Diary of a Music Addict

Concert review: Alice Cooper – Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion, Gilford, NH – August 11 2019

Maxime Allard

Alice Cooper is definitely part of my top 3 favourite live acts. Not only was he my second concert experience all the way back in 2006, but he has remained one of my favourite performers as the years went on. His blend of theatrics, Halloween costumes and rock and roll is still relevant to this day; what other show on earth offers you a good old decapitation followed by a resurrection and giant balloons filled with confetti? When my friend asked me if I wanted to go see him perform at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion, I jumped at the chance. Road trip and Alice Cooper, can you really ask for more?

Motionless in White was the first act of the night. We arrived a bit late and witnessed only half of their set. The band seemed competent and in top form. The songs were not really my cup of tea, but their fans were loud and clearly having a good time. Halestorm was up next, and I’ll be honest: I only knew them by reputation. I was immediately impressed with frontwoman Lzzy Hale: her voice is strong and powerful, and it was quite impressive to see how much she could push it. From piercing screams to subtle whispers, nothing seemed out of her range. The rest of the band was also interesting to watch: the drummer used gigantic drumsticks for his solo, and the lead guitarist had lots of opportunities to show off his skills. They got the crowd pumped and everybody was now ready for Alice Cooper to take the stage.

A black curtain soon fell on the stage, and on it you could see Alice Cooper’s big black eyes looking fiercely at the crowd. He opened with ‘Feed My Frankenstein’, which I thought was a weird choice because this song is more likely to be featured in the middle of the set. However, the crowd reaction proved me wrong. The back of the stage was occupied by a medieval castle that was very detailed and offered the perfect backdrop for the show. Before the end of the first song, a 10 feet tall Frankenstein appeared on stage and tried to grab Cooper. He was quickly taken back to the castle by an Igor lookalike.

For a long time Alice Cooper fan, the setlist was made in heaven. Not only did it feature all the hits like ‘Billion Dollar Babies’, ‘I’m Eighteen’, ‘Poison’ and ‘No More Mister Nice Guy’, but t also featured a decent number of deep cuts. I would have never hoped I would be hearing ‘My Stars’ or even ‘Raped and Freezin’’ live at some point in my life! Where most nostalgia acts prefer to play it safe, Alice really went out of his way to have a little something for everyone. You could see that some of the fans in attendance had never heard these songs before, but when they are performed with such passion, and with a macabre choreography on top of it, it’s difficult to stay seated. My personal highlight of the show is without a doubt the song ‘Roses on White Lace’. ‘Raise Your Fist and Yell’ is my first Alice Cooper record, and to hear something from it was simply magic. Let’s just say that the fourteen year old in me was really excited.

There are now three guitarists in the band and they are all top players. Nita Strauss and Tommy Henriksen from the Hollywood Vampires) got the most attention during solos, but the rest of the band also got a few moments to shine here and there. It was particularly the case during a jam version of ‘Black Widow’. The rhythmic section even snuck in some parts of ‘Black Juju’ at the end of it. Everything was designed to make sure that this part of the concert was not just another boring drum solo. The evening concluded with an energized performance of ‘School’s Out’ with some members of Halestorm and Motionless in White joining Alice Cooper and his band on stage. When Alice finally introduced himself, the crowd went nuts. After all these years, he still knows how to mesmerize a crowd.

Setlists:

Alice Cooper

Halestorm

Motionless in White

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