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Cooper's Pretend Terror Goes Past Limits of Taste

SAGINAW — Alice Cooper's most famous quote from the '70s is probably: "The sicker (the audience) gets, the sicker we'll get."

On Wednesday night at Wendler Arena here, the Detroit-born shock rocker showed he's sticking to that credo.

Keep in mind that Cooper's 18-song, 75-minute show is still a pinnacle of rock theater, loaded with well-executed production numbers and well played songs. It lived up to its bigger and bloodier claims, with Cooper and his five-piece band romping around an elaborate haunted-mansion set, hacking their way through mannequins, baby dolls and a variety of ghouls played by live actors.

But there's a portion in the middle of the show where the tongue-in-cheek terror goes one step too far.

While performing a suite of songs about a psychotic killer from his new album, "Raise Your Fist and Yell," Cooper, a confessed slash movie devotee, pretends to stalk, attack and murder a female character. He winds up singing his 1975 hit, "Only Women Bleed," as she lies on the stage floor at his feet.

This is admittedly calculated shock designed to create outrage — and publicity — just as Cooper did with his '70s productions. But there's a certain amount of tastelessness here; chopping up an inanimate object is one thing, but staging an assault is another. Slash movies may be more realistic, but they're not real-life.

The real shame was that Cooper didn't have to stoop to that level to put on a terrific show. Up until that point, his good-natured gore was rolling along in fine form; with members of the hot heavy metal group Whitesnake (which performs tonight in Saginaw) looking on, Cooper pulled out his bag of trademark tricks, including his pet boa constrictor and a mock hanging, to the delight of the almost 4,350 fans.

Musically, the show was also much improved. When the sound mix was clear enough — a late set-up canceled the pre-show sound-check — the group, led by guitarist Kane Roberts, sounded strong and confident, with a better sense of dynamics than it had last year.

Cooper finished the show in fine form, duking it out with a spider ("Black Widow"), staging a mock hanging ("Killer") and rocking through "School's Out," "Freedom" and "Under My Wheels." But the slash­murder skit left a sour residue.

(Courtesy of Emil Ortenmark)