Alice Cooper – Wembley Arena 2002

Arriving at the gig mightily disappointed that Tracii Guns (guitarist and founder of L.A. Guns) had forced the band to pull out of the Monsters of Rock tour (and this was after they’d been brought in as replacements for the Wildhearts who pulled out because they felt they were too good to play under Thunder), I was hoping that Thunder and Alice would be enough to compensate. Well, I knew Alice would be, with a stage show like that you can’t fail. But I was sceptical as to how much stage time the other bands would be afforded to leave Alice enough time for a full show; it is, after all, his tour.

Dogs D’Amour ambled onto the stage pretty much on time, after a really quite lame introduction by Total Rock (event sponsors) resident DJ Krusher. Now, not knowing anything by the Dogs I couldn’t really sing along, but they were fun enough, kind of bluesy hard rock. Tyler (lead vocals and guitar) is quite an impressive front man but I wasn’t convinced by his voice. Bit too gravely for this sort of music. Could have been early sound problems though, some of the songs didn’t sound that clear.

The Arena was largely empty at this point, most people having bought tickets (myself included) based on Thunder and Alice playing and regarding all other acts as a bonus if they happen to get there on time. The bar obviously seemed more attractive. After a small amount of set up, and another lame intro from Krusher (now looking distinctly like a drunk Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen) The Quireboys hit the stage. Now this was more like it, a screaming front man, twin guitars and some classic songs. Again, didn’t know many songs by them, although one I did recognise but never realised until then that it was their song. I’ve since learned that drummer for the night was none other than Jason Bonham, the son of the now dead Led Zeppelin drummer, John. The Quireboys finished with their most well known (even I knew this one) song, 7 O’clock. This went down a storm with the now approaching sizeable crowd who were obviously flocking from the bar in preparation for Thunder. A better set than the Dogs, but I fear not much of a replacement for L.A. Guns. Never mind. The best was to come.

Thunder hit the stage running at around 8:15pm and launched into a superb 1 hour set. Even now I can’t get over Danny Bowes hair. Short and bleached blonde. That’s not Rock! What’s he playing at?! Well, it must have done him some good, his voice was better than I’ve ever heard before. For the first time of the evening I actually knew most of the songs on offer, barring the new one (which was excellent but not quite up to the standard of the old ones) and a couple of older tunes. Possibly the highlight of the whole evening for me (but I’m slightly biased, it’s my 3rd favourite song of all time) was the superb rendition of the classic, and best known Thunder song, Love Walked In. An excellent seven-minutes plus version with an extra solo from the great Luke Morley and a huge sing along chorus at the end with the whole crowd joining in. Fantastic stuff. Alice was going to have a job to match that.

As the lights dimmed for the start of Uncle Alice’s set around 9:15 the huge roar from around the arena suddenly made me realise the place was packed. No question who everyone had paid to see. Starting with an eerie intro tape a huge curtain at the back of the stage whipped apart to reveal a whole other half to the stage (didn’t realise until then that the other bands had been playing on half a stage!). Now this was a stage set up. Statues, a staircase, platforms, smoke machines, you name it, Alice had it. The intro tape switches to the familiar clunky start from Hey Stoopid and the crowd roar as the band enter. As the Hey Stoopid intro finishes a figure standing at the back on the platform suddenly springs into life and hits a huge gong, then runs down the stairs (and falls over, don’t think that was intentional) and smoke fills the platform. As it clears there’s Alice, in a long leather coat, with his head down. Very boy band. The band launch into probably the best song from Alice’s new Dragontown album, Sex, Death and Money. And God they were heavy. Flowing smoothly into Brutal Planet, Dragontown and finally Sanctuary before returning to Sex, Death and Money, the opening medley was superb.

Then we had a non-stop run through of almost every classic Cooper track from throughout his career. Undoubted highlights were the chilling Welcome To My Nightmare, Wicked Young Man, Go To Hell, the delicate I Never Cry and the seminal Poison. One song of note was the inclusion of the track Trash, originally recorded with Jon Bon Jovi on guest vocals from the album of the same name. Not a regular in the Cooper set normally, so that was a welcome surprise.

Almost every song was punctuated with some kind of stage antic, be it decapitation with a guillotine, beating up a nurse, Alice being brought back to life as a kind of Frankenstein monster or fighting with Britney Spears. All the classic old stage props made appearances, the sword, the aforementioned guillotine, the crutch, the mutant baby, the cane and the new Dragontown knives. All the female roles in the little acts were played by Alice’s daughter Calico. Another definite highlight was the band solo slot, showcasing in turn the guitarists and the drummer with the bassist providing backing for all. An excellent instrumental piece giving Alice plenty of time for a costume change. More clothes than Madonna, that bloke.

What a show from the Coop’ and what a night in all. Thunder were superb and I think Dogs D’Amour and especially The Quireboys provided an excellent warm up for the main bands.

“ chilling ”

Thunder Setlist: Welcome To The Party / River of Pain / Low Life In High Places / Somebody Get Me A Spin Doctor / Higher Ground / Backstreet Symphony / Love Walked In / Good Loving Gone Bad / Dirty Love

Alice Cooper Setlist: Sex, Death And Money > Brutal Planet > Dragontown > Sex, Death And Money (Reprise) / Sanctuary / I’m Eighteen / Welcome To My Nightmare / Go To Hell / Billion Dollar Babies / Feed My Frankenstein / Wicked Young Man / Nurse Rozetta > Dead Babies > Steven > Ballad of Dwight Frye > Killer > I Love The Dead > Devil’s Food > Black Widow > Drums > Ballad of Dwight Frye (Reprise) / No More Mr Nice Guy / Is It My Body? / Fantasy Man / Trash / Lost In America / I Never Cry / Only Women Bleed / Poison / Under My Wheels / School’s Out // Elected / Cold Ethyl / Department of Youth

Written by Andy Lye
More: Gigs, Hard Rock, Alice Cooper, Thunder