Posts Tagged ‘alice cooper’
Flotsam and Jetsam Concert Review, Austin, TX, May 14, 2018
This could also be titled: “NEEEEEEEERRRRRD!” I guess most of my posts could be called that.
Last night was pretty huge for me in general. Since first hearing Chastain’s Ruler of the Wasteland in high school, I’ve been a huge fan of drummer Ken Mary’s work. Most folks know about his time in Chastain, Fifth Angel, Alice Cooper, House of Lords, TKO and a slew of others and there’s no need to go too in depth on his discography as that info is all out there for anyone to look up.
In recent years and thanks to the internet I’ve been able to connect with Ken and always had hopes to meet and see him play. A year or so ago Fifth Angel did a reunion and I considered flying out for that but saw that Ken had some shoulder issues and had to bow out of the shows. Recently he stepped in with Flotsam and Jetsam after Jason Bittner left to join Overkill. He ended up doing the Keep It True show in Germany a couple of weeks ago and is on Flotsam’s upcoming album. He’s also doing the current tour with them and that’s where this story gets us to yesterday.
Doors for last night’s show were at 7PM and I arrived around 6:30 in hopes to catch the band, do some metal nerd stuff and whatever. As I pulled up, Erik AK was outside the bus while the trailer was getting some welding done to the ramp gate. We started talking and I asked if they had dinner plans and if not, I’d be glad to take them to dinner. He rounded up the troops, did a quick round of introductions and we walked over to the Jackalope for some burgers and beers. Of course I was stoked to hang out with Ken and jibber jabber on the walk over. Once at the Jackalope, the guys took pictures on the giant rabbit and I ordered up drinks and food for everyone. It was great talking with them about the old shows at the Boathouse in Norfolk, VA where I had seen them several times in the 80s and 90s and talking with Ken about his time in Chastain, Cooper etc. The guys really enjoyed the food and the restaurant in general. As we walked back I mentioned having some stuff to get signed and was invited on the bus to get that taken care of.
Once there, the first thing I had Ken sign was The Book. Obviously he’s got numerous entries in there but I wanted to have him sign on the Chastain band photo. I already head Leather, David and Mike sign it in recent years and Ken was the final piece. Michael Gilbert, the only other original member with Eric AK, signed my Doomsday and Flotsam (2016) LPs. I had gotten his and Eric’s signatures in The Book a few years back. Added bonus was Michael Spencer being back in the band on bass. I had him sign in the Sentinel Beast section. Score! Of course I had a stack of LP covers for Ken. It was really cool having him tell stories about each of the bands. I had the rest of the band sign the 2016 F&J LP as well and then I made my exit off of the bus to let them rest up before their show. Added bonus, I got to hear 3 rough mixes from their upcoming album while we were on the bus. “Want to hear some of the new album?” “Is that a real question?” It sounded killer and Ken’s on drums for that one, too. I also asked if they were playing Der Fuhrer from the debut LP. Eric said they sound checked with it but didn’t plan to play it. “We’ll add it for you. Thanks for dinner.” SWEET.
After putting my nerd stuff back in the car, I needed to just chill out for a bit before their set and hung out on the patio and caught up with some friends.
Flotsam was scheduled to go on at 10:20PM. Love early shows! They ended up going on closer to 10:30 and opened with Monkey Wrench from their 2016 LP then went into Hammerhead. The already small crowd thinned out a little but the ones who stayed let Flotsam know they were appreciated. The setlist mixed up a lot of stuff from Doomsday, No Place, the 2016 LP and one from Drift. The band was solid and Eric’s voice sounded good. This was the first show of the latest leg of their Forbidden Territories of the World Tour and we were lucky to have them as a headliner as they end up in the opening slot with Hammerfall for much of the tour. That tour rolls back around in June in San Antonio and I’ll likely hit that show as well. Michael Spencer is a beast of a bassist, very impressive. Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley (F5) shred well together and of course the highlight for me was watching Ken play. He’s not an overly busy drummer but adds the right amount of flash and technique when needed and had some nifty stick tricks here and there. After the encore song, Doomsday for the Deceiver, Ken handed me a stick and Steve gave me his pick. They were done just before midnight. PERFECT.
