Horror Spookshow Spectacular, Freaks On Parade, Reunites Shock Rockers Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper Again

Sep 07, 2023 admin_bitlc Features, Music News, Reviews 0

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By Christopher David

The Freaks on Parade tour arrived in Chicago this week, bringing with it two of the biggest shock-rockers on the planet for a night of monsters, music, and mayhem.

 

 

Alice Cooper.  What else need be said?  Fifty years after turning glam rock on its head and ‘driving a stake through the heart of the flower power generation’ (his words), the Coop is still going strong, unleashing onstage executions, snakes, and monstrous entities of all sorts on a nightly basis.  And when you throw at stellar band with Nita Strauss as the nucleus?  A foolproof recipe for arena-shaking renditions of classics like “Under My Wheels” and “No More Mister Nice Guy” alongside deeper cuts like “Snakebite” (which saw the aforementioned python wrapped around Alice and studying the rowdy crowd) and “Lost in America.”  Of course, no Alice Cooper show would be complete without the coda of “I Love the Dead” to celebrate his onstage beheading by guillotine, and when he returned to the stage atop a flag-draped platform for “Elected,” it sounded as fresh as ever.  Cooper’s show may be decades-old, but the quality and overall presence of those tunes keeps them feeling renewed with each tour.  While nothing was played from his brand-new album “Road,” it hardly mattered to a capacity crowd that comprised just about every demographic imaginable – a testament to the much deserved longevity he’s been able to enjoy.  (Also, there is no more entertaining guitarist on earth than Nita Strauss.  She embodies the term ‘rock star’ and is perfection in every way.  Period.)

The crowd’s enthusiasm hadn’t diminished in the slightest by the time Rob Zombie and Co. hit the stage, and while Zombie’s set was a visual extravaganza, it was significantly shorter than Cooper’s, leaving one to wonder a bit about the order of the bill.  No matter: Zombie’s energized stage persona as he interacted with giant devils, demons during “Lords of Salem,” and a gigantic Phantom Creep presiding over “What Lurks on Channel X?” and “Superbeast” makes for a horror fan’s perfect set of music.  Bassist Piggy D and drummer Ginger Fish remain one of the strongest and time-tested rhythm sections in rock, and to that end, it was tough to ignore the elephant in the room (or on the stage, as the case may be): the absence of longtime guitarist and virtuoso John 5, who left the band in 2022 to join Motley Crue and has been replaced by Hellbilly Deluxe-era guitarist Mike Riggs.  It’s a tough spot to fill, though the hit-packed if predictable setlist was enough to keep the diehards engaged and the new fans likely on board for the rest of what we can only hope will continue to be a fruitful career delivering horror-rock to the masses.

In an era of over-sensitivity and an obsession with political correctness, Cooper and Zombie’s tours remain excessive, over-the-top creature-features and a much needed oasis of go-go boots, ‘60s hedonism, a whole lot of blood and guts in the current landscape of rock music.

Industrial metal gods Ministry opened the night with a set that shook the rafters with its volume and a crushing cover of Black Sabbath’s “Hole in the Sky,” and ‘90s alt-rockers Filter warmed things up with a short set highlighting some of their best tunes, including the contemplative “Take My Picture,” which has aged into one of the finest songs of that era.

For more on Alice Cooper, click here

For more on Rob Zombie, click here

For photos from Alice Cooper set, click here

For photos from Rob Zombies set, click here

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Alice Cooper – Tinley Park, IL, Sept. 1, 2023

Lock Me Up (intro)

No More Mister Nice Guy

I’m Eighteen

Under My Wheels

Billion Dollar Babies

Hey Stoopid

Lost in America

Snakebite

Feed My Frankenstein

Poison

*guitar solo* (Nita) / Black Widow jam

Ballad of Dwight Frye

Killer (outro, Alice decapitated)

I Love the Dead

Elected

School’s Out

 

Rob Zombie – Tinley Park, IL, Sept. 1, 2023

The Triumph of King Freak

Dead City Radio

Feel So Numb

Well, Everybody’s Fucking in a U.F.O.

What Lurks on Channel X?

Superbeast

Demonoid Phenomenon

The Lords of Salem

House of 1000 Corpses

*drum solo*

Living Dead Girl

More Human Than Human

Thunder Kiss ‘65

Dragula

 

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