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The Good, The Bad, Ugly Alice

It was a Vile, Evil, Ugly, Disgusting Alice Cooper last Sunday night at Madison Square Garden. The Alice Cooper Show "America 1973" finally made it to New York, show number 53 if you're counting in a tour that started off in March. If you love the absurd, to be spat on, to be crushed, to see evil and violence and blood, well that's what Alice gave New York (or 20,000 at least) last Sunday.

Yes the snake, the rape of the tooth, Alice playing with his diamond codpiece. Richard E. Dixon President of the States . . . yes my evil friends it was all there and the audience loved every second from open to close.

The Cooper crew outdid themselves. The show was tight and well staged as any I've seen. Alice was mean and nasty as he said backstage "I haven't threw up today". On stage Alice teased the audience. "This is my home town New York, and yet I haven't been insulted yet" . . . "F-you, Alice" the sweet young girl screamed from the audience . . . "Up your ass, Alice." the kid alongside her yelled, sticking his middle finger in the air with a turning motion, and other Cooper fans screamed insults at Alice.

Back on stage Alice smiled and said: "That's what I like". The climax of the set was more grim then usual, Alice getting his head cut off, and later the Coopers carrying Alice's headless body to center stage, where they tore it apart, beat each other with Alice's limbs and ate the flesh, and the audience with mouths open loved it. Finally the Coopers danced back on stage with the audience tearing at each other to get the posters, and as Kate Smith sand "God Bless America" . . . "President E. Dixon" takes the stage and Dixon starts talking and tap dancing while the Coopers grab him and noist him above their heads and leave the stage.

The house lights go up and it's over, and as I gaze from my view in the photo pit at the egde of the stage I see the youths that wore Alice Cooper make-up start to leave... One lad of 14 hands me a snake, perhaps six inches long and pleads with me to give it to Alice. As I head backstage one of Alice's roadies looks at the snake which hasn't moved and tells me it's dead . . . Backstage the crush of friends and press is large in the backstage area of the garden. It's been a long, rewarding evening for the Coopers. "Alice Cooper America 73" is over for New York now, two more venues and the Coopers rest for a while, and soon England, yes soon the Coopers will be in the U.K. to do it to you, and you know you'll love it . . . every bloody second of it.

Look for the Coopers to take a months or two off to rest up. Late summer or fall they'll bring "Billion Dollar Babies" to England, perhaps outdoors... Flo and Eddie opening the Cooper show are a delight and work their respective asses off.