What an incredible evening all around with a killer band and some good friends. Super thankful to Ken and Flotsam for letting me intrude on their time for a bit.
Click photos to see comments.
Alice Cooper Concert Review, Austin, TX, August 21, 2016
Alice rolled into Austin again for the 3rd time in 2 years…and there’s nothing wrong with that! I’d go see him every week if I could.
As it was last year, we were served an evening with just Alice Cooper. I was quite pleased to see that the setlist was different for this tour. I ended up with 3rd row seats at stage right on Ryan Roxy’s and Chuck Garric’s side. Ryan pitched a pick perfectly to me towards the end of the show.
Overall it was great and Alice’s voice was in good condition and his backing band was as solid as ever. One of these days I’ll get Garric and Hendrikson added to The Book.
The only down side to the show was the amount of fucking camera phones being held up the whole show. Don’t get me wrong, I will snap some shots but I don’t keep my phone out and held up the whole show. It was really annoying. But I digress.
Highlights would be Ballad of Dwight Fry, Elected, The World Needs Guts and a good rendition of Ace of Spades. It was a strong set overall.
I used a couple of my own photos as well as some from Christie O. and John A. Thanks!
Alice Cooper Concert Review, Austin, TX, February, 12, 2015
No real review that would be any different than the San Antonio show. It was a blast again! I did get Chuck’s pick, an Alice $100 bill and the necklace, too.
Enjoy the pics!
Alice Cooper Concert Review, San Antonio, TX, February 11, 2015
To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who has said, “I don’t like Alice Cooper.” Sure, you may not be into his music, his politics, his religion, but how can you not just like the guy? He’s a class act. Intelligent. Funny. Consummate front man.
I’ve been a fan since as long as I can remember thanks to one of my older brothers. One of my favorite Cooper moments ever was his appearance on the Muppet Show in the 70s. I met Alice last year in Dallas and those few moments talking together will forever be special to me. A few months later I saw him with Motley Crue and it was great. Shortly after that show, it was announced that he was doing a solo tour, an evening with Alice Cooper. I bought tickets for the Austin show as soon as they went on sale and got one for the San Antonio show and scored second row 2 weeks after they had gone on sale, which I thought was odd.
I rolled down to San Antonio right after work and picked up my friend, Rodney, who had a close seat in the section next to mine. I had never been to the Majestic Theatre before but wow, what a beautiful venue.
Alice was scheduled to come on at 8PM but didn’t hit the stage until about 8:15. The lights went down and The Underture started. The open up with Hello, Hooray and roll right into House of Fire and No More Mr. Nice Guy. The crowd was going crazy and I was smiling ear to ear. Alice and the band, as expected, sounded great. He is pretty active on stage, especially for a guy who is 67 years old.
He played most of what I expected to hear. Of course I want to hear songs from From The Inside but he’s been ignoring that album for quite some time. I was a little surprised he didn’t go deeper into the catalog since he was doing the longer set but he decided to play 4 covers which apparently he’s been doing often when he’s headlining.
His band is always top notch and last night was no different. Everyone is extremely talented and are each a show within the show. Drummer Glen Sobel is a beast of a drummer. Veteran guitarist, Ryan Roxie and bassist, Chuck Garric, were positioned on my side for most of the night. Ryan slapped 2 picks in my hand throughout the course of the night. While I started out in the second row, the security girl motioned for me to come right up front and there I was stationed for more than half of the show. I didn’t realize until after the show that guitarist, Tommy Hendriksen, was the bassist for Warlock, who I had seen in 1988. He and third guitarist, Nita Strauss, also handed picks to me during the show. Score!
