ALICE COOPER + ARTHUR BROWN + DANIEL RICHLER – BRIGHTON DOME 14.10.26
The make-up may be legendary, the guillotine infamous and the snake still a star attraction, but what happens when the master of rock’s dark arts puts down the props and tells his own story?
There are rock stars, there are rock legends, and then there’s Alice Cooper — a man who turned theatrical horror into rock ’n’ roll gold and made parents question whether their children’s record collections were portals to the underworld, mine included! I had to hide my version of ‘Killer’ as my Mother hated snakes!
Now, with his autobiography ‘Devil on My Shoulder’, Cooper invites us behind the greasepaint, beyond the blood-soaked theatrics and into the extraordinary life of the man who helped redefine what a rock concert could be.
I arrived at the venue to be greeted by a massive tour bus reversing into the Dome car park, where a few people had gathered. The merch desk was busy, and inside the auditorium an huge Alice slideshow was running with some Alice tunes and sound bytes.
It’s showtime…
The book co-author, Daniel Richler, stepped onto the stage. He asked us to cast our minds back to our first vivid recollection of Alice Cooper. He said his first was on the ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ tour when the guillotine was used! Mine, well I think it was seeing Alice perform on ‘Top Of The Pops’ doing ‘Schools Out’!
Daniel introduced the guest for the evening, Arthur Brown as the opening lines truly blasted out “I am the god of hell fire and I bring you…”. Arthur Brown took to the stage waving his cane at the crowd in salute. Then “Please welcome Alice Cooper”, a huge cheer went up for Alice. There is a delicious prospect of these two veterans of rock sharing the stage. If anyone understands the importance of making an entrance, it’s these two! Alice quickly followed him onto the stage, dropping his first line of dialogue, “Really? Yes, this is all my own hair, it might not be the right colour!”.
Daniel asked the first question to Alice “Can you remember the first time you heard ‘Fire’?”, to which Alice replied “Yes, Glen Buxton arrived with a radio and played it”. Alice remarked he had not heard anything like it, and noted the same makeup! Arthur piped in saying he thought Alice may have been copying his grandfather! Alice went on to detail how the makeup came about after watching some ballet, the squiggly lines which he said looked like spiders coming from his eyes. The makeup changed over time to the more familiar look.
Alice said he invented Alice to look like his favourite rock star, what would he want him to look like? Black leather – Emma Peel! Mix it with the Bette Davis film, the caked on make up, seen in ‘Whatever Happened To Baby Jane’, he noted the cracked porcelain skin and face and smeared eyes. Arthur took us back to his first experience and trial with make-up, he and his brother applying it to his sleeping grandfather’s face. Arthur went to great lengths to then describe his back story. He covered the time he found a crown of thorns, put it on and then he set fire to it.
Alice went on to mention his first hearing of The Beatles, “She Loves You yeah yeah yeah” and ‘Please Please Me’. Those two records made the impact on Alice which led to the formation of The Earwigs. So tracks were performed in tracksuits and Beatle wigs, and hired girls to scream and shout! They then became The Spiders. They were hugely influenced in the early days by the Yardbirds and The Who.
There are no guitars to turn up to eleven, no theatrical executions to endure and, presumably, no need to check underneath your seat for a severed head. Instead, the audience gets something arguably more intriguing: the man himself, talking about the life behind the legend. A fascinating memory surrounding Salvador Dali and a hologram and a brain artwork. Then some fabulous banter between Arthur and Alice relating to footwear! Which led on to those leopard skin, thigh high, seven inch boots. The guillotine, the hangings paled as Alice explained the terror of wearing those boots!
But beneath the macabre humour and outrageous mythology lies a more revealing story: one of reinvention, personal struggle and survival. We moved onto the substance and alcohol abuse period, which led on to the famous who killed the white chicken story, “It’s got feathers, it’s got wings and it should fly. Chickens don’t fly, they plummet! Next day in the papers Alice Cooper Kills Chicken”.
This was an extraordinary chance to hear first-hand the stories behind six decades of rock history, outrageous stage antics, excess, survival “how many beers did you drink? Just the one but I had been drinking it for 10 years”, and the creation of one of music’s most recognisable characters.
Alice ended session one reading a section from the book ‘The Devil On My Shoulder’. Session two started with Alice returning to the lectern to read another section from the book.
Alice then introduced us to his wife of 50 years Sheryl, “She’s always in charge” and daughter Calico. These two are now pretty much involved in every show, dancing or dropping the guillotine blade on her husband! “I kill her; she kills me… we never argue!” He is clearly very proud of his family. The microphone was passed to Sheryl and Calico. The leading question was “What was it like growing up in a house of horrors?” It was great to see them and share a few hilarious tales.
The fascinating heart of Cooper’s story lies in the battle between the man and the monster. On stage, Alice is the sinister ringmaster of a theatrical nightmare; away from the spotlight, there’s Vincent Furnier, the man behind the character. The distinction between the two became increasingly blurred during the wild years of rock excess, and the discussion tonight gave us a candid look at how he eventually came through the other side.
We then had a white top hat carried on stage for a question and answer session. Alice advised “I do not do any maths questions”. Various questions from the audience had been submitted online. A lively and a wide selection of questions which Alice answered fully with fact and humour. There was a youngster in the crowd, in full Alice regalia with a fake snake. Alice also hinted that some of the earlier 80’s songs from what Alice labelled “Black Out Albums” might get a remake.
The evening progressed, at times you could have heard a pin drop as everyone listened. Alice can drop names like the best of them. We had stories involving Zappa, Glen Buxton, Keith Moon, Bernie Taupin, Nilsson and more. You are going to have to see this tour to hear those stories in full, no spoilers!
We had tales of rock ’n’ roll mayhem, encounters with legendary names, strange happenings, outrageous performances and the sort of backstage adventures you could only imagine.
Alice also touched on his faith and religion. Alice related a couple of stories and then gave us a heart-warming insight into his created charity Solid Rock, a teenager centre, taking “kids of the streets”, and there are now three centres. He is clearly deeply involved and loves working with this charity.
Time was up, Arthur came out onto the stage for an auditorium photo opportunity. It was announced that the book had hit the number 4 slot on The New York Time book charts. Alice reminded us that “the first people in the world who really got Alice Cooper were the British – so thank you!”
‘Devil On My Shoulder’ provided a fascinating encounter with one of rock’s great survivors — an evening where the stories are the main attraction and the truth may prove every bit as entertaining and inspiring as the legend.
Good to see you again Alice Cooper, a fabulous evening.
