Wednesday, August 22, 2018 at 8:00PM
Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Calgary
Alice Cooper pioneered a grandly theatrical brand of hard
rock that was designed to shock. Drawing equally from
horror movies, vaudeville, and garage rock, the group
created a stage show that featured electric chairs,
guillotines, fake blood and boa constrictors. He continues
to tour regularly, performing shows worldwide with the dark
and horror-themed theatrics that he's best known for.
With a schedule that includes six months each year on the
road, Alice Cooper brings his own brand of rock psycho-
drama to fans both old and new, enjoying it as much as the
audience does. Known as the architect of shock-rock, Cooper
(in both the original Alice Cooper band and as a solo
artist) has rattled the cages and undermined the authority
of generations of guardians of the status quo, continuing
to surprise fans and exude danger at every turn, like a
great horror movie, even in an era where CNN can present
real life shocking images.
Cooper was born in Detroit Michigan, and moved to Phoenix
with his family. The Alice Cooper band formed while they
were all in high school in Phoenix, and was discovered in
1969 by Frank Zappa in Los Angeles, where he signed them to
his record label. Their collaboration with young record
producer Bob Ezrin led to the break-through third album
"Love It to Death" which hit the charts in 1971, followed
by "Killer," "School's Out," "Billion Dollar Babies," and
"Muscle of Love." Each new album release was accompanied by
a bigger and more elaborate touring stage show. 1974 saw
the release of a "Greatest Hits" album, and then Cooper, in
1975, released his first solo album, "Welcome to My
Nightmare" in 1975, accompanied by the legendary
groundbreaking theatrical Welcome to My Nightmare concert
tour.
Associated with that album and tour was the ground-breaking
network TV special Alice Cooper: The Nightmare. Other film
and television appearances include The Muppet Show, Mae
West's last film Sextette, Roadie, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely
Hearst Club Band and appearances on The Tonight Show
starring Johnny Carson and Tom Snyder's Tomorrow Show. The
original band also made an appearance in the movie Diary of
a Mad Housewife in 1979, filmed the full-length feature
film Good To See You Again Alice Cooper, and Alice appeared
in a 1972 episode of The Snoop Sisters.
Alice's solo career skyrocketed in the late 1970's, with a
succession of hit singles, including "You & Me," and
classic albums, including "Lace And Whiskey" and "From The
Inside," and bigger and even more elaborate concert
tours.
In the '80's Cooper explored different sounds, highlighted
by the new wavish album "Flush The Fashion," the heavy
metal "Constrictor" and "Raise Your Fist And Yell," and
then 1989's melodic hard rock album "Trash," which featured
the massive hit single "Poison" and became his biggest
selling album and single worldwide. During this period
Alice also appeared in the horror films Monster Dog and
John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness, and recorded songs for
the soundtracks to Roadie, Class of 1984, Friday the 13
Part VI: Jason Lives and Wes Craven's Shocker.
Cooper's most memorable movie appearance was as himself in
Wayne's World in 1991. He also played (fittingly) Freddy
Krueger's wicked step-father in Freddy's Dead: The Final
Nightmare, and appeared on Gene Wilder's TV series
Something Wilder as well as on That '70's Show. The 90's
also saw the release of the albums "Hey Stoopid," "The Last
Temptation," and "Fistful of Alice," a live album.
1999 saw the release of the definitive historical 4 CD box
set "The Life & Crimes of Alice Cooper," from
Rhino/Warners.
In the new millenium, Cooper has been very productive and
busy, writing, recording and releasing the albums "Brutal
Planet," "Dragon Town," "The Eyes of Alice Cooper," "Dirty
Diamonds," "Along Came a Spider," and 2011's "Welcome 2 My
Nightmare," plus "Old School 1964-1974," a box set
celebrating the original band.
Alice has been touring consistently, year in and year out,
averaging over 80 concerts annually, both within the USA
and internationally, with his band which features the three
guitar attack of guitarists Ryan Roxie, Nita Strauss, and
Tommy Henriksen, plus the rhythm section of drummer Glen
Sobel and longtime bassist Chuck Garric.
He also wrote and published a memoir, "Golf Monster," in
2007, which tracked his life from childhood to rock
stardom, and his journey from alcoholic to golf addict, and
was featured in the Tim Burton film "Dark Shadows" in
2012.
Alice's 2011 album "Welcome 2 My Nightmare" featured a
return to his partnership with longtime collaborator,
producer Bob Ezrin, as well as contributions from former
original Alice Cooper bandmates Dennis Dunaway, Neal Smith
and Michael Brucem and a return to the themes of the iconic
1975 "Welcome To My Nightmare" album.
Alice, Dennis, Neal, Michael, and the late Glen Buxton
(posthumously) were inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall of
Fame in March, 2011.
2014 saw the release of "Super Duper Alice Cooper," a
documentary detailing the arc of Alice's rollercoaster ride
in the world of rock superstardom. Directed and produced by
the same team from Banger Films that delivered the award-
winning Iron Maiden and Rush documentaries, it premiered at
the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival in NYC, and has since been
released on Blu-Ray and DVD by Eagle Rock Entertainment.
With his influence on rock & roll long since acknowledged,
there is little that Alice Cooper hasn't achieved in his
remarkable career, including platinum albums, sold-out
tours and any number of honors and career achievement
awards.
As he heads back out on the concert trail each year, Cooper
insists he's still motivated to continue touring and
recording albums, as well as making time for such side
projects as Cooper'stown (his Phoenix-based
restaurant/sports bar) and his "Nights With Alice Cooper"
nightly radio show, syndicated domestically and worldwide
on over 100 stations.
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