Bands: Alice Cooper, Motorhead & Joan Jett
Venue: Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
Date: 9 November 2007   

When it comes to the words "rock" and "icon", they seem to have been etched on the career of Alice Cooper, who has been around since the early 70’s with his shock theatrical rock n' roll.  The stage sets these days may have been tamed down but Alice has never had to reinvent himself and go with trends, such is the vast popularity of  the man and his music.

Along with Alice these sentiments could also be assigned to Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead and with these two giants on the same bill, the pair have over 60 years in this business and such a wealth of talent hasn’t been on this stage since the opening.  Tonight they bring Joan Jett to the fold, a rock n' roll lady who herself has been in the business since her early teens.  So the stage is set to what is sure to be a night of no holds barred rock and metal. 

We arrived at the venue and Joan Jett and her band were already well into their set.  We found our seats just as the band were about to rip into ‘Riddles’ this sleazy ridden rocker was just superb as Jett’s vocals rang around the arena with such power that I was taken aback.

The sleazy rock kept coming with ‘Fetish’ a song included on from her latest album 'Sinner' but which was also the title track from here 1999 'Fetish' release.  With its thumping bass lines anyone who hasn’t already got this new album I highly recommend it to you as it’s a great return to form from the girl from Maryland.

Then it was time for the ultimate Jett anthem, the classic ‘I Love Rock N' Roll’, which really got the already excited crowd buzzin’.  For many this is the one that really got them into Jett long after her Runaways material.

Next up was the classic ‘Crimson and Clover’, a song that starts off deceptively slow but soon builds the sleazy dirty rock that you’d expect from Joan.

The set was closed with another slice of classic Blackhearts ‘I Hate Myself For Loving You’, which got the same stamp of approval that 'I Love Rock N' Roll' did with the crowd clapping along.  This was a great way to open up the night, I just wish I had been there from the beginning so I could have captured the whole show.  Let's hope we see a head line tour from Jett in the not too distant future because I’ll be there for sure because this rock n' roll vixen sure kicked up a storm here tonight. 

Next up tonight are a band that need no introduction Motorhead led by the incomparable Lemmy who gets things underway with "WE ARE MOTORHEAD AND WE PLAY ROCK N' ROLL!!!" and they immediately pumped the volume up to the max with ‘Dr Rock’.  As the vibrations rang around the room from this Heavy Metal onslaught, you weren’t given a chance to wipe away the blood from your ears as the band went straight into a classic slice of Head ‘Stay Clean’, with Lemmy’s vocals their usual Jack soaked gruffness.

It was time to slow down the pace a touch, (I say slow down, I mean from 100mph to 90mph) with ‘Be My Baby’ then it was back to full throttle for ‘Killers’, during which Kilminster asked for more volume (!) and more we got.  So much so that even the seats started to vibrate violently as the PA was sent into overdrive for ’Metropolis’ and ’Over The Top’, both oldies but goodies from the rock n' roll baddies.

Next it was time for Lemmy to show his more romantic side with ‘Love At First Sight’.  By this time my ears had given up trying to deal with the volume.  The blood started to clot and this acted as a earplugs, so I continued to enjoy the sonic assault.

The band gave us something rather special tonight as they paid tribute to the legend Phil Lynott with their rendition of the Lizzy classic ‘Rosalie’, which went down a storm.

The band really turned up the heat with Campbell and Dee reaching down deep for  an Shakespeare tribute! ‘In The Name Of Tragedy’, the thumping ‘Just Cos You Have The Power’ and the tongue and cheek ‘Going To Brazil’

Now it was time to strip the sound down to minimum and a smaller drum kit was put on stage as the band went all C&W on ‘Whorehouse Blues’, before the real meat and bones classic ‘Ace Of Spades’ rang out like the rock n' roll anthem that it is.

The set was capped by my all time favourite Motorhead track the superb ‘Overkill’, which ended another great show for Lemmy and boys.  "THEY WERE MOTORHEAD AND THEY PLAYED ROCK N' ROLL!!!" (very loudly I might add!).

Now from one living legend to another, his stage show might be a little more sedate than his early years but the man sure knows how to captivate a crowd.   As we see a silhouette of Alice in a top hat the crowd erupts into cheers.  Suddenly another Alice appears and this time the Alice of today slays the other, the curtain falls and all hell breaks loose as the show begins.

Alice was joined tonight as usual by Eric Singer on drums but with a new touring band consisting of Keri Kelli and Jason Hook on guitars and Chuck Garric on bass.  Opening up with ‘It's Hot Tonight’ before going straight into the all time classics ‘No More Mr Nice Guy’, which raised the bar before on of my favourite Alice tunes ‘Under My Wheels’.  That’s the way to get the crowd buzzing from the onset.  From here on in it's Alice who's calling the shots as he plays the crowd like a puppet master able to pull all the right strings.

The classics just keep on coming as ‘Eighteen’ echoes around the venue, then it's time for something more recent but still as captivating ‘It's My Body’ and ‘Woman of Mass Destruction’.

As Alice parades the stage there's a shout of "We're Not Worthy!" from behind me, never have those words from Wayne's World been so apt as the band go into ‘Dirty Diamonds’ with Alice throwing out necklaces in the crowd, with one hitting me on the shoulder I quickly recover it as a memento of the night.

With Keri Kelli leaping about all over the stage it's clear he’s really enjoying the Alice experience as much at the rest of us.  ‘Raped’ and Muscle of Love’ are next before they unleash the monster that is ‘Feed My Frankenstein’, with Kerri and Hook trading licks on this one as the two duel it out.  There is only one winner though, the crowd, as these two young guns come out equals on this one.

 Before the theatrics start it's time for ‘Halo’ another modern classic, but any Alice Cooper show simply wouldn’t be complete without the show theatrics as ‘Welcome To My Nightmare’ gets the ball rolling shortly followed by ‘Only Women Bleed’, which is when we first see Alice's daughter Calico enter the stage.  She gets just as big a cheer as her father who is currently being put into a straight jacket.  He goes into Alice's other persona ‘Steven’ as he breaks free from the shackles just in time for Calico to walk on stage pushing a pram. 

We all know what's next, as Alice throws the mother to one side and peers into the pram, takes out the baby doll and it's ‘Dead Babies’ followed by ‘Dwight Fry’.

This is usually when the guillotine appears on stage but tonight there is a twist as a hangman's platform is pushed on to the stage for ‘Devils/Killer/Dead’.  As Alice is led up the steps by a hooded figure and ceremonially the noose is put around  his neck.  As the song comes to an end the trapdoor is opened and Alice drops like a stone.  As his body sways from side to side an almighty cheer rings around the Arena, the nightmare ends and the gallows are pushed back off stage.

It's not long before the party gets going again, as Kerri punches out the first few chords of 'Schools Out’ the place erupts once more.  Balloons are released into the crowd, at one time they contained blood but these days it's glittering confetti, but the crowds reaction is still the same as Alice takes out his sword and bursts the balloons above their heads.

The classics just keep on coming at this point with ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ up next as Alice’s sword is now a money kebab as he dishes out Alice Dollars.

'Poison' is probably Alice's biggest hit and the one that put him back in the spotlight with the 'Trash' album, so it's next.  It's not my favourite Cooper song (I’m more old school Alice) but still it goes down a storm.  The show, I say show because with Alice you always get a SHOW, the night is capped off with what else but ‘Elected’ with Alice donning the stars and stripes and  the two politicians fighting it out on stage is a joy to watch.  I swear if Alice went for President he’d get a mine and everyone here tonight's vote.

Yet again another great show from the master showman himself, long may it continue.

 

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