Alice Cooper

Supported by The Cult

Live at the O2 Arena, London, England

May 25th 2022

By Robert Corich

Photography by Jeff Moh

Alice is back in town!

The nightmares can begin again.

Kicking off with ‘Nightmare Castle’ the accompaniment to the glorious pinball machine recently unleashed in The Coop’s honour sets the scene for a musical feast of the highest order.

Segueing into a blistering ‘Feed My Frankenstein’ from 1991’s ‘Hey Stoopid’ was a sure sign this was going to be show of spectacular aural and visual delights.

Following on was the classic ‘No More Mr Nice Guy’ from the bands classic 1973 multi-million dollar seller ‘Billion Dollar Babies’, which for the oldies in the crowd was more than a little nostalgic.

Next up was a raucous ‘Bed Of Nails’ from Alice’s late 80’s mainstream hit album ‘Trashed’ followed by the crowd pleasing title track from 1991’s ‘Hey Stoopid’ album.

Probably the weakest link of the night was ‘Fallen In Love’ from 2017’s ‘Paranormal’, although Alice’s weak links are still streets ahead of much of the music issued by modern rock bands today.

‘Shut Up And Rock’ from the most recent long player ‘Detroit Stories’ did exactly that, it rocked, as did the follow up ‘Go Man Go’ from the same album (also recorded for the ‘Breadcrumbs’ release that appeared just before the lockdown).

It was brilliant to hear new material and this reviewer wished there had been more cuts aired from Alice’s latest release.

Keeping in pace and form ‘Go Man Go’ was followed by the Killer classic ‘Under My Wheels’ which has never disappointed.

The sexy and hugely talented Nita Strauss was let loose next on her six strings and the pit photographers and front row fans were clearly delighted with what they witnessed up close and personal.

Next up was as near to a deep cut as we were likely to get in ‘Roses On White Lace’ from the underrated 1987 album ‘Raise Your Fist and Yell’.

Raising their fists and yelling was exactly what the fans did with the original Alice Cooper hit ‘I’m Eighteen’. Just think, five and a half years from now and hoping the Coop is still touring it’ll be easy enough to change those lyrics and belt out I’m Eighty with hopefully just as much gusto.

A little bit of ‘Poison’ was up next which kept the crowd on their feet and this was followed by the absolute Cooper classic ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ accompanied by giant dancing and bouncing rubber baby. Excellent stuff visually.

‘Black Widow’ from 1975’s classic solo album ‘Welcome To My Nightmare’ started well before the plot was lost a little with a rather needless drum solo. Not that it was bad, it wasn’t, but I’m pretty sure most in the audience would have appreciated another song in place of the skin bashing epic.

Redemption came in the form of ‘Steven’ which never fails to impress and this was followed by a melancholic and haunting version of ‘Dead Babies’, one of Alice Coopers most misinterpreted songs.

Next up was a rousing version of what is probably Alice’s most controversial of tunes, ‘I Love The Dead’. The crowd went wild, singing at the top of their voices and clearly knowing every word. Any undertakers in the audience must’ve been gleeful at the thought.

The third song of three from 1975’s ‘Welcome To My Nightmare’ was ‘Escape’ where the irony wasn’t lost on the previous song choice.

The eighties favourite ‘Teenage Frankenstein’ had the crowd on their feet again and this was the perfect prequel to the set closer and career defining ‘Schools Out’.

Played with Pink Floyd’s ‘Another Brick In The Wall’ incorporated into the delivery and confetti falling from the rafters while huge rubber balloons bounced around with Alice trying to pop them with his sword just added to the party atmosphere.

Theatre to the extreme and an absolute original from beginning to end you never quite know what you are going to get from a Cooper show, however he rarely disappoints.

An evening with the Coop is one of the best shows ever and it’ll be a sorry day when he hangs up his leather, whips and chains for good.

Catch him while you still can.

Setlist: