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By: Jason Beardsley

Artist: Alice Cooper

Venue: Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, AUS

Date: Friday 14th February 2020

Valentine’s Day, love is in the air, there’s no room for despair, ‘your lips are venomous poison’.

Where else would you take your valentine? Sure, you could take them for a nice candlelit dinner by the Yarra, or you could turn your back on romance and take them to see the godfather of shock rock himself, Alice Cooper.

Rain wouldn’t dampen our spirits on the way to Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. Not even the eyeliner running down the faces of all the Ol’ Black Eyes fans in the building could deter such a dedicated fan base. Everyone takes a moment in the bathroom to fix their make up before we make our way into the arena, where some familiar faces await on stage.

It’s a seated show tonight, with no pit. It’s a theatre of nightmares. From the ashes of MC5, proto-punk outfit MC50 have brought their 50th anniversary tour of the famous Kick Out The Jams album to Australia. Wayne Kramer, the band’s founding member, even at 71 still drives his political anti-establishment message to the masses, unifying the audience, reminiscent of the times when ‘Kick Out The Jams’ was recorded in 1968.
A supergroup is formed around him with the unmistakable faces and guitar stances of Kim Thayil from Soundgarden and Faith No More’s Billy Gould on bass. Zen Guerilla frontman Marcus Durant owns the arena with his powerful fire breathing rally cries, with hints of blues and psychedelic rock. MC50 impress with their musicianship and they look like they’re having a damn good time. It’s a privilege to have them here on our shores.

Up next was the bone crushing, Warrnambool-raised rock ‘n’ roll royalty of Australia, Airbourne.
Joel O’Keeffe is ‘runnin wild’ and showing his hometown who’s boss with the band performing a career-spanning set of songs, with some taking the audience back to those wild times at Cherry Bar or the Criterion Hotel in the mid noughties. In true Aussie style, VB is the beer of choice. Joel takes the show to the fans making his way up the stands of the arena to shred guitar on a hand rail while his security pours with sweat, chasing him around to make sure he doesn’t fall on his face. This high-octane four-to-the-floor rock ‘n’ roll sets the crowd alight, and no one is sitting anymore. Surely it can’t be long until Airbourne is headlining a big stage like this one in Australia. The big stage is where Airbourne belongs.

‘Welcome to Nightmare Castle!’ A ghoulish voice shouts from the deep.
The red eyed curtain drops unveiling the castle with the band already on stage exploding into ‘Feed My Frankenstein’ and ‘No More Mr Nice Guy’. Alice Cooper proves age is no barrier, even at 72 he still prowls and sneers across the stage, maintaining eye contact with the audience at all times. His voice still raising the hairs on your skin, sadistic ol black eyes in his prime.
The set is not filled with any unnecessary talking or ‘I can’t hear you’s.’ It’s hit after hit with no dead space. The castle is consistently lit by lanterns with every road crew member also dressed to be part of the act. Adequately named Nightmare Castle as Frakenalice breaks out on to stage frequently, selfie taking tourists are murdered atop the castle. During the controversial ‘Dead Babies’ Alice is stopped at the last minute from taking to a baby with a meat cleaver before having his head cut off in the now famous guillotine with a giant zombie baby roaming around the stage playing with the deceased’s head. But it’s Valentine’s Day right? Don’t worry, there was room for love songs as well, such as ‘Bed Of Nails’, ‘Fallen In Love’, ‘Muscle Of Love’ and hit single ‘Poison’.

Alice Cooper is surrounded by some of Rocks finest musicians including guitarist Nita Strauss who is undeniably one of the greatest guitarists and performers of our generation. We are treated to spine tingling guitar solos and chest thumping drum and bass solos, it feels like someone has been pounding my chest for CPR. The whole set is choreographed to perfection, nothing is out of place and actors and actresses moving on and off stage slot in seamlessly.

The career spanning theatre of nightmares featuring Alice Coopers biggest hits and deepest cuts lasts over 90 minutes without any rest for the wicked and is closed out by fan favourites ‘Department Of Youth’ and every student’s favourite ‘Schools Out’ featuring a special interlude of Pink Floyd’s ‘Another Brick In The Wall’, joined on stage by Airbourne’s Joel O Keeffe.
The Godfather of shock rock still has what it takes and will be around for as long as he walks this earth. Even then he will probably still be here as a real Frankenalice.

Alice Cooper, Airbourne and MC50 have remaining dates and tickets available for the following shows:
Saturday February 15th @ Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney
Tuesday 18th February @ Entertainment Centre, Brisbane
Thursday 20th February @ Trusts Arena, Auckland
Saturday 22nd February @ Horncastle Arena, Christchurch.

Alice Cooper Setlist @ Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, 14th February 2020:
Feed My Frankenstein
No More Mr Nice Guy
Bed Of Nails
Raped and Freezin’
Fallen In Love
Under My Wheels
Muscle Of Love
He’s Back (The Man Behind The Mask)
I’m Eighteen
Million Dollar Babies
Poison
Roses On White Lace
My Stars
Devils Food
Black Widow Jam
Steven
Dead Babies
I Love The Dead
Escape
Teenage Frankenstein
Department Of Youth
Schools Out

Review Edited By: Jake Ebdale