Molson Canadian Amphitheatre, Toronto - May 21, 2010
By JASON MacNEIL - QMI Agency
TORONTO - Decapitations, hanging, mannequins, dancing robots, zombies, bad horror film scenes and gore.
These were just some of the props, sight gags and gimmicks elder shock-rocker Alice Cooper and possibly his heir apparent Rob Zombie used during a co-headlining bill Friday night at Toronto's Molson Canadian Amphitheatre.
The duo joined forces as their current Gruesome Twosome North American trek soon wraps up, each performing approximately 75-minute sets which packed a lot of visual and sonic punch.
Perhaps the oddest thing might have been Zombie closing the evening to a slightly smaller crowd compared to what Cooper encountered for his parade of favorites. Yet Zombie made sure that the reported 8,000 people (Zombie's count) got bang for their buck with plenty of fireballs, video screens showing cheesy horror film clips and a heap of heavy industrial-tinged hard rock.
With former Marilyn Manson guitarist Jon 5 and Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison touring in his band, Zombie plowed through What Lurks On Channel X? and the foot-stomping Superbeast as fans pumped fists and sang along. Meanwhile Scum of the Earth and Living Dead Girl also had their desired effect on what Zombie described as the "mother f---king zombie party."
And he made sure that those near the front obeyed his requests. When asking fans to sing loudly during Mars Needs Women, Zombie noticed a guy in the front keeping quiet. "What's wrong with you? You're not singing a goddamn thing!" he quipped before the camera zoomed in on the unfortunate fellow.
Regardless, Zombie - best known for his punishing signature Dragula -- upped the ante with House of 1000 Corpses, Demonoid Phenomenon, Thunder Kiss '65 and bringing out Cooper for Cooper's hit School's Out.
Not to be outdone, and doling out nearly 20 songs at a breakneck pace, Alice Cooper and his solid four-piece band had all the eye-catching executions to go along with hits like Ballad of Dwight Fry and the softer Only Women Bleed. Both songs had Cooper, 62, showing brilliant recuperative powers after having his head chopped off in a guillotine and later on left hanging.
Otherwise, Cooper occasionally sounded a bit raspy and rough but it didn't dampen the appreciation for his oldies beginning with the School's Out, No More Mr. Nice Guy, Under My Wheels and Poison which caused a loud sing-along.
The musician also had more of a connection to the audience, whether it was tossing out necklaces during Dirty Diamonds, tossing a cane into the crowd early on or coming out with a large Canadian flag during Elected. "What are you waiting for? I'm your man!" he said during the tune.
Other highlights of the set included a lady causing sparks with a sander onstage for Nurse Rozetta, Cooper decapitating a baby doll during Billion Dollar Babies and strangling a lady to round out Be My Lover, further driving home the idea of warped wholesome entertainment.
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