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School's out; Cooper's still in

Carnival rolls on for rock legend and his bag of hits

Most old rockers either die, fade away or flog their hits like so many dead horses. But a few, like Alice Cooper, have managed to keep going while somehow avoiding the ignominy of self-parody.

On Wednesday night Alice Cooper's Rock 'n' Roll Carnival blasted through a no-holds-barred set at Metro that belied the former Vincent Damon Furnier's 52 years. Cooper proved that songs such as "School's Out" and "No More Mr. Nice Guy" — which were older than a good portion of the audience — hold up better than most of what has been produced by the glam-rock, heavy metal and goth bands that followed.

In his early-1970s heyday, Cooper pioneered a hybrid of menace, metal and gender-bending that was the opposite of the peaceful hippie rock of the time. His onstage performance, which included makeup, simulating executions and wearing a live boa constrictor, made him a parent's worst nightmare.

But people eventually got used to Cooper's unique brand of shock rock, and in the late 1970s he appeared on Hollywood Squares, brought his show to Vegas and churned out such ballads as "Only Women Bleed" and "You and Me."

These days the teetotaling parent, Little League coach and golfer takes sips of Gatorade and mineral water between songs. But the well-preserved Cooper, who has the lithe body of a 20-year-old, still has a grip on what makes a good performance, and it includes a healthy mix of theatrics, sex and humor.

His hold was apparent from the moment he emerged from a coffin wearing a trademark top hat, skintight latex pants and crushed velvet coat and took his place on the carnival-themed stage.

From that moment he was in command of the room, from his hair-shaking, face-scrunching backup band to the audience, whom he cued to sing and applaud. They sang along as he blew through the anthem-like hits "Billion Dollar Babies," "Poison," "Lost in America" and "Eighteen."

During the set Cooper danced with a life-size doll, tried his luck at a carnival game and changed his shirt several times, eventually donning a silver lame jacket and sunglasses for the encore, "Jailhouse Rock."

Throughout the long set a bevy of clowns would sneak onstage, only to be chased off by Cooper. At one point they caught him, strapped him into an old fashioned wheelchair and pushed him around the stage. Cooper eventually escaped.

While not shocking, it was definitely entertaining. And, perhaps, a harbinger of things to come.