I am hoping to go see Alice with Ace Frehley (!!!) opening tomorrow. I think I picked up some disease at the U2 show but I hope it doesn't affect my schedule too much.

From Montgomery:

Excellent boot:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=44Y0E2J4
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=MQHH7DVL











Slideshow:
http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d14/GARosebud/Montgomery%2010-09/?albumview=sl...

Blog:

COOP KARMA

My wife and I have been enthusiastic rock fans for years, and dedicated Coop fans from the early 70s with my first show in Buffalo on New Year's Eve on the Billion Dollar Babies tour. While we have shared many great concert adventures together, and had more than our share of good fortune along the way, nothing compares to the luck and fun we have had with the Coop.

To say Miss Wendy of Alpharetta, Georgia is an enthusiastic fan is like saying Tiger Woods is a pretty good golfer. Miss Wendy is reserved, polite, an outwardly conservative in appearance, and people always say she is the last person they would guess to be a hard core "Rock Chick". However, those who know her best know she rocks non-stop, start to finish, and sings the lyrics to every song. There is no sitting in the rows around her, and everyone is guaranteed to have a fabulous time.

She also has the strongest case of rock and roll karma I have ever witnessed. Her positive and enthusiastic energy just seems to result in good things happening. Just as background, good things just seem to happen to Miss Wendy when it comes to Alice.

So, this tour's adventure began with the news that the great Damon Johnson would be returning and the Dream Team line up of Keri, Chuck, and Damon would be playing together again, in our opinion the most talented trio since the original Alice Cooper Group. This would be a MUST SEE tour, even if it meant a road trip like last fall’s visit to the Orpheum. Rocktober has simply come to mean Halloween and rockin' out with the Coop.

How to get good tickets (and the set list) are always debated to death on fan websites. This year AliceCooper.com provided a dedicated ticket allocation for fans through the website. The anticipation of the tour was great, but this new wrinkle added extra dimension.

The stress and excitement built as the cities were officially announced. Will Coop finally come back to Atlanta? Finally, Montgomery, Alabama is announced and is only a short 3 hour drive so the Theater of Death is on. The Halloween tradition continues.

The long wait is over and the website presale arrives. To my amazement, the process goes as quickly as possible and before the clock strikes 10:01 am we have a confirmation. There will be tickets at Will Call, but where are they? It will take weeks to find out, but my faith in Miss Wendy's Coop Karma is strong.

A little more than a week before the show we get an e-mail stating we are in row A. A quick look at the seating chart reveals we are not only in the front, but dead center, the best seats in house. It is now official; alicecooper.com is the greatest band website around!!! WOOFREAKINGHOO!

The day of the show arrives. The Montreaux 2005 BluRay is cranked up extra loud for breakfast. We scramble around getting our stuff together and into the car. Hotel reservations printed out. Check. Will Call e-mail with the confirm number. Check. Camera and batteries. Check. Miss Wendy even brings an old 45 of her favorite song, No More Mr. Nice Guy, purchased back in 1973. Ever the optimist, she is prepared, and packs the blue Sharpie just in case the Coop Karma continues.

We arrive at the venue and discover this is definitely much nicer than last fall's Orpheum. The ushers ask us if we need help finding our seats, and we answer, heck no, just take us up front to the best ones in the house!

The Theater of Death curtain is backlight and truly a beautiful work of art. As the house lights dimmed, the curtain becomes even more vibrant, then as the familiar chords to rock’s greatest anthem cranks up, the curtain drops, the adrenalin rushes, and everyone is up and screaming. Keri comes up front, immediately recognizes Wendy and my now traditional orange Halloween T-shirt, and gives a nod and big smile. There is nothing on this planet better than the front row eye contact at a great rock show.

Coop is next to the front, motioning everyone to get up (they already are), and takes a quick scan of his minions. He too immediately spots the frenetic little lady singing along on every line, and doing his shtick, sometimes before he does. He seems to be getting a real kick out of it. The band sounds great and everything is well mixed and crystal clear. Keri, Damon, and Chuck are really cranking out the riffs, and they all seem to be feeding off the crowd’s energy.

The costumes are really beautiful. The staging and show is great, featuring different aspects of Alice’s character. The new story line is fun, interesting, and something clearly different than past tours, which is a good thing for those who like to catch every tour. The result is that the staging drives the set list, lighting, and band interaction with the crowd. Compared with past tours there seemed to be less interplay between the band members and the audience, and much fewer pics being shot into the crowd.

There were some band soloing opportunities during costume changes, and few 3-guitar attacks up front that served up tremendous hard rocking facials to those up close. I could have reached out and played Keri’s guitar with him! It’s an experience that is absolutely breathtaking!!!

The show continues, and it seems to me that while Coop is working the crowd masterfully as he always does, he also seems to be keeping an eye on Miss Wendy to see if she is still with him, and of course she is hanging on every word. Even from the top of the platform he is working her and the crowd during Vengeance. I must say that Vengeance sounds much better this year than last. Keri wears an interesting mask during the song similar to the white one from a previous tour.

