After Australian Guitar had the once in a lifetime experience of hanging out with Alice Cooper at his album launch, naturally we were more than keen to see if the shock rock doyen still had it – he is 63 years old after all. That hasn’t stopped him from staying on the cutting edge, snapping up young Aussie guitarist Orianthi Panagaris, formerly of Michael Jackson’s band for the tour. He could not stop telling us how impressed he was with her playing, and her work ethic – the local shredder learned 27 songs in just three days before jetting off to Australia with the band. She should be no stranger to the readers of Australian Guitar, a previous interview can be found on the site here: http://www.australianguitarmag.com.au/2011/07/orianthi-panagaris/

Once at the show, one thing that stuck out was the surprising number of parents herding their kids into seats. It was clear that Alice has become a multi-generational music icon, and we have to hand it to him: a gust of smoke billowed across the stage that resembled a carnage scene from Sons of Anarchy with a body in the garbage, another hanging from a noose then Alice and his crew emerged from the haze and gave the sold out crowd a master class in the art of theatrics and old school rock’n'roll.

Ploughing through songs like “18”, “Telephone”, “Billion Dollar Babies” and “No More Mr. Nice Guy” early on, Alice proved he still ruled with a live python draped around his neck. But as awesome as he was, we couldn’t stop staring at guitar goddess Orianthi – holy shit that lady can wield her axe. Looking like a doll with her perfectly curled blonde hair, she out shredded the boys in her crew – these are some serious players who’ve shared stages with KISS and Lou Reed – ripping through the monster Cooper licks on her signature blood splattered PRS.

A few tracks from Alice Cooper’s new album, Welcome 2 My Nightmare, got a well received run throughout the set, but it was the greatest hits that most of the audience shelled out $140 for, and that’s what they got. A giant Frankenstein (which wasn’t all that far removed from Iron Maiden’s Eddie) lurched onto the stage during “Feed My Frankenstein”, Alice was beheaded after “School’s Out” and the Enmore Theatre turned into a ticker-tape parade for “I Wanna Be Elected”. In summary, top shredding plus the complete theatrical rock experience from the man who all but invented the artform made for an absolutely kick arse night at the Enmore.

Enmore Theatre, Sydney 26 September 2011
Review Amy Simmons | Photos Tracey Nicholson