Viewing entries tagged
#AliceCooper

Shock rock maestro Alice Cooper makes nightmares fun at Tobin Center

Comment

Shock rock maestro Alice Cooper makes nightmares fun at Tobin Center

He’s the man behind the mask, he knows when you’re hungry — and at 75 years young, Vincent Furnier continues to parade around the world as the king of horror rock known as Alice Cooper.

So after the children had been put to bed — well, except for the 3-4-year-old boy wearing oversized headphones — parents ventured to the Tobin Center on Tuesday night to make up a crowd of 1,200 in the 1,600 capacity Performing Arts Hall and watch Cooper unveil his traditional bevy of rock, theatrics and nightmares in the name of fun.

Backed again by the triple guitar attack of Ryan Roxie, Tommy Henriksen and “Hurricane” Nita Strauss (the latter returning to Cooper’s band after playing with Demi Lovato earlier this year), drummer Glen Sobel and bassist Chuck Garric, Cooper took to the stage at 8:18 p.m. behind an enlarged newspaper banner declaring him “Banned in Texas.”

Oddly enough, the opening track “Lock Me Up” from 1987’s Raise Your Fist and Yell only featured the first verse and chorus before Cooper unleashed elder classics “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” “I’m Eighteen” and “Under My Wheels.”

Surprisingly, Cooper remained in the same long-sleeved black shirt and black leather pants ensemble for the first half of the 95-minute performance before exhibiting the props he’s known for. And boy, did they come in bunches after that.

First, however, Cooper delved into “Billion Dollar Babies,” “Fallen In Love” and “Snakebite” (watch ATM’s Facebook Live footage of all three here). The first of those tracks is another Cooper staple from the 1970s. The second is a 2017 tune on which he collaborated with ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons. And the third. Well, that one made the guys eat their hearts out.

That’s because when Cooper brought out his traditional snake friend, the constrictor wrapped around his neck nearly fulfilled many fantasies by coming this close to kissing the recently engaged Strauss on the lips faster than you could say, “Ewwwwww!”

If the slithering animal wasn’t your cup of tea, Cooper’s other two main highlights from a visual sense continued to be the namesake monster on another 1991 Hey Stoopid track “Feed My Frankenstein,” whose larger-than-life appearance left this writer wishing to witness a face-off with Iron Maiden mascot Eddie.

Unofficial seventh member Cheryl Cooper danced around the stage on a few tunes as well, but her main duty was to work Cooper’s third main prop — the guillotine. After chopping off Alice’s head and displaying it proudly for the audience, the slew of ‘70s and ‘80s hits kept coming. Watch ATM footage of seven more songs and jams in the YouTube clips below.

Cooper dropped new album Road on Friday, three days after the show, but nary a mention of it came even when “Alice finally speaks” during band intros on traditional closer “School’s Out” (watch below).

When an artist such as the long-standing Cooper comes out with new music, it’s a bonus of extra material that adds to an artist’s legacy rather than anything that’s going to be spotlighted in concert.

Cooper hooked up on tour with Rob Zombie two days later in Dallas, a trek that isn’t scheduled to come to San Antonio. But for one night only, Cooper was “too close for comfort” in headlining mode. And as he so eloquently put it at the end, he could only hope that everyone’s nightmares going forward be “horrific.”

As long as Furnier carries a ghoulish Cooper side to himself, he might make the top of any mythical most-likely-to-keep-rocking-live-at-100 list.

Perhaps therein lies the secret to living well at his age: a heaping of bad dreams tossed with a side of snake and Frankenstein — and a desire to keep making new music while giving fans a heavy dose of the classics they’ll always crave to hear.

The way only Alice can.

SETLIST: Lock Me Up (first verse), No More Mr. Nice Guy, I’m Eighteen, Under My Wheels, Billion Dollar Babies, Fallen In Love, Snakebite, Be My Lover, Lost In America, Hey Stoopid, Glen Sobel drum solo, Welcome To My Nightmare, Cold Ethyl, Only Women Bleed, Poison, Feed My Frankenstein, Black Widow (jam), Ballad of Dwight Fry, I Love the Dead, Escape, Elected. ENCORE: School’s Out (with Another Brick In the Wall section)

Comment

'Hurricane' Nita shreds through obstacles & 'Dead Inside' crowd at Rock Box

Comment

'Hurricane' Nita shreds through obstacles & 'Dead Inside' crowd at Rock Box

Unless your name is Steve Vai or Joe Satriani, the stars need to align just right if you’re going to play to a packed house as an all-instrumental guitarist. Even if that house is a bar.

