I don't ever remember reading a review of an Alice Cooper concert where the reporter did not praise the show. I'm sure this must have happened...especially in his controversial early years, but does anyone recall anything recently where that's happened? Even in the last 10 years? If it did happen, was it even a fault of Cooper's or the show? Or were there uncontrolled/other circumstances?
Just curious.
Bad concert reviews?
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ConstrictorRules
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Re: Bad concert reviews?
Honestly I stopped posting every live review that turns up specifically because the normally all say the same thing (amazing show, awesome band etc). On the rare occasion there is a bad one, its normally because the writer obviously doesn`t actually rock music in general so can be completely discountedConstrictorRules wrote:I don't ever remember reading a review of an Alice Cooper concert where the reporter did not praise the show. I'm sure this must have happened...especially in his controversial early years, but does anyone recall anything recently where that's happened? Even in the last 10 years? If it did happen, was it even a fault of Cooper's or the show? Or were there uncontrolled/other circumstances?
Just curious.
Re: Bad concert reviews?
There was a review in classic Rock magazine I seem to recall, during the psychodrama tour, that was slightly less than complimentary, it mentioned the stage and backdrop looked as though it was thrown together for 10 quid, words to that affect at least. I don't recall much more than that, I will see if I can dig it out.
The only reason that sticks in the mind though is because it's probably the most negative thing I have heard in the press pertaining to an Alice show.
The only reason that sticks in the mind though is because it's probably the most negative thing I have heard in the press pertaining to an Alice show.
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suziginajackson
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Re: Bad concert reviews?
When Artists Lead Their Audiences: Roger Waters, Alice Cooper, Beyoncé and More
David Deal reflects on what it means for an artist to lead an audience, and why it is equally important for a performer to in turn both comfort and unsettle an audience with one's creative work.
"Case in point: back in the 1970s, Alice Cooper made popular shock rock by putting on concerts that featured imagery and theater that some might consider grotesque, such as a decapitated baby dolls and guillotines. Critics hated Alice Cooper and thought his concerts to be stupid and gimmicky. And even their audience sometimes recoiled in horror. But Vincent Furnier, who headed the band and adopted the name Alice Cooper for himself as a solo act, knew what they were doing.
The band’s onstage behavior was intended to create an audience reaction by synthesizing forms of horror and fantasy, burlesque and rock and roll, shaped by Furnier’s own passion for movies and visual storytelling. He satirized the then-noble notion of rock star as poet and social change agent by creating a villain who sang hit songs only to be executed onstage. He made an artistic statement and was leading the audience in another direction toward a glam rock movement would propel artists such as David Bowie to fame.
In the book What You Want Is in the Limo, an excellent narrative about rock and roll in 1973, Michael Walker discusses Alice Cooper’s rise to fame. Alice Cooper tells Walker, “We never went onstage with the attitude of, ‘Gosh, I hope you like us tonight.’ We’d take them by the throat and shake them and never, ever give them a chance to breathe.”
During one concert in 1969, the band’s in-your-face style so offended an auditorium full of 3,000 people that they all fled the show within about 15 minutes. But one man in the crowd, Shep Gordon, stuck around, mesmerized by Alice Cooper’s ability to move an audience. He went on to manage the band. As Alice Cooper told Michael Walker in What You Want Is in the Limo, Gordon was “clapping like a seal. ‘You cleared the auditorium in fifteen minutes!” he marveled. “Three thousand people in fifteen minutes . . . I don’t care if they **** hated you. It’s mass movement. There’s power and money in that.'”
Gordon also recalled, “I had never seen such a strong negative reaction. People hated Alice, and I knew that anyone who could generate such a strong negative energy had the potential to be a star, if the handling of the situation was right.”
The best part about the story: Alice Cooper wasn’t famous yet."
David Deal reflects on what it means for an artist to lead an audience, and why it is equally important for a performer to in turn both comfort and unsettle an audience with one's creative work.
"Case in point: back in the 1970s, Alice Cooper made popular shock rock by putting on concerts that featured imagery and theater that some might consider grotesque, such as a decapitated baby dolls and guillotines. Critics hated Alice Cooper and thought his concerts to be stupid and gimmicky. And even their audience sometimes recoiled in horror. But Vincent Furnier, who headed the band and adopted the name Alice Cooper for himself as a solo act, knew what they were doing.
The band’s onstage behavior was intended to create an audience reaction by synthesizing forms of horror and fantasy, burlesque and rock and roll, shaped by Furnier’s own passion for movies and visual storytelling. He satirized the then-noble notion of rock star as poet and social change agent by creating a villain who sang hit songs only to be executed onstage. He made an artistic statement and was leading the audience in another direction toward a glam rock movement would propel artists such as David Bowie to fame.
In the book What You Want Is in the Limo, an excellent narrative about rock and roll in 1973, Michael Walker discusses Alice Cooper’s rise to fame. Alice Cooper tells Walker, “We never went onstage with the attitude of, ‘Gosh, I hope you like us tonight.’ We’d take them by the throat and shake them and never, ever give them a chance to breathe.”
During one concert in 1969, the band’s in-your-face style so offended an auditorium full of 3,000 people that they all fled the show within about 15 minutes. But one man in the crowd, Shep Gordon, stuck around, mesmerized by Alice Cooper’s ability to move an audience. He went on to manage the band. As Alice Cooper told Michael Walker in What You Want Is in the Limo, Gordon was “clapping like a seal. ‘You cleared the auditorium in fifteen minutes!” he marveled. “Three thousand people in fifteen minutes . . . I don’t care if they **** hated you. It’s mass movement. There’s power and money in that.'”
Gordon also recalled, “I had never seen such a strong negative reaction. People hated Alice, and I knew that anyone who could generate such a strong negative energy had the potential to be a star, if the handling of the situation was right.”
The best part about the story: Alice Cooper wasn’t famous yet."
People try to put us down
Just because we get around
Just because we get around