Alice threw out 2 of his plastic canes, a ton of Cooper dollar bills and some plastic bead necklaces (during Dirty Diamonds). At the end of the show during the School’s Out encore, tissue paper feathers and streamers fell from the ceiling and the crew threw large balloons filled with confetti out on the stage and into the crowd. The ones that got near Alice were pierced with his sword.
It was a great show and I can’t wait to see it again tonight!
Motley Crue & Alice Cooper Concert Review, Cedar Park, TX, July 15, 2014
Last night marked the second time I’ve seen Motley Crue (1989) and Alice Cooper (1996). Crue was OK that night…better to say that the band was just fine, but Vince Neil wasn’t. He’s been awful the 2 times since then that I’ve seen him with his solo band. Cooper’s show back then was awesome as expected. I’m not the biggest Crue fan and really only like the first 2 albums, but they do put on a decent show. I pretty much love all Alice Cooper.
Crue announced recently that they were calling it quits for good and that they signed some sort of silly contract stating that there would be no more Crue shows after this tour. We’ll see. I probably wouldn’t have gone to see this had it not been announced that Alice Cooper was opening. DONE AND DONE. I got the presale code from Alice’s website and scored decent seats in the front center section of the relatively new Cedar Park Center.
My close friend, Trans Am (TA), and I arrived around 6PM and I was surprised at how small the venue was from the outside. It’s pretty small inside, too. But it’s really cool. Not really many bad seats in the place. We hung out in the parking lot for a few then made our way in. We both ran into a ton of folks we know, of course. This is the type of show that you’d see pretty much everyone you know. We found out last minute that there was an opening band. They weren’t worth mentioning. zzzzzzzz.
Cooper’s front curtain goes up and his intro music begins. We rush back into the venue, the curtain drops and they open with Hello Hooray. Alice sounded great. He’s not young but he still moves around like he is and his voice is still quite strong. Since he was the opener, his set wasn’t that long but he played some of my faves like Billion Dollar Babies and Ballad of Dwight Fry. Killer and I love the Dead were only partials which is unfortunate. With From the Inside being my favorite Cooper album, of course I wanted some songs from that, but such is life. His band was solid and his drummer, Glen Sobel, was awesome. That’s no surprise since Alice never hires any slouches for his band. They close with School’s Out and that was that. The crowd was into it and Cooper just sounded so good. I really hope he does another headlining tour. I’ll travel for it if I have to.
Crue hits the stage and opens with Saints of Los Angeles. Lots of lights for this show. They move right into Wild Side and Primal Scream. I will admit that Vince sounded better than I had heard in recent years…at least for the first 3/4 of the show. The band sounded solid although I thought their mix was a little muddy. I think that may have been on purpose. Mick was relatively mobile, surprisingly. The show was obviously done with backing tracks as I heard lots of rhythm guitars that weren’t being played by Mick. Lots of additional vocal tracks beyond Vince and Nikki and the newer version of the old Nasty Habits backing singers. On With the Show, Too Young To Fall In Love and Too Fast for Love were highlights for me. By the time they started playing Shout at the Devil, Vince’s voice started to give out. He’s always been good at letting the crowd sing a lot for him and last night was no different.
They had lots of pyro which was pretty cool. Nikki had a flamethrower bass set up that was fun…and hot.
Overall the show was good and we had a blast. What a great venue, too. Next month I’m seeing Chicago and REO Speedwagon there.
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- sheesh. FINALLY
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- TA and me
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- Hello! Hooray!
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- Photo by RocknrollaStyle
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- Lots of pyro. Photo by RocknrollaStyle
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- Pentagrams are always cooler when they are on fire, right?
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- Flame on!
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- Home Sweet Home (final song) at the end of the show in the middle of the arena
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- Mick handing out guitar picks at the end of the show
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- Walking off into the sunset. Adios Crue.
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- Killer photo by Photo by RocknrollaStyle
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