John 5 has gone through sparse crowds on solo instrumentalist tours when he’s not performing with Rob Zombie, including at the Rock Box. UFO guitarist Vinnie Moore has done the same as a headliner at the Rock Box. Nita Strauss blew through the same downtown San Antonio concert bar Saturday night as a solo artist for the second time in three years after rocking the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park on Oct. 19 as part of Alice Cooper’s band.

Strauss receives her share of larger audiences playing with the original master of shock rock. So more intimate crowds whether the result of a pandemic, low ticket sales, a lack of promotion or all of the above that might normally affect some artists fail to fluster someone who goes by the nickname of “Hurricane.” Coupled with the fact Strauss is one of the most humble artists you’ll ever meet, it’s easy to see how and why she and her band thrived not only in front of an audience that struggled to meet triple digits but also showed a sense of humor during various technical difficulties. That included three attempts to take the stage for a unique and unpredictable opening track — the Power Rangers’ theme song — before the third time was the charm.

Yes, a hurricane was in full effect. And it came with a monster five-piece of a band (see 65-photo slideshow below).

Supported by Black Satellite, teenage vocalist/bassist Abby K and locals Wulfholt (apologies to the latter that ATM could not make it in time for their set), Strauss is touring behind her November 2018 instrumental full-length debut Controlled Chaos as she did June 2019 at the Rock Box, a show that also included Wulfholt (coverage here). This time, Strauss brought her first No. 1 song “Dead Inside” that co-stars Disturbed singer David Draiman. Saturday’s performance of the killer track featured Draiman’s vocals piped in and can be viewed below as part of ATM’s footage.

Strauss’ resume speaks for itself. In addition to playing with Cooper and her own band, she was the in-house guitarist for the Los Angeles Kiss of the Arena Football League, the team owned by KISS’ Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons in 2014. That occurred around the time she earned the gig with Cooper, both of which Strauss spoke about with ATM here.

Strauss also played the entrance theme for World Wrestling Entertainment superstar Shinsuke Nakamura at Wrestlemania 34 in New Orleans, and her Controlled Chaos song “Mariana Trench” was chosen as the official theme to NXT’s War Games pay-per-view event.

Along with her boyfriend and drummer Josh Villalta, Strauss and her band also delivered the goods on “The Stillness At the End,” “The Quest” and “Our Most Desperate Hour” (ATM footage below). She unveiled “Summer Storm” as an instrumental that was “a song that you definitely didn’t know” and segued into “a song that you definitely do know” — Cooper’s “Feed My Frankenstein.” Strauss enlisted the help of Black Satellite singer Larissa Vale for the latter, but Vale’s deep and raspy vocals didn’t exactly elicit memories of the 1991 studio version with Cooper (ATM Facebook Live footage here).

Strauss also shredded and headbanged her way through the first song she ever released as a solo artist, “Pandemonium 2.0” (anyone else hear the riff to Journey’s “Who’s Crying Now” toward the end?). Strauss and her band then gave the non-masses something to eat up — her traditional Texas performance of Pantera’s “Domination” (footage of both songs below), this rendition coming a mere 24 hours after Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals did the honors inside the room next door, the Vibes Event Center (coverage here).

Black Satellite, meanwhile, was an anomaly on the bill. The New York City goth band is actually known as a duo featuring Vale’s vocals and guitarist Kyle Hawken but enlisted a bassist and drummer to round out the live show. They didn’t generate a whole lot of enthusiasm following Abby K. and Wulfholt, but not through a lack of effort. Watch them in action on “Void.”

Abby K. and her trio, however, were a different story. Strauss said Abby K has opened at least one show on each of her prior solo tours and that this time she’s performing on the entire trek, “and I couldn’t be more proud.” The teenage vocalist/bassist showed she was more than comfortable making her San Antonio debut, warming things up in a rocking way on “Dirty Love” and “Rock the Rock” and closer “Dodging A Bullet (I Swear)” which can be viewed below.

Despite the technical obstacles that threatened to overshadow Strauss’ set but failed to do so, the headliner was just as impressive regarding her attitude toward the inconveniences as were her skills on the axe. Strauss repeatedly smiled and told those who bothered to show up that “any day on stage with these guys is better” than the previous 18 months or so we’ve all gone through. She even took time out to thank the Rock Box for having her — not many artists have been known to do that.

Yes, this was one instance in which a hurricane wasn’t so bad. In fact, it was downright rockin’ and bitchin’ by the first female signature artist to be endorsed by Ibanez guitars. Maybe next time she’s in San Antonio, there will be more on hand who will welcome being blown away by this talented and accomplished guitarist who’s more than just a pretty face on stage.

Comment