ALICE COOPER – Brisbane, Australia 18th February 2020
Have you ever entered an arena and felt a flood of instant awe and excitement for what’s about to happen? As I headed into the Brisbane Entertainment Centre last night for the Alice Cooper ‘Ol’ Black Eyes Is Back’ concert, seeing a vast sea of fans and felt the buzzing electricity of anticipation in the air, I knew we were all in for an incredible and memorable night!
Legendary rock pioneers MC50, took to the stage not only to get the evening going but also in tribute to the 50th anniversary of the original proto-punk innovators MC5. Although guitarist Wayne Kramer was the only original member, the spirit of MC5 was clearly present and gloriously brought to life by an amazing collective of rock superstars.
This iconic band continues to blow us away after all these years and it was a very welcome surprise to see them ‘kick out the jams’ (pun intended). MC50’s rock’n’roll enthusiasm hit all the right spots as the band powerhoused through the classics, and displayed a lively stage presence that had everyone bobbing along to the music.
The stage was set (so to speak), the audience was pumped and it was now Airbourne’s turn to dominate, and dominate they did. From the moment the Aussie rock heroes entered the stage it was an absolute eruption of explosive energy and fierce showmanship. With air raid sirens, a bombardment of lights and a mind-melting performance, that left the crowd fearful to blink, for fear of missing even a second of the madness.
The band, backed by a stellar wall of amps, were constantly in motion, jumping from speakers and mounting barriers while declaring “As long as you’re alive and as long as we’re alive, rock will never die!” . But in my opinion the most phenomenal moment of this set was when Johnny O’Keeffe (who is famously known for his crazy and impressive performance antics), escaped the stage to run through the crowd while playing his guitar without missing a note, and performing a wild solo amongst captivated fans as they cheered on.
Sitting in the dark, not possibly being able to imagine how things could get any more awesome, a dark booming voice-over quickly reminded everyone that the best was yet to come. As the audiences suspense built and the lights hit the stage to reveal the iconic castle of nightmares scene, suddenly there he was – the master of macabre, the godfather of shock rock Alice Cooper.
Known as the originator of incorporating horror style imagery into rock music and for his flare for theatrics, we all knew we were in for a spectacular show, and with the immortal Cooper slaying the stage with the vigour of a man half his age, fans of all colours and creeds were beyond thrilled.
As he blasted out hits that have shocked and delighted for decades, Alice performed splendid haunting scenarios that included masked psychos, straight jackets, a giant billion dollar baby, the franken-alice monster, swords, a guillotine and so much more, that could hardly be given full justice with words. We expect Alice Cooper shows to be a deranged visual extravaganza of eccentricity, and it truly was an epic experience that exhilarated all the senses.
Alice’s accompanying musicians were nothing short of unbelievable, including rock goddess Nita Strauss shredding her heart out and stealing ours, and to simply call the band tight or skilled would be a gross understatement.
This spine-tingling spectacle undeniably had it all (including daughter, Calico Copper, appearing as Madmozelle Guilotine) and was insanely memorable, a perfect rock’n’roll storm of sight and sound.
Alice Cooper is 100% a must-see in my books and to anyone out there who doubted Cooper still had it in him, let me just say the Lord of Darkness is as badass as ever, and those ‘Ol’ Black Eyes’ are still very full of life!
Reviewer: Sarah Savage
Photographer: Davey Rintala @fastlanephoto
