Showing posts with label Alice Cooper In Concert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alice Cooper In Concert. Show all posts

9/19/2022

Alice Cooper In Concert At The Palace Theater

 Alice Cooper In Concert At The Palace Theater

Albany, New York

September 16, 2022 

It has been ten years since I attended my first Alice Cooper concert. It never seems that long. Going to one of my favorite venues always makes the experience more complete. The Palace Theater in Albany, New York, is a beautiful structure, and I have attended many shows there over the last twenty years. It reminded me of some of the shows back in the 70s, just crawling with people, and it certainly looked sold out. I saw a few couples with very young children, so the cross-section of age groups was enormous.

Alice Cooper has managed to stay relevant since his career began, and this night he would prove once again why he still is. At 74 years old, he is simply amazing, considering all the mountains he has had to climb. Overcoming alcoholism and remaining married to the same person since the 70s are two miracles worthy of note. His wife is a part of the show as well. I find him inspirational and can tell myself what a great example of energy and steadfastness he is and model myself after that, all the while hoping that I, too, can be that active when I reach my seventies.

There was no opening act, and the show started a tad late, after 8 pm. Alice has a fantastic band behind him, which is no surprise for a living legend on tour. I got some great pictures with my phone, and as you can see by the first photo, so many others probably did.

Alice has an average voice but works well with the music. He supersedes what he lacks in the vocal department with a visual stage presence and acting performance adapting to each character that is the subject of every song. There is nothing flashy like flames or loud explosions; you get a giant Alice-lookalike ghoul, the massive blown-up Billion Dollar Babie, and several other characters like a hunchback and an executioner for the famous guillotine scene. Plus, Alice, in a bloodied shirt and straitjacket on Alice ("Steven" from Welcome to my Nightmare) is being taken away by two orderlies from the insane asylum with large baby heads. There is a lot to take in, and if you know the music, it all comes together and makes sense.

I thought it was a great show from start to finish and the best performances, as far as I am concerned, were "Go To Hell" and "Billion Dollar Babies." There were just a few songs on the set list I was not familiar with.

The king of shock rock is now mild compared to what you may see on stage these days. However, it is very entertaining, and now as we get closer the Halloween, it seems appropriate. I found tremendous enjoyment and humor in what I witnessed and had a blast taking so many pictures when I usually take a few. Everyone has a dark side; it takes a great performer like Alice Cooper to bring that out and get you on your feet, hooting and hollering. Some people may say I have a sick sense of humor (and I will not deny that), but what remains most important to me is the entertainment and some excellent rock 'n' roll, and if that is what you seek; you shall find it at an Alice Cooper concert.

Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck-MuzikMan.net Founder

September 18, 2022

Setlist:

01. Nightmare Castle

02. Feed My Frankenstein

03. No More Mr. Nice Guy

04. Bed of Nails

05. Hey Stoopid

06. Fallen in Love

07. Be My Lover

08. House of Fire

09. Under My Wheels

10. He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)

11. Go to Hell

12. I'm Eighteen

13. Poison

14. Billion Dollar Babies

15. Roses on White Lace (Preceded by Kane Roberts guitar solo)

16. My Stars

17. Devil's Food (band only)

18. Black Widow Jam (including drum solo)

19. Steven

20. Dead Babies

21. I Love the Dead (band only)

22. Escape

23. Teenage Frankenstein

24. Encore: School's Out

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