Dirty Diamonds and Billion Dollar Babies are coming and that means it is goody time. A table of sorts is rolled onto the stage with necklaces, billion dollar baby heads, and other assorted props and trinkets. While we knew it would happen, Coop starts having way too much fun with Wendy and the necklaces. He dangles them from his mouth, hangs them in front of her, gets her jumping up and down a few times and she loves playing along, then tosses some over her head and to those beside her. That Alice character can be an evil dude, LOL. All part of the fun you know, and she eventually ends up with two necklaces.

Later in the song after the money is gone he has the baby head on the sword. With all the commotion going on I missed exactly how this happened, but I think the head fell off the sword and Coop kicked directly to Miss Wendy. Now I am thinking this is really cool, a great new treasure, and way better than a cane or riding crop. I congratulate her and give her a high five as she proceeds to tuck it away in a very safe place. I suspect she is already thinking about where this new treasure will be displayed in our house. Perhaps on the fireplace mantle where everyone will see it?

While I am engrossed in Killer I see Miss Wendy is being led down the front row by two gentlemen, one of whom is a huge security guard. Dang, these are our seats, this isn’t the 70s and we are not offensively wasted, and it then dawns on me that perhaps the Coop Karma has struck again! Maybe she got picked out to go on stage for Schools Out. If it happens to anyone, it would happen to her. A few minutes go by, and she finally reappears seconds before No More Mr. Nice Guy. No time for explanations, she starts rocking out with the euphoria of someone in the front row, having her absolute favorite song sung to her, and having just learned she is going back stage to meet THE MAN!!! As I mentioned earlier, for some reason she decided to bring an old 45 of the song bought in 1973 she recently found in the house. There she is holding it right in Coop’s face which brings a huge smile!

After the song I get the story. She asks Jerry (Coop’s personal assistant) if she is being thrown out. No, they tell her, they just want the doll head. It’s a prop and they really need it back. OK, Jerry asks, “what do you want for it?”, and she says that she wants to meet Alice Cooper of course. Jerry says OK, but has to clear it through Toby. Miss Wendy then adds, “tell Toby its Wendy from Alpharetta, Georgia”, he knows I’m ok! She then asks how she will get backstage because she has no pass. Jerry says we all know that’s you’re sitting in the front row, because you look like you are having more fun than the band!

The big question is, did Coop kick it so he wouldn’t trip on it, or did he kick it her way for an opportunity to meet her later? We’ll never know, but the Coop Karma is still alive!

The meet and greet was unbelievable, and lasted close to 90 minutes. Coop was very sweet to all, unassuming, extremely nice and patient, and a very down to earth person. He obviously cares a lot about his fans and appreciates their support. We were also able to ask Toby about a DVD and he said they are still planning to do one for this tour and are still working on it.

I also told him how pleased we were with the new website, and particularly the ticket access it provided us. He was very happy to hear that, and said that while they really don’t like the idea of charging for VIPs most other bands are doing it, and it makes access available to all who really want it and aren’t family, friends or have business connections.

In summary, this was a fantastic show with great theatrics and fabulous musicianship. It is great to have Damon playing with his buddies again and you should all go catch the Theater of Death as soon as you can.

THANK YOU SO MUCH ALICECOOPER.COM

Another slideshow of great photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41674530@N ... 9638/show/

I'm really a fan of the original Alice Cooper group, I saw A.C. 3 times in the 70's, first time was at a festival called "Beggars Banquet" there was about 6 bands playing that day, I'm trying to remember them all, Bread, Steppenwolf, Bloodrock, Beach Boys, Chilliwack (I think they may have been called The Collectors then) & A.C. who were not that popular, it was the time that "Love It To Death" came out & 18 was starting to be a big hit, they passed out apples & oranges that day free, & when A.C. came on the audience were pelting the stage with these, Alice was actually catching these & throwing them back in the audience like a girl throws a ball, & this made the audience even more hostile, they were called all these homophobia names, I remember Mike Bruce playing organ & he got hit on the side of the face, the Bass player was hiding behind the amps, Alice would go limp wristed & say "I didn't think you cared" when 18 was played that's when the audience got really into it, because that was more familiar, but in the end they won the audience over.
2nd time I saw them was at Winter Pop on New Years eve '71, I was right up close to the stage, it was one of the best rock concerts I ever seen, that band could play! they were fantastic & tight as hell, what a change in the audience reaction, now they looked upon as heroes, at midnight Alice got hung in the gallows, Maple Leaf Gardens went pitch black, & there was this lighting going of & showing Alice hung & this loud thunder that was deafning, then the band came back, with Alice in top hat & tails singing We still got a long way to go.
Last time was at the Gardens again, this was the last tour with the original band before they broke up, it wasn't a great concert, alice appeared to be going thru the motions, not putting much into it, I later read the book "Billion Dollar Babies" by Bob Greene, & it mentioned what was going on in the band, they were jealous of Alice's success, & some of the members felt they should be treated the same, with words to the effect 'it's all about Alice & his bodyguard" there was a lot of cursing going on behind each others back that when this book came out, they read what others were saying in the book.
Concert stubs from 2 of the shows I saw.

