Page 42 - Black Velvet Rock Magazine Issue 111

BV111 pg 42-45 Alice Cooper.qxp_BV111 pg 42 14/12/2024 23:22 Page 1

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ALICE COOPER – BIRMINGHAM UTILITA ARENA,
They all have what it takes to perform with the leg-
16.10.24 endary shock rocker. Alice leans on Nita before push-
If there’s a world record for the number ing her to the side in anticipation of the solo. She whips
of tours an artist has completed, Alice her hair from side to side, before Tommy, and then
Cooper must be getting close to breaking it. Ryan, continue the guitar licks. After the trio of 70s hits,
Now aged 76, the musician has been per- along comes ‘Bed Of Nails’, from Alice’s highly suc-
forming since the sixties. And, to this day, cessful ‘Trash’ album, released in 1989 – which goes
while he still plays hits from those early down a treat.
years, he also manages to still stay relevant,
not resting on his laurels, releasing new al-
bums and music, and incorporating them
into his set.
His latest UK run, billed as ‘Too Close
For Comfort’, featured six arena shows,
kicking off in Glasgow before heading down
to Birmingham, and ending with a double
dose in London town. After support slots by
frantic Britpunk duo The Meffs and Scottish
alternative indie rockers Primal Scream,
Alice Cooper is first seen as a shadow be-
hind a large backdrop of The English
Gazette proclaiming ‘BANNED IN ENG-
LAND! ALICE COOPER. TRIAL SET: FOR
DEEDS AGAINST HUMANITY’. Alice whips
the curtain-like backdrop open, steps
through the centre and the show com-
mences with a few lines of ‘Lock Me Up’
(taken from his ‘Raise Your Fist And Yell’
album of 1987). ‘If you don’t like it, you can
lock me up,’ he sings. But tonight, as every
night, the crowd don’t just like it, they love it.
‘Welcome To The Show’, Alice sings (a song
from his 2023 release ‘Road’), along with his
band, Nita Strauss, Ryan Roxie and Tommy
Henriksen on guitars, Chuck Garric on bass,
and Glen Sobel on drums. The welcome is
more than welcome.
Alice then starts stacking up the hits. We
get ‘No More Mr. Nice Guy’ from 1973, then
the 1970 best seller, ‘I’m Eighteen’, closely
followed by 1971’s ‘Under My Wheels’. Car-
rying his black cane for the first, before
switching it out for a crutch, he thrusts the
crutch into the air, before leaning on it. Ryan
Roxie takes the first part of the guitar solo in
‘I’m Eighteen’, before Nita joins him and
then takes over. Alice’s bandmates all add
to the songs and performance, intricately
weaving in and out, taking turns to impress
with their talents.

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