbelievable form, the trademark sound of his blistering axe playing were in abundance and the band's cover of Hendrix's 'Fire' were the highlight of their set, if not the entire gig. You'd be hard pushed to find a tighter band and modern indie-rockers could certainly learn a lot from the musicianship on show here.
Getting back to the headliners, the band kicked off with an incredibly heavy rendition of Alice's trademark song 'School's out' that went seamlessly into his 1971 hit 'I'm Eighteen'. The sound was loud, the sound was heavy, this was a very good start! Lead guitar came way of a very competent Keri Kelli, known for his work with bands such as Skid Row, Slash's Snakepit and warrant to name but a few. If Phil Collen has the archetypal stadium rock tone then Keri certainly sounds like he's stepped straight out of the 80's LA rock scene. With the essentially low slung Les Paul and amp all the way up to eleven, each and every classic song can only benefit from the heavier sound and glam inspired stage presence he brings to the group.
Alice Cooper himself is no slouch in the showmanship department either, with the concert mixing together his essential power hits and theatrics. To start off with the rock star murders a cloaked stage hand using a microphone stand, the tables then turn and the man himself ends up being hung, poisoned, stabbed and decapitated. It's not all show as Alice's most memorable musical moments were included and the thunderous drumming of Jimmy Di Grasso meant you could literally feel every moment thanks to his booming double-bass drum.
From the very first moment the group reminded you just how many hit songs Cooper has had, including the crowd favourite 'Poison' that had the entire crowd singing along and 'Billion dollar babies' being blasted out whilst Alice himself paraded around the stage with an infants head being dangled from a sword's blade. 'Only Women Bleed' gave the set a half way breather before going on to eventually close the show by once again playing 'School's Out'.
The musicians looked like they enjoyed it, the crowd certainly loved it, simply proving that age is but a number and giving proof that rock and roll mixed with a bit of on-stage drama will always keep you young at heart.
Photographs © Andy Sturmey
To kick things off there's some proper rock legends in the way of Man Raze. Featuring Phil Collen (Def Leppard) on vocals and guitar, Paul Cook (Sex Pistols) on drums and Simon Laffy (Girl) on bass, expectations were high and the guys didn't disappoint. With Phil on unbelievable form, the trademark sound of his blistering axe playing were in abundance and the band's cover of Hendrix's 'Fire' were the highlight of their set, if not the entire gig. You'd be hard pushed to find a tighter band and modern indie-rockers could certainly learn a lot from the musicianship on show here.
Getting back to the headliners, the band kicked off with an incredibly heavy rendition of Alice's trademark song 'School's out' that went seamlessly into his 1971 hit 'I'm Eighteen'. The sound was loud, the sound was heavy, this was a very good start! Lead guitar came way of a very competent Keri Kelli, known for his work with bands such as Skid Row, Slash's Snakepit and warrant to name but a few. If Phil Collen has the archetypal stadium rock tone then Keri certainly sounds like he's stepped straight out of the 80's LA rock scene. With the essentially low slung Les Paul and amp all the way up to eleven, each and every classic song can only benefit from the heavier sound and glam inspired stage presence he brings to the group.
Alice Cooper himself is no slouch in the showmanship department either, with the concert mixing together his essential power hits and theatrics. To start off with the rock star murders a cloaked stage hand using a microphone stand, the tables then turn and the man himself ends up being hung, poisoned, stabbed and decapitated. It's not all show as Alice's most memorable musical moments were included and the thunderous drumming of Jimmy Di Grasso meant you could literally feel every moment thanks to his booming double-bass drum.
From the very first moment the group reminded you just how many hit songs Cooper has had, including the crowd favourite 'Poison' that had the entire crowd singing along and 'Billion dollar babies' being blasted out whilst Alice himself paraded around the stage with an infants head being dangled from a sword's blade. 'Only Women Bleed' gave the set a half way breather before going on to eventually close the show by once again playing 'School's Out'.
The musicians looked like they enjoyed it, the crowd certainly loved it, simply proving that age is but a number and giving proof that rock and roll mixed with a bit of on-stage drama will always keep you young at heart.
Photographs © Andy Sturmey
Support RememberTheEighties.com and Buy Online At
