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Two legendary musicians who have gained inspiration from one another have hit the road to bring the shock and slaughter to only a handful of cities in the US and Canada. Teaming up on tour for the first time, Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie may have a twenty-year generational gap between one another, and a dissimilar style in music, but one thing is for certain, they both know how to put on a rock show from hell.
Just minutes before 8:00 PM, the lights went down on the crowd of approximately 8,000, and the opening riff to “Schools Out” bounded through the PA system as the curtain dropped. Vincent Damon Furnier, AKA Alice Cooper, took to the stage with top hat and cane in hand that was reminiscent of a perverted ringmaster hosting the evening. Cooper was in complete character, taunting his audience and establishing quickly that he was in control. Cooper’s twisted stage show told the story of his past depravities, delusions, and eventual redemption; allowing art to imitate his life once lost through personal strife, inclusive of drug abuse and mental illness, and his triumphant return. Cooper’s vocals sounded exceedingly well for a front man who has been shocking the senses with a career that has spanned 40 plus years. Pulling out the classics, such as “I’m Eighteen”, “Billion Dollar Babies”, “Go to Hell”, “Dirty Diamonds”, “Under My Wheels”, and several more, Cooper also broke into “Vengeance is Mine”, from his 2008 release “Along Came A Spider”; while standing on a six meter platform as he permitted the audience to sing along to the chorus. Cooper was in top shape giving a stellar set.
After a phenomenal performance from Cooper and a rather exceedingly long set change, it was time to enter the bizarre world of Rob Zombie. It was quite apparent that Zombie had taken a few pages from the book of Alice Cooper, but his live show has a more psychedelic twist accompanied by a more industrial sound. Rob Zombie and crew came out in full force, and garb, to deliver an explosive show at 100%. The sound quality left something left to be desired, but Zombie’s energy and attitude made up for the lack there of. Surrounded by TV monitors, playing sinister movie clips, and a exhibiting a stage set that looked to be right out of a haunted house, Zombie played many of his hits from a 12-year solo career; including “More Human Than Human” and “Thunder Kiss ’65” from the now defunct White Zombie.
The Rob Zombie band showed off their instrumental solos with Joey Jordenson (Slipknot) on drums and Johnny 5 (Ex- Marilyn Manson) playing a butchered version of Eddie Halen’s “Eruption Intro”. Zombie was enjoying the energy from the crowd as he proceeded to talk with them during the set and pulled out a string of ladies bras from the last time he was in town. Zombie even proceeded to jump off stage and run up the stairs into the balconies. Zombie was in such a good mood that after what seemed to be two encores, he then stated that “This was the first time I have done this”, (referring to yet another encore) going on to say how much of an inspiration Alice Cooper was that he wanted to dedicate a song to Alice. Zombie proceeded to play “School’s Out “(an Alice Cooper cover) to cap off the night.
After the music was over, I was left asking myself a couple questions: Why has it taken so long for this tour to come to fruition, and why has Alice Cooper never toured with Ozzy Osbourne? Lastly, will we ever see a Gruesome Tour again? After seeing this installment, I can only hope so.
Photos and Review by: Brandon Marshall & Suzanne Drager |
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