No stranger to Scotland having recently played Glasgow’s OVO Hydro and Aberdeen’s AECC a few years back, the Nightmare Returned to the capital this time. The Edinburgh Playhouse was sold out as soon as tickets went on sale demonstrating there’s still an audience out there for Alice Cooper.
The very first time I saw Alice Cooper live was in the same venue 39 years ago. To be fair, not much has changed, both the venue and the artist are almost timeless. Of course, the entire band have been swapped out, but the main character remains. For the most part, the same great hits we know and love and delivered with the same passion. He maybe an ageing rocker and even though he has died a thousand times on stage, he’s alive and well!
The support slot was Bobbie Dazzle. Fronted by the flamboyant Sian Greenway, the band pay homage to 1970s rock icons like The Sweet, T. Rex, Suzi Quatro, and Slade. The cat suit worn by Sian certainly reminded me of Quatro and the rest of the band had that same period aesthetic. Big catchy heavy rock riffs kept the audience entertained as the Birmingham based band ripped through their set. They made the most of their time on stage, albeit camped in the middle of Alice Cooper’s set so it felt a little awkward looking like they were hemmed in, but I could image they would suit a smaller sweaty venue.
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Looking through the crowd, there is no shortage of Black Sabbath T shirts on display, fitting tributes from the fans that they are feeling the loss of the iconic hell raising rocker Ozzy Osbourne, but Alice Cooper would soon ease the pain with his immersive rock show. Through the years, the theatrics have been streamlined but still captivate the crowd, but the backbone of Alice Cooper is the hard-hitting hard rock. As the band slipped on from behind a full height curtain that looked like a broadsheet newspaper with the headline “Banned in Scotland” , Alice Cooper sliced his way through it and the show opened with an inspired version of “Lock Me Up” followed by “Welcome to the Show”, evidence that the band were here to rock out and the screeching solos were out in force early. Having three incredible guitarists on tap makes for an amazing spectacle as the continually pull shapes all night.
Alice Cooper has such an incredible back catalogue, the band can dip into the past at the drop of a hat, a very large one in Alice Coopers case! “No More Mr. Nice Guy” and “18” satisfied the hard-core fans but those early classics would be offset with the hair metal mainstays of “Hey Stoopid” and “Poison”. Glen Sobel had his obligatory drum solo, demonstrating why Alice Cooper says he’s the greatest drummer on the planet, hard to argue when he captivated the entire audience with his mastery of the kit. Not to be out done, the rest of the band took their opportunities at various times as they all jumped onto the hero risers behind the monitors. Chuck Garric, Ryan Roxie, Tommy Henriksen and Nita Strauss flash up on the massive rear screens built into the set provide a constant visual mix of live footage of the band and atmospherics scenes to compliment the songs. For the uninitiated, it is a sight to behold and even the seasoned campaigners would admit there’s plenty going on to maintain the focus without the need to reach for their phones!
No show would be complete without the live theatrics. One comedic moment had an annoying photographer running round the stage with his flash gun popping constantly as he harassed all the band members before being run through with a microphone stand by Alice, he’s dragged off by a ghoul still snapping away. The signature guillotine sequence topped all the other dramatics with Coopers head being paraded by his wife Sheryl adorned in a costume fit for an elizabethan queen. “I Love the Dead” continued the drama but the nightmare is never over until “Schools Out” with a slice of “Another Brick in the Wall.” It’s a well proven format but it’s the rock that underpins everything. There’s no traditional encore as the band finished with “Feed my Frankenstein.” The 12ft beast stomped around the stage bringing the visual spectacle to an end. There was a great moment when Alice paid tribute Ozzy which gave the audience the platform to shout “Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy………” A rebel rousing end and like any great show, always leave your audience wanting more. Hopefully, it won’t be too long before the nightmare returns!
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Alice Coopers tour continues throughout Europe and the USA. Buy Tickets HERE
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