It was March 1977 when Alice Cooper, the architect of shock-rock, undertook his first ever concert tour of Australia – and broke attendance records. 40 years on and this revered entertainer continues to surprise and exude danger at every turn, thrilling audiences globally!
Fans will be delighted to hear that Alice Cooper will return to our shores this October for a 7-date national tour, ‘Spend The Night With Alice Cooper’. In what is sure to be rock event of the year, Alice will be joined by the original KISS “Spaceman” Ace Frehley, as Very Special Guest. The pairing of Alice and Ace brings together these highly respected icons of rock and roll!
The tour commences in Perth on October 17 and concludes in Brisbane on October 25, showcasing an immense body of work across the catalogues of both artists.
Alice Cooper pioneered a grandly theatrical brand of hard rock that was designed to shock. Drawing equally from horror movies, vaudeville, and garage rock, the group created a stage show that featured electric chairs, guillotines, fake blood and boa constrictors. He continues to tour regularly, performing shows worldwide with the dark and horror-themed theatrics that he’s best known for.
Alice’s catalogue of hits and anthems, including “I’m Eighteen”, “No More Mr Nice Guy”, “School’s Out”, “Elected”, “Poison”, and others, are featured in his live show, along with a mix of newer songs and fan-favourite album cuts. Alice’s touring band features the three guitar attack of Nita Strauss, Tommy Henriksen and Ryan Roxie, backed by longtime bassist Chuck Garric and drummer Glen Sobel.
Harking back to that first Australian tour in 1977, and Alice was in the country at the same time as ABBA-mania was taking hold. He made a considerable impact on audiences and the Australian music industry.
Garry Van Egmond, promoter of the infamous 1977 tour, recalls, “Before the age of computerised ticketing and the internet, Alice was the fastest ever selling concert tour in Australia at that time and for many years after selling out 11 shows nationally in 5 hours. That included 4 shows in Melbourne, 3 in Brisbane, 2 in Perth and outdoor stadiums in Adelaide and Sydney – Sydney set the record for the largest concert attendance to date at the time too with over 40,000 ticket sales.”
Glenn A. Baker is effusive in his praise, saying, “We’d not seen anything like it – a shock rock cauldron with great swathes of garage punk, horror movie scenes, vaudeville schtick and commanding showmanship, all draped around devilishly constructed songs you could shake your fists to and chant in unison. No wonder we developed a macabre romance with Alice that still burns decades later.”
Molly Meldrum, who hosted Alice Cooper live on Countdown many times says, “I recall the first time we had him on Countdown – there was Shirley (Strachan, of Skyhooks), Molly and then Alice, I thought, what’s going on here?
He is one of the true entertainers, inspiring a generation of rock stars to follow. His showmanship, the songs, the spectacle, were mind-blowing back in ’77 and stand up as strong as ever today. He’s genius.”
In Australia Alice Cooper has topped the charts with songs like “Department of Youth”, “You and Me”, “Poison”, “School’s Out”, “Clones”, “How You Gonna See Me Now”, “Welcome To My Nightmare”, “Only Women Bleed” – a universally treasured song celebrating women’s rights and anti-domestic violence covered by both John Farnham and Tina Arena – “Billion Dollar Babies”, “No More Mr Nice Guy” and so many more. The album “Welcome To My Nightmare” spent 101 weeks in the Australian charts!
“Nights With Alice Cooper”, Alice’s nightly radio show, is available in nearly 100 cities in Australia, the US, Canada and the UK