Alice Cooper is living proof that rock and roll has no boundaries when it comes to the art of the live show. Cooper has always been a road warrior since he came onto the scene on the cusp of the 1970s, and he shows no signs of slowing down.
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The 75-year-old has spent most of 2023 juggling three tours. After wrapping up dates on his solo tour in May, he’s spending the month of August on Mötley Crüe & Def Leppard’s The World Tour before heading out on the Freaks on Parade Tour with Rob Zombie, Ministry and Filter from August 24 to September 24.
But the end of the Freaks on Parade Tour doesn’t mark the end of his time with Rob Zombie. The two acts are also set to headline several “An Evening With” shows on October 3-23, followed by a trio of Halloween Hootenanny shows on October 25, 26 and 28.
Cooper has long been known for his elaborate stage shows that typically involve large, animatronic monsters and getting his head chopped off by a fake guillotine. Cooper’s rabid fans will likely be pleased by his trademark stage antics and classic hits that have made him a classic rock icon for six decades.
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Attendees are sure to recognize classic hits like “Only Women Bleed,” “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” “Billion Dollar Babies,” “Feed My Frankenstein” and many others. Cooper seems to be staying true to his model, with his set lists nearly identical in each show. In addition to the hits, Copper lets his musicians take the spotlight with band-only performances of “Killer” and “I Love the Dead,” plus a guitar solo from Nita Strauss in between his chart-topping hit “Poison” and “Black Widow,” a deep cut off his debut 1975 album, Welcome to My Nightmare.
Cooper tends to end the show with a bang, closing out his set with the song that made him a household name, “School’s Out,” followed by an encore of his other signature hit, “Elected.”
As if he wasn’t already busy enough, the rock legend is also set to release a new album, Road, on August 25. The album is appropriately titled, as the songs were recorded live by his touring band.
“In the past, the show got reviewed before the music did,” Cooper said in a statement. “We had hit, No. 1 albums, but it was always about what we did on stage. For ‘Road’, I wanted the band to be involved in the foundation of all the songs. I only see these guys when we’re on the road. So, I wanted them to be as tight as they are for the show but on all new material. That’s what we did for this record. When you have a band this good, I believe in showing it off, and this is my way of doing so.”
Check out the setlist of a typical 2023 Alice Copper concert:
“Lock Me Up”
“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”
“Welcome to My Nightmare”
“Cold Ethyl”
“Poison”
“Only Women Bleed”
“Feed My Frankenstein”
“Black Widow”
“Ballad of Dwight Fry”
“Killer”
“I Love the Dead”
“Escape”
“School’s Out”
“Elected”
Photo Credit: Jenny Risher/Courtesy of Atom Splitter PR
