Review by Shawn Perry
Live photos by Paul Hebert
Being back on the road after the pandemic lockdown is integral to Alice Cooper, so when the legendary shock rocker and his band rolled into Nashville, the hard rockin’ macabre and mayhem were nonstop. That includes bringing along a solid opening act in the form of Ace Frehley — the original spaceman from KISS. The short shower may have left the seats at the Ascend wet and cold, but a rock and roll blowtorch was ignited the minute Frehley and his band — guitarists Ryan Cook and Jeremy Asbock, bassist Philip Shouse and drummer Matt Starr — stepped up and started running through a mix of KISS and cover songs.
For KISS fans — and there were quite a few in attendance including one fellow wearing Frehley’s “Spaceman” make-up and costume — it might have been nearly as monumental as the farewell tour currently running through 2022. Armed with a Les Paul, Frehley took a no non-sense approach by opening with “Rocket Ride,” one of five studio tracks on Alive II and a favorite of the guitarist’s fanbase. “Parasite” and “Strutter,” which were included on the first Alive album, pushed the set forward, and featured Frehley working up his signature leads.
You can’t beat a great groove with an equally great riff, so when Starr’s cowbell set the pace for a cover of Mountain’s “Never In My Life,” the guitars seamlessly fell in line to deliver. Following it with Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times Bad Times,” Frehley thanked both Mountain and Zeppelin for creating the songs he recorded for his 2020 release, Origins, Vol. 2.
KISS songs dominated the rest of the set — “Shock Me,” “Deuce,” “Detroit Rock City,” “Cold Gin” and “Black Diamond,” but Frehley also reached back to halcyon days of KISS solo albums when the guitarist recorded the best disc of the four. Tonight, from the album, he worked in “Rip It Up” and then got funky with the unlikely Top 20 hit “New York Groove,” the most successful single from any of the KISS solo albums.
Frehley’s meandering guitar solo had its moments, but he was really at his best when the band was there for support and moving through songs. Rumors abound that the Spaceman could show up at a KISS show to help close out the legacy he helped create. As an opener for Alice Cooper, he’s just getting warmed up.
Once full darkness swallowed the sky, the stage was set for Alice Cooper. A gothic tower, a stone bridge and a stairway to the stars (the Nightmare Castle) outlined the backdrop as the band — guitarists Ryan Roxie, Tommy Henriksen and Nita Strauss, plus bassist Chuck Garric and drummer Glen Sobel — scrambled into their positions. The chorus of “Feed My Frankenstein” cued Alice Cooper to emerge from behind the center door to take charge for the next 100 minutes. At every turn, the unexpected was bound to happen. And it did.
The beauty of an Alice Cooper show is that his music from the 70s and 80s, comprising a bulk of the set, fit comfortably alongside everything else. Pulling in three songs from his 2021 Detroit Stories album was a no brainer, though it may take some time getting used to seeing the ghoulish singer blow harp on Velvet Underground’s “Rock & Roll.”
Anyone who goes to an Alice Cooper show is there to see the theatrics. If the big gruesome-looking baby who appeared during “Billion Dollar Babies” didn’t have you on your feet, Alice Cooper’s head on the chopping block (with wife Sheryl in the role of “Mademoiselle Guillotine”) most certainly did. Fans don’t come to Alice Cooper shows to dance and clap to the songs: they come to marvel at the spectacle and outrageousness of a full production.
Musically, however, the whole ensemble couldn’t be more aligned. Roxie, Henriksen and Strauss all work in tandem, trading leads, sharing the spotlight and interacting with the boss at various points. Strauss, noted as one of the best female rock guitarists on the planet, got a chance to stretch out on her own for a few minutes. No one seemed to object to that or to Sobel’s epic drum solo. For his part, bassist and Nashville native Chuck Garric is pretty much the glue that holds everything together. That was obvious when he broke into the chorus of “I Love The Dead.”
Toward the end of the night, snippets of four songs — “Devil’s Food,” “Black Widow,” “Steven” and “Escape” — from 1975’s Welcome To My Nightmare, the first Alice Cooper “solo” album, were touched on. Missing in action was “Only Women Bleed,” the album’s first single that often has Cooper and the band sitting down with acoustics. Based on the general atmosphere, no one was in the mood to get soft and cuddly for a ballad.
When it comes to what has to be played, we’re talking the meat and potatoes from the early days when Alice Cooper was more of a band and not so much a persona. With that, the Ascend was treated to crunchy readings of “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” “Under My Wheels,” “I’m Eighteen,” “Billion Dollar Babies,” and, for the encore, the epic anthem and Cooper’s only Top 10 single, “School’s Out.”
Confetti covered the front rows as the band took their bows and bade their farewells to Nashville. Thankfully, the rain didn’t douse the excitement. It came later, just as the guy dressed as the “Spaceman” was ready to mark his territory and claim victory. Or maybe that was Mademoiselle Guillotine on the make with a severed head. Such are the thoughts and ideas that pop up after witnessing an Alice Cooper show.
