Alice Cooper caused quite some concern for many people, last night. While he was performing in The Netherlands the fire department was called out to the venue, because they were getting calls about the roof being on fire. People in the near area could see smoke coming from the roof. By the time, the firemen got there, they didn’t discover a fire at all. Turns out Alice had really turned up the smoke machine.
Alice has always raised the bar on live shows, turning them into a spectacle fit for any theatre. His shows are notorious for being a freaky rock show, which makes people often confuse him with Ozzy Osbourne, whose shows are similar.
I keep speaking of Alice as a person, but that is factually wrong. Yes, he is the creepy guy with the messy long black hair and all the black around the eyes, like a mime player gone crazy, but his band have also adopted the name and thus Alice Cooper is actually a band. However, I keep thinking of the guy instead, so I’m sure I’ll continue this mistake throughout my blog.
To me, Alice Cooper is someone I got to know, musically, through the golden hour of classic songs on the radio. “How You Gonna See Me Now” and “School’s Out” were songs that would pass by in those shows on a regular basis, while I was growing up. They were released in the 70s and because of that I had missed them, while they were hits and I had no idea of his freaky image at all.
Then, at the late 80s, he had a revival. His hits “Poison” and “Bed Of Nails” got him in the pop magazines I was reading and so did his wild past. I loved those songs, but it’s funny I don’t remember hearing any crazy stories about his shows then though, so I guess the bewildered look was all that remained. I do remember him getting into some acting and just exploring all kinds of creative things.
It’s easy to assume that you wouldn’t be able to expect anything really crazy from him today. After all, at age 68, most people are enjoying a much slower pace in life by then, but Alice Cooper is still rocking. I mean, he’s seriously still rocking. His current tour contains all the theatrics you could’ve expected from him in his early days.
I’m sure the crew has a field day trying to pass the props through customs each time they move the show from county to country. Just try to explain the sword, straitjacket and baton, which are all part of the show. Alice also pays tribute to David Bowie and Lemmy from Motörhead, who all passed this year as well as some other big rock stars, who passed earlier. That, and all of his hits, are all part of his show this year.
However, even though Alice is still rocking out today, he is looking ahead for a new career. Apparently, you can vote for him as he’s running for US presidency.
