Alice Cooper, Trusts Arena, 20 February 2020: Concert Review

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Alice Cooper brought his ghoulish rock ‘n’ roll carnival to Auckland last night, where The Prince of Darkness captivated an audience at The Trusts Arena with 90 minutes of non-stop nightmare spectacle.

With support from American rock supergroup, MC50, and Australian hard rock band, Airbourne, last night’s concert at Henderson’s The Trusts Arena brought nearly three hours of glorious, over-the-top rock magic to an eager and excited crowd.

Committing to set times with unforgiving precision, MC50 took to the stage at 7 p.m. while much of the crowd was still lingering outside, largely unaware the band had started playing. Overhearing a large collection of the crowd discussing inaccurate listings of set schedules, this felt like a devastating moment of the night.

 Billy Gould (Faith No More), Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), Brendan Canty (Fugazi), and Wayne Kramer alone would draw a crowd for an entire evening, yet half the audience seemed to miss them, arriving as the final notes of Looking at You closed out the set and the blinding arena lights returned.

Following a quick reconfiguration of the stage and a menacing intro of the theme from Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Airbourne took to the stage through vocal howls and ferocious hard rock riffs. Burning through their set with little pause, the group delivered a constant stream of pounding drums, dizzying lights, and wild guitar riffs throughout their half-hour set, with lead vocalist, Joel O’Keeffe, growling out crowd addresses while throwing cups of beer to fans.

Now nearing capacity, the arena suddenly transformed into a suffocating sweatbox of heat, as fans rushed to both the bar and the free-water dispensers at the back of the venue in the brief intermission before Alice Cooper and his band arrived on stage. With the arena lights dimming as recordings of Years Ago and Nightmare Castle slowly filled the air, the seated crowd was immediately on their feet, screaming as the group emerged on stage and dove into Feed My Frankenstein.

There were a handful of small issues throughout the set – initial low vocal clarity and intermittent whining feedback throughout had the potential to ruin the show –  and I only mention this here to highlight the counterpoint of those small downsides; that an Alice Cooper show is a wild spectacle of rock ‘n’ roll brilliance, overflowing with grand set pieces, outfits, theatrical performances and an overwhelming collection of untamed guitar solos.

So much effort had been put into choreographing and organising this set that you couldn’t help but fall into its dark-carnival embrace, watching in awe as a giant Frankenstein puppet stalked across the stage in the opening number before No More Mr. Nice Guy saw Alice Cooper prowling the stage with a cane and the leather trousers that defied logic and reality itself.

Guitarists Ryan Roxie, Nita Strauss, and Tommy Henriksen began to tear through each song with mind-melting guitar solos, as Fallen in Love saw Alice Cooper on harmonica over a filthy blues-rock guitar riff and the brilliant drums of Glen Sobel.

He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask) saw two young women taking selfies of themselves with the band, before Jason Voorhees of Friday The 13th fame appeared to machete them from the stage, before the opening notes of I’m Eighteen saw the arena crowd screaming along in unified joy. Billion Dollar Babies, complete with a demonic baby doll projected on the rear of the stage, saw a giant cannon unveiled before the crowd, spewing confetti and custom Alice Cooper dollar bills into the air, with Cooper waving a rapier with an exaggerated flourish.

Barely halfway through the set, I was already completely sold on the spectacle and majesty of the event; glorious rock ‘n’ roll music, visceral guitar solos, and the sheer scale of the performance is unlike anything else we receive in concerts much of the time. There are always gorgeous light shows, occasionally cannons of confetti, but so rarely a continuous, fluid performance of this calibre.

Whether it’s the blood-drenched shirt and wedding dress of Roses On White Lace, a straight-jacketed Alice Cooper in Steven, the full-size, epic guillotine in Dead Babies, or the giant, demonic baby puppet bursting onto stage to carry Alice Cooper’s severed head in I Love The Dead, every song is worthy of its own mention, each moment of the concert feeling expertly crafted to provide a constant stream of spectacle.

A drum solo and bass solo, by Glen Sobel and Chuck Garric respectively, seemed an excellent example of why this works so well – it technically shouldn’t, it should feel disjointed and out of sync. Yet, it works, marvellously, with the rolling thunder of drums and slimy, wet distortion of the bass feeling like rock ‘n’ roll theatre; wild, manic, ridiculous and absolutely genius.

Closing the set with the sharp guitar of Escape, and a finale of Teenage Frankenstein, the band left the stage for barely a moment before returning to deliver a stunning encore of Department of Youth and School’s Out, joined by Elton John guitarist, Davey Johnstone, as giant balloons were thrown into the crowd, bubble machines spewed technicolour floating balls into the air, and a burst of confetti closed out the evening.

A master of performance, a dark wizard of rock ‘n’ roll spectacle, a supporting band who drip pure sex over their instruments, and set pieces which rival the most complex stage shows are individually impressive moments to experience at a concert. To have them force-fed in a continual stream of empowering, crowd-chanting rock songs is simply unforgettable, capable of transporting the crowd to another time, another universe – to the nightmare castle, where your host is a chameleonic rock god, and you’d gladly give up your soul to stay one more moment.

Alice Cooper will perform one more New Zealand show at Horncastle Arena, Christchurch, on Saturday 22 February. Tickets are available from TICKETEK.

13th Floor photographer Ivan Karczewski was there and grabbed this dazzling set of photos of Alice in action along with MC50 and Airborne. Click any image to view the full gallery.

Alice Cooper

MC50

Airborne

Alice Cooper Setlist
Years Ago (Played from Tape)
Nightmare Castle (Played from Tape)
Feed My Frankenstein
No More Mr. Nice Guy
Bed of Nails
Raped and Freezin’
Fallen in Love
Under My Wheels
Muscle of Love
He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask)
I’m Eighteen
Billion Dollar Babies
Poison
Guitar Solo
Roses on White Lace
My Stars
Devil’s Food (Band Vocals)
Black Widow Jam
Bass and Drum solos
Steven
Dead Babies
I Love the Dead (Band Vocals)
Escape
Teenage Frankenstein

Encore
Department of Youth
School’s Out (With ‘Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2’)

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