Alice Cooper -- Kansas City, MO -- June 15th, 2012

A late birthday present/early Father's day present, I went with my Dad to Alice Cooper in Kansas City. We had seen him four years ago at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson, KS, but everything from Alice's voice to the musical performances and everything in between was MUCH better tonight.

The main difference between this performance and the one I saw a few years ago was that Alice was much more concentrated on the music aspect of the show this time around. There definitely wasn't as much vaudeville interactions as in the past, but it only worked in his favor. He brought out the sword stabbed through stacks of money for Billion Dollar Babies and also got his head chopped off in the guillotine after Wicked Young Man, but it was definitely a rock show. The biggest laugh of the night came when a giant Eddie-esque Alice ran out of stage during Feed My Frankenstein!

Alice's backing band is better than ever. The main noticeable addition to me is Orianthi on guitar, who I absolutely love. She blew me away. Might be one of the best guitarists I've ever seen live! All the musicians had a pretty nice jam session within Halo of Flies, and the two main guitar players had a great call and return shred session in Under My Wheels. There was a bass and drum solo as well, but Orianthi and the guitars were where it was at!

Alice himself actually sounds better now, too. He had a much larger range than he did a few years ago. He hit all the tough notes (well, tough for someone that age) in Only Women Bleed. Great stuff.

So yeah. If you're seeing Alice open for Maiden on their tour coming up, you really don't want to miss him. He's a legend and he's on top of his game right now.

1. The Black Widow
2. Brutal Planet
3. I'm Eighteen
4. Under My Wheels
5. Billion Dollar Babies
6. No More Mr. Nice Guy
7. Hey Stoopid
8. Is It My Body
9. Halo Of Flies
10. I'll Bite Your Face Off
11. Muscle Of Love
12. Only Women Bleed
13. Cold Ethyl
14. Feed My Frankenstein
15. Caffeine
16. Poison
17. Wicked Young Man
18. I Love The Dead
19. School's Out
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20. Elected

Alice Cooper: 9.5/10
Venrez: 3/10

Upcoming show reminder/update!

Hey dudes and dudettes! It's been a while since some new shows were added, but there have been some and I'll put em all here in a sec! But here's a quick reminder of some killer shows coming up between now and the end of May:

Overkill w/ God Forbid, Suidakra, Diamond Plate, Marasmus at the Beaumont Club on April 26th!
Kittie w/ Warbringer, Pathology, The Agonist, Bonded By Blood, Blackguard at the Beaumont Club on May 9th!
Bible of the Devil at the Riot Room on May 9th!
Origin w/ Cattle Decapitation, Aborted, Decrepit Birth, Battlecross, Troglodyte at The Granada on May 18th!
Danzig and Doyle play Misfits! w/ Hammerlord at Uptown Theater on May 31st!

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Now, here are some shows that have been announced recently:

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The father of theatrics and shock rock, Alice Cooper, returns to Kansas City after a long while on June 15th at the Midland Theater! I saw him a few years back at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson, and he put on an amazing show! Can't wait to see this legend again.





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Torche is taking a break from their tour with Corrosion of Conformity to bring possibly the heaviest show of the year to the Riot Room on June 17th! Also with them is The Slowdown!





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A pretty big concert for Kansas City - Dream Theater will be making a semi-rare appearance at Starlight Theater on June 29th! Opening for them will be a King Crimson cover band featuring ex-members of the band! Should be a fantastic show.




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My personal concert that I'm super excited for is the return of probably the heaviest duo on the planet - BLACK COBRA. They'll be bringing crazy awesome sludgey/crusty/grindy guru's Gaza to the Riot Room on July 2nd! I was floored when I saw these guys a couple years ago. Their last album was amazing, so this show will be off the charts crazy.






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And finally, just announced - Nightwish will be returning to Kansas City at the Beaumont Club on September 27th. Along with them is Kamelot. It's not often you see these two bands around these parts, so it's a can't-miss show!

Upcoming show: Alice Cooper!

The godfather of shock rock returns to Kansas City! He always puts on a fantastic show. He'll be at the Midland Theater on June 15th!

Gruesome Twosome: Coming For Real This Time

Instead of just Alice Cooper or Rob Zombie, but shock rock giants will be at the Independence Events Center on October 6th. Murderdolls are opening.

The Gruesome Twosome

Three different chances to catch a pretty cool tour with Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie:

May 7th - Springfield, MO @ Shrine Mosque
May 8th - Kansas City, MO @ Ameristar Casino
May 9th - Wichita, KS @ Hartman Arena

Alice Cooper returns

Apparently, Alice Cooper makes a return to Kansas City on August 7th at the Ameristar Casino. It's a 21+ event, but you should be able to get in if you're under 21 with an accompanying parent!

Alice Cooper -- Hutchinson, KS -- September 12th, 2008

Alice Cooper – Hutchinson, KS – September 12th, 2008

Alice Cooper might seem as an odd choice for the Kansas State Fair, but it was probably the best outdoor performance that I've ever seen. The venue was a grandstand facing a large, muddy racetrack but, for the fair, had a stage erected in front of it. The seats were bleachers which made it cramped for sitting, but there wasn't any of that as soon as Alice started. The stage was ridiculously close to the front row of bleachers, Alice had no problem interacting with everyone close to him. The rain thankfully let up half an hour before the show started and kept away the rest of the night. It was perfect conditions for a magnificent performance from legendary Alice Cooper.

First and foremost, Alice Cooper is a performer. Whether stabbing a look-alike before his opening song “It's Hot Tonight”, impaling a baby doll on a stake during “Dead Babies” or wearing a top hat and throwing fake money to the crowd while playing “Billion Dollar Babies”, Cooper and his band were always entertaining. And when it's that good, you can't help but sing along. He played a twenty-five song set and each song sounded fantastic. The mixing was impeccable for an outdoor venue. Time has certainly passed since he wrote the songs because gone are the electric twanging of 1970's guitars and now all his songs are heavier and louder, and for the most part, really add a lot of positive aspects to the music. Other things have changed as well: Alice Cooper still has his distinctive tone that goes well with his style of music but he can't hit too many of the higher notes now. Luckily, both his guitar players and bassist do the back-up vocals and they make up for it. Included in the show were guitar, bass, and drum solos. Every member of this band is ridiculously talented and the crowd, who I though was going to be a very conservative crowd (since it's a family fair and all), were eating out of Alice's hand all night long. Extremely wonderful concert.

It's Hot Tonight > No More Mr. Nice Guy
Under My Wheels
I'm Eighteen
Is It My Body
Woman Of Mass Distraction
Lost In America
Feed My Frankenstein
Acoustic Guitar Solo > (In Touch With) Your Feminine Side
Dirty Diamonds
Vengeance Is Mine
Halo Of Flies > Bass Solo > Drum Solo > Instrumental Jam
Welcome To My Nightmare > Cold Ethyl
Only Women Bleed > Steven
Dead Babies > Ballad Of Dwight Fry > I Love The Dead
School's Out
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Billion Dollar Babies
Poison
Elected

Best Class Ever

Today is my first day of class and in my Music Listening class, we're required to go to 4 concerts and one more for extra credit. Credit is given based on a report of them.

Expect more in-depth than usual reports for:

Alice Cooper (Sept. 12)
Impaled (Sept. 15)
Obituary (Oct. 1)
Ben Folds (Oct. 22)
Danzig (Oct. 31) (although this one will probably be more about Skeletonwitch)

I may switch out Danzig for Metallica.