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Oct. 22, 2017

REVIEW – FORBES.COM – Alice Cooper Floored Australia With Classic Cuts at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion

When Alice Cooper spoke with Forbes writer Steve Baltin back in July, he revealed that he didn’t know his newest album Paranormal had a central theme while he was writing it. But on Saturday night at Hordern Pavilion, in Sydney, Australia, the rocker demonstrated that his nearly five-decade long career has been one elegantly unspooling concept project.

Alice Cooper in Sydney, Australia. Photo by Laura Studarus

It wasn’t so much the ubiquitous makeup, opening show pyrotechnics, or even the truckload of props featured in nearly every song. (Coupled with a backing band featuring Chuck Garric, Ryan Roxie, Nita Strauss, Tommy Henriksen, and Glen Sobel, this provided the sixty-nine-year-old musician recovery periods after more intensive songs. It was perhaps the only concession made to his age.)

From Lady Gaga (who Cooper has been known to cover) to U2 (who’s Larry Mullen Jr worked with Cooper on his newest release) plenty of bands have proved that elements of glam/shock rock are still alive and well. But Cooper does it better than most thanks to an intense dedication to the craft. It’s because of that the musician managed to sport a snake before Britney made it cool, jumped out a coffin on the Muppet Show, and curated a rumor mill that claimed he threw a live chicken into the audience. (Which since has been debunked).

It isn’t just his music (although many would argue its inherit strengths) but rather its packaging that helped push the project forward. Think dark visuals full of macabre visual themes that are—without fail—theatrical. Unsurprising then, that the curtain at the Hordern dropped to reveal a set populated with creepy dolls, a play on the tour’s nightmare theme and a call back to his 1973 album Billion Dollar Babies. That his many costume changes included a top hat and walking stick (a combination that dates back to the 1970s and once sold on ebay for over $1700). And that the dramatic stage work during “Feed My Frankenstein” would have surely have left Wayne and Garth leading a few rounds of “We’re not worthy.”

The leather and vintage tour shirt-clad audience ate it up. And of course, why wouldn’t they? It’s yet another twist on the same spectral they’ve been enjoying since the release of Cooper’s debut album Pretties For You. Thanks to the help of manager Shep Gordon (the subject of Mike Myer’s Supermensch documentary) Cooper was creating a personal brand long before the term was given a hashtagable name. Even now, it appears like there’s still more where that came from.

Check out Alice Cooper’s upcoming tour dates here.