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Cooper Raises the Roof

Rock legend sucks in and spits out an ecstatic Paul Speller at the Villa Marina

DECAPITATION, resurrection, a murderous dancer and dollar bills — an average evening of family entertainment at the Villa Marina on Thursday.

Alice Cooper brought his legendary show to town and rocked a sold-out venue in a fantastic performance that raised the roof.

We're almost being spoilt with the quality acts the Villa is attracting these days and, with Lou Reed later this week and the Beautiful South to come, suddenly the Isle of Man is not such a surprising stop-off point for touring performers.

These are people who fill arenas which hold 10 or 20 times more fans than the Villa, which manages to combine the feel of being at a big show with the intimacy of a much smaller venue.

It's still always special when you get up close at a gig and realise the person on stage looks exactly the same as he did in the video/on the chat show/in that advert with Ronnie Corbett.

As one ecstatic fan said: 'I can see his wrinkles!'

Just two days later, Cooper was playing in front of 60,000-plus fans at Milton Keynes, so to say signing him up to play at the TT was a coup is an understatement.

As expected, Alice Cooper's performance was a mix of pure pantomime, hard rock and classic hits.

He arrived on stage in dramatic fashion to the strains of Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera — a fitting entrance if ever there was one — before breaking into show opener Department of Youth.

With a back catalogue of more than 20 albums spanning four decades, it wasn't long before he was into the classics with a rip-roaring version of No More Mr Nice Guy.

For Billion Dollar Babies, he threw dollar bills into the crowd from the end of his épée sword and he continued with a rapid fire battery of hits and new material, assembling body parts in a coffin during Feed My Frankenstein.

What you get with Cooper is a consumate performance. He may not actually talk directly to his fans between songs but he has something that so many frontmen these days lack: real charisma.

He doesn't need banter to keep the crowd's attention and he had the Villa audience in the palm of his hand from the off.

His shows suck you in and then spit you out with ringing eardrums at the end.

And his band gave fantastic support. No glum rockers here, this was unashamed metal madness from Keri Kelli and Damon Johnson on guitars, Chuck Garric on bass and Eric Singer on drums.

And for the theatrics we also have to thank Cooper's own daughter Calico, a dancer, although not one who could be easily confused with Bonnie Langford.

As the show built towards a climax, it was Cooper jnr who ensured daddy was sent to the guillotine and beheaded — a little harsh, considering the quality show he was giving. She also seemed to take great delight waving his severed 'head' before the audience.

But, sure enough, to the opening chords of School's Out, the main man returned, via a coffin, to bring the show to a thundering climax.

When you've got a song like that to finish your performance, it can't be easy to outdo it for the encore, but as soon as the first note of his 80s smash hit Poison was struck, the Villa was a sea of lofted arms.

Pure class.