After seeing Alice Cooper in a large arena the two last times, it was a relief to experience the grandfather of Shock Rock in a small amphitheater. Sentrum Scene, a 1800 capacity venue in the middle of Oslo, has reopened for rock concerts after being used for cabarets and musicals for the last 7-8 years.
His Dirty Diamonds album has been out for a few weeks, but only two songs made it to the set this evening… those being “Dirty Diamonds” and the jumpy rocker “Woman Of Mass Distraction.” In addition, he has also kept a few in the set from the brilliant The Eyes Of Alice Cooper album, and “Between High School & Old School” and “What Do You Want From Me?” haven’t lost their touch.
It sure was good to see Eric Singer behind the drumkit again, as well, after being on Gene Simmons’ and Paul Stanley’s payroll last summer. Guitarist Damon Johnson was also new to the Norwegian audience, replacing Eric Dover from the last tour.
All in all, with Singer back, the band was slightly better, although Tommy Clufetos did his drumming in excellent fashion last year. He now serves in Rob Zombie’s band on this year’s Ozzfest. So what else was new? Yep, you guessed it! The legendary Alice Cooper Show was back, including the famous guillotine and, of course, a coffin and some nasty dancers.
Before all hell broke loose, so to speak, good ole Alice delivered a great set of all-time classics, including “Department Of Youth,” “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” and “Billion Dollar Babies” early on in the show.
A few forgotten gems had found their way back, and The Last Tempation‘s “Lost In America” may not be his strongest single, but it is a good song live. “I Never Cry” was a great number of the more mellow kind, with guitar players Ryan Roxie and Damon Johnson sitting with their acoustic guitars on the drum riser; a pure campfire setting.
Alice also revisited Brutal Planet with “Gimme” and Welcome To My Nightmare with its title track. The real treat, though, was a 6-piece medley, loaded with theatrical parts with Alice waltzing around with one of the female dancers singing “The Awakening,” “Steven,” and “Only Women Bleed,” before ending up in a strait jacket on “The Ballad of Dwight Fry,” and, of course, he lost his head during “I Love The Dead.”
During the encores, Paris Hilton showed up (not the real one, of course, come on…) with her dog, and Alice and his mates made her life miserable to the sound of the great From The Inside piece “I Wish I Was Born In Beverly Hills”… probably the biggest surprise in the setlist on this night, and when he left the stage after 100 minutes, it was easy to conclude that this was the best Alice Cooper gig this town had seen since the Trash days.
Alice Cooper entertained the crowd with these songs:
Department Of Youth/No More Mr. Nice Guy/Dirty Diamonds/Billion Dollar Babies/Be My Lover/Lost In America/I Never Cry/Woman Of Mass Distraction/I’m Eighteen/Between High School & Old School/What Do You Want From Me?/Is It My Body?/Go To Hell/Black Widow (Instrumental/Drum Solo)/Gimme/Feed My Frankenstein/Welcome To My Nightmare/The Piece – a)The Awakening b)Steven c)Only Women Bleed d)The Ballad Of Dwight Fry e)Killer f)I Love The Dead/School’s Out
Encores: Poison/I Wish I Was Born In Beverly Hills/Under My Wheels
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