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Alice Rocks Like He's 18

Author: Ted Shaw

Alice Cooper filled staid Chrysler Theatre with loud and proud rock Wednesday before a jammed, pumped and sweaty crowd.

All ages screamed and sang along as the 56-year-old shock rocker from De­troit proved there's life after the head­banging '70s.

Opening with No More Mr. Nice Guy, while the audience shouted its ap­proval, Cooper twirled a walking stick and glided gracefully across the stage, belying his age.

Still slim, even emaciated, and done up in his usual Gothic mas­cara, Cooper made the years melt away with dynamic covers of some of his greatest hits and a smattering of recent ones from The Eyes of Alice Cooper album released last year.

Born in the Motor City in 1948, Cooper more or less created the shock rock that gave rise to later imitators like Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie. But he doesn't seem ready to relinquish the throne just yet.

Backed by a powerful and youthful four-piece band, Cooper's older materi­al, such as Billion Dollar Babies and yes, I'm Eighteen, sounded as fresh and vis­ceral as they did over three decades ago.

The stage effects were back, too, in­cluding a second-half sequence with a boa constrictor draped over his shoulders.

He also wielded a pistol for Despera­do, a switchblade (or what looked like one, anyway) for Backyard Brawl, and a riding crop for Teenage Lament 74.

On Billion Dollar Babies he got out a sword on which several U.S. greenbacks had been placed and proceeded to toss them into the crowd. He even threw a couple of walking sticks to a couple of lucky patrons.

For the recent Man of the Year, the audience responded by singing along. Alice Cooper's act is not self-parody­ing, over-the-hill rock act. With this band it delivers all the punch you'd ex­pect from a heavy metal band.

Two guitarists, Eric Dover and Ryan Roxie, traded solos in I'm Eighteen and What Do You Want From Me? Drum­mer Eric Singer propelled the audi­ence into a frenzy with a 10-minute so­lo about an hour into the show, allow­ing Cooper a well-deserved costume break.

Even before the show started, the stage was bathed in dry ice smoke. Stacks of Marshall amps filled the stage, ensuring this was to be a real ear-splitter.

Cooper still appeals to a young audi­ence. Many teens and 20-year-olds dressed in black and heavy makeup rushed towards the stage. Of course, the obligatory baby boomers were there in good numbers, too, punching the air and singing the old anthems.

Cooper's shock value still pays divi­dends. The audience loved it when a dancer dressed in a yellow jump suit and wielding a sabre leaped up behind Cooper, who promptly took out a rapier and pretended to slit her neck.

This Kill Bill sequence thrilled the crowd.

Kitchener's aging rockers, Helix, opened the show with a fast and furi­ous set consisting of faceless heavy rock.

Brian Vollmer, the band's founder and frontman, is the sole original. And he's getting a little thick in the midriff. But the attitude is still there, and he even delivered a good cover of the 1970s Canadian rock classic, Make Me Do Anything You Want.