Happy Late Night, my Darling,
I hope you had a nice day and are getting in the "spirit" for Halloween. ;) I got back from the Alice Cooper concert a couple hours ago, and I had an Absolute Blast. I went with Grimsley, we took the subway down to Hollywood, and when you get off at the Hollywood & Vine station, the Pantages Theater is right across the street. I had not been to the Pantages since I was a little kid (with my parents), and once upon a time it was another of the ornate movie theaters that were around in the early 20th century in Los Angeles & Hollywood (and all over the country). It's still ornate - probably the nicest out of all the Former Theaters That Are Now Concert Venues - and it was the perfect place to see Alice Cooper on the night before Halloween.
He and his band came on at 8:15 and played non-stop until 10pm. Just one song after the other, no stopping to talk to the audience. I like it when a band does that. It keeps the spell intact, and Alice wove quite a spell on the audience tonight. An Alice Cooper show is a spectacle, with all kinds of stage props, dancers in costume and other things he is known for, like the guillotine that he is placed upon at the end of "The Ballad Of Dwight Frye". That part of the show goes all the way back to the days of the original Alice Cooper Group in the early 70s, when the shows were still very shocking and even frightening to audiences used to seeing musicians simply play music onstage. Before Kiss, before Slipknot, or Marilyn Manson or even Lady Gaga, there was Alice Cooper. He and the original group invented shock rock or theater rock or whatever you want to call it.
But they also wrote a ton of great songs that have stood the test of time.
"Billion Dollar Babies" is one of my favorite albums and it is a great example of how rock can be turned into a very dramatic and even macabre or horrific musical form, while still retaining melody and hooks galore, enough to turn a few songs from that album into radio staples, like the title track, or "No More Mr. Nice Guy" or "Elected", which closed out the show. For that one, Alice brought out two dancers in Trump and Hillary costumes and masks and had them battle it out as the band played ferociously.
His band is killer - total pros with chops galore as well as good stage moves. It's a Big Time Show, which is what Alice has always been known for. In the days of the original group, it wasn't as polished, but perhaps far more dangerous. Now, it is polished down to a T, but it makes up in fun for what has become less shocking, because we've seen Alice get his head chopped off before, haha.
Still, it's awesome. Alice is the best, and furthermore it wouldn't mean a thing if the music weren't great, which it most assuredly is, thanks to original band members and writers Dennis Dunaway, Michael Bruce, Glenn Buxton and Neal Smith, none of whom are in the band now. But they are in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.
Anyhow, a great show, perfect for Halloween, and the trip down on the subway and back was a piece of cake. I am loving these early concerts when I can get back fast.
This morning was good singing in church and working on a John Rutter piece for Christmas.
Tomorrow is Halloween, so the whole day will automatically be great. I hope you have fun tomorrow!
Post if you can. I Love You. See you in the morning.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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