Alice Cooper is the Darth Vader of Hard Rock_Metal live shows. The first true one of a kind. On the 21st of June, his 2007 tour made a one-night stop in Athens. How could we miss it? One of the greatest artists of his kind and time performed yet another rollercoaster show like he always has done. And we were there to talk and write about it!...
The lights deemed. A familiar shadow appeared behind the curtain and then he...killed himself! Well, almost. He was holding a human-size Alice look-a-like doll, and the show had just begun with It's Hot Tonight. By the way, he couldn't have picked a more suitable song to start with, as the weather was actually very hot in summertime Athens. The setlist was carefully chosen, including tracks like Woman of Mass Destruction, Raped and Freezin', Public Animal n.9 and School's Out but unfortunately Alice did not include any tracks from his famous Trash album that the greek fans mostly loved him for. Except for Poison of course during the last three songs of the encore. It was no surprise that it was the track with the most energy bounce off the audience.
The whole show lived up to the expectations though. There was a dancer_actress that accompanied many of his themed songs whilst another two to three guys would later strap him like they do so in mental institutes. Indicatively, some of the cool incidents that took place on stage were as follows. When performing Woman of Mass Distraction the lady dancer in a red dress was dancing around him, before suddenly pulling and pointing a gun at him. In Lost In America he wore his USA-flag jacket and a hat with a little American flag attached to it making fun with the ironic lyrics of the song. Alice later on held a human size doll of a woman in white clothes and eerie make-up, holding and kissing it (!!) before throwing it away in the end. But as smoke filled the stage, the doll came to life when the lady dancer quickly swapping places with the doll but in the end all she ever got was a good slapping feast from Alice! She also brought their supposed infant onto the stage on a baby trolley that Alice took for a stroll while singing to it.
However, the best part was when he flipped and decided to take out a stick and hammer it into the infant!!! That was when two caped men caught and strapped him down. He performed a song while still strapped before attempting to escape. When he was captured again they sentenced him to death, which was perhaps the most entertaining part of the show because as all of his fans must already know, they hang him live on stage! After that, he re-entered in a white jacket and hat before changing back at some point to the classic Trash outfit that saw him through till the end. For the closing song Elected he held a Greek flag up high when asking the audience through the lyrics to vote him for president of Greece! Really cool idea huh?!?
Overall, his performance lived up to our expectations. After so many live shows in as many tours over three decades now, Alice Cooper still amazes his fans, and not only, with the energy that he brings on stage, the excellent show he presents and the fact that when he sings I'm Eighteen we still believe it!
Setlist:
It's Hot Tonight
No More Mr Nice Guy
Under My Wheels
I'm Eighteen
Is It My Body?
Woman Of Mass Distraction
Lost In America
Be My Lover
Raped And Freezin'
Long Way To Go
Muscle Of Love
Public Animal #9
Desperado
Halo Of Flies (inc. Drum Solo)
Welcome To My Nightmare
Cold Ethyl
Only Women Bleed
Steven
Dead Babies
Ballad Of Dwight Fry
Medley: Black Widow / I Love The Dead
School's Out
Encore:
Billion Dollar Babies
Poison / Elected
