Monday night saw two rock heavyweights join forces at Swansea Arena for the opening date of a six-night UK tour. The brand new state-of-the-art venue filled up slowly as Creeper, support act for Alice Cooper and The Cult, took to the stage: no sign of any cobwebs here as the Southampton rockers make the most of a relatively short 25-minute set.
The arena by now full, The Cult make their presence known rattling through hits such as Aphrodisiac Jacket, Lil Devil and Wild Flower. Lead vocalist Ian Astbury and lead guitarist Billy Duffy are the only original members left from the 1980s, and the frontman was vocal both musically and in crowd interaction – going through so many tambourines I lost count.
The tail end of the set boasted hits Love Removal Machine, Rain and crowdpleaser She Sells Sanctuary. No frills here: a sound, confident classic rock performance, and a band seemingly genuinely pleased to be back on the road after a lengthy layoff.
After a good half-hour changeover, the curtain dropped and we were introduced to Alice Cooper’s impressive stage set, a medieval-styled Nightmare Castle. The godfather of shock-rock emerges with his five-piece band, and if the first half of the set was relatively tame considering what’s to come, Cooper was not shy to kick off proceedings with well-known numbers Feed My Frankenstein, No More Mr Nice Guy and Hey Stoopid.
As the band dig deeper in to the set, we see Alice Cooper’s trademark shenanigans begin. The iconic intro to Poison makes the sold-out crowd pop – then, as the band shred through Roses On White Lace, a gothic queen emerges, interacting with Cooper’s persona. A 15-foot demonic baby? Naturally, it’s Billion Dollar Babies.
Both Steven and Dead Babies take a dark turn: Cooper in a straitjacket threatening to kill a small doll of a baby (he doesn’t), and eventually sentenced to death by guillotine. Absolute madness. Teenage Frankenstein – cue more thematic 15-foot figures – ends the main set, and by this time you don’t know where to look or what to say. Quite the show.
I can’t not mention Cooper’s current backing band. Lead guitarists Ryan Roxie and Nita Strauss share solo responsibilities; the latter, nicknamed The Hurricane, was voted number four on Guitar World’s Guitarists Of The Decade in 2019, and it’s a delight to see her in action.
The six return for a rendition of School’s Out, a top-end to a totally bonkers night. Was it a gig? Was it a show? Was it a sick-inducing performance? Cooper thanked us for coming to his “festival of nonsense,” which sums it up as well as anything.
Swansea Arena, Mon 23 May
words OWEN SCOURFIELD photos ANTHONY CONWAY
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