Here is the boot of the 12-14-73 Toronto show:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TDR9QD0B

If you like the original band you should love this 1972 ABC In Concert video:
http://cid-e5e1764ca22dfe48.skydrive.liv....%20In%20Concert

Here are some 71 vids:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=F4Y4FFYZ
http://rapidshare.com/files/143956314/BlackJuJuParis1971.rar

Pity you haven't seen him since 1973.  You have really missed many great shows, and while props go to the song writers of the classic material, his current band is far better live than the originals, and they are sober.

http://www.youtube.com/user/officialalicecooper?blend=1&ob=4#p/f/6/OnsH7hhDIiM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZTRnaiQ7Js&feature=PlayList&p=C006EBCE01065113&i...

Since Halloween is this week please enjoy this new one:
http://www.youtube.com/user/officialalicecooper?blend=1&ob=4#p/a/u/0/rMIq9UOTCoY

And let's not forget the #1 Stripper song in the world was also written after the 70s!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OPnFKSfSxw

Here is an excellent site to sign up for.  Tons of great stuff.

http://deeppurplehub.proboards.com/

The Toronto show is not great quality, but neither is my memory of those hazy days.

Try this for ABC In Concert:

http://cid-e5e1764ca22dfe48.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/.Public/Alice%20Cooper...

I don't know.

Here is one list of things in circulation:

http://www.alicecooper.pl/

Some pics from Atlantic City Show September 25, 2009 ~ House Of Blues ~ Alice is a rock star! His daughter is in the nurse outfit.













I got to meet Richie Scarlett after the show at the bar, and his friends and the other band members. Very cool crowd!  

Great pics and I am glad you enjoyed the show.

Calico Cooper is actually doing some acting outside the show this year and Nurse Rosetta is played Tiffany Lowe.

Looks like Slash joined in.

Jesus Christ wrote on Oct 30^th, 2009 at 12:42pm:


Yes, The Billion Dollar Babies tour was the first with the guillotine, & it was '73, it was around this time that the group added extra musicians, like a guitarist who filled in for Glen Buxton who had destroyed himself with alcohol to the point where he almost died, so he got another addiction, Cocaine, & there was a extra guitarist who played on the stage, along with a keyboard player.
The band from Lou Reed was on the Welcome To My Nightmare tour & record, that's when Alice broke the band up & went solo, legally adopting the name Alice Cooper so that the rest of the original members don't have a claim on the name, when the band broke up, that's when my interest went zero, some of the original members were responsible for writing A.C.'s biggest hits, & were a fantastic tight band in their day, I loved the band as much as I did the lead singer, they played a lot here in Toronto in their very early days, some I didn't see, but after Love It To Death, I saw every show they did as the original band, I forgot all about School's out tour at Varsity Stadium in my earlier post.
Alice cooper was actually almost a transvestite band in the early days before they got into horror stuff, so I don't know about Baby Jane Hudson influence, maybe when he got into horror that was a influence, but Alice used to wear Women's dresses, slingback shoes, those women's tops with the very thin straps on the shoulder's, he used to stuff newspapers in his top & make it like he had tits, all kinds of stuff like this to get a audience reaction, which he certainly did, a lot of people in the beginning thought they were gay, which they weren't.

Didn't say I hated 'em.  I said finding that out killed it for me.  "It" being the whole rebellious rock & roll thing. Seeing how as soon as he made some money he turned into a Vegas act. Golf is just emblematic of that for me.  

Golf aside, his ridiculous political views would preclude me ever going to see him again.

http://chrenkoff.blogspot.com/2005/06/alice-in-realityland.html

PS - Do I have to move this to the politics thread now?


Don't you worry, Jesus has LOTS of fun. 

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40127

"When I was a kid and my parents started talking about politics, I'd run to my room and put on the Rolling Stones as loud as I could. So when I see all these rock stars up there talking politics, it makes me sick.

"If you're listening to a rock star in order to get your information on who to vote for, you're a bigger moron than they are. Why are we rock stars? Because we're morons. We sleep all day, we play music at night and very rarely do we sit around reading the Washington Journal."


Whatever his views, he keeps them to himself unless asked.  Screw Bono, Bruce, Santana, Babs and other entertainers who confuse musical ability with wisdom and use their shows to preach their view of a socialist utopia paid for with other people's money.

Check out what Coop is doing with Solid Rock.  He isn't passing the plate at his shows or lobbying the gov't.

What a bitch !



http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/leepullen/AliceCooperBitch.jpgt=12647294...