Alice Cooper is an old school rock band with a twist. They are inspired by horror movies and put together theatrical shows with as much shock factor as possible. Band members wear full face makeup and lots of black leather. They almost all have long hair that they whip back and forth or head bang along with their beats.
Alice himself is a little less than exciting as he mostly stands downstage center and sings with the occasional hand gesture. He did, however, perform a couple songs where he beat and abused a female either in the form of a life-size dummy or a female dancer. He slaps, banged and threw the woman around the stage while singing about how she is a bitch and real men don’t cry. It was definitely shocking to see such gender-specific violence in Kingsbury Hall. The audience, however, loved it cheering things such as “show her Alice” and “That’s so badass.”
The theatrics of the band definitely had some cool moments such as Alice escaping a straight jacket and being guillotined onstage. The executioner then kissed his severed head in a display of power for the audience.
The strongest element of the performance was definitely the ensemble, particularly lead guitarist Nita Strauss who was the most energetic presence on stage. She never stopped moving and clearly loves to rock. Nearly every member writes their own songs and several have other bands that they play with when not touring with Alice.
The set design was also quite spectacular. There was a giant jester box center stage that multiple characters pop out of and disappeared into over the course of the show. Over this show is a performance that achieves everything is marketing itself as. However, as a woman in the audience, I did not feel comfortable and definitely would not go back. It’s a shame that in order to shock the audience the band chose to use imagery and actions that are a perpetuation of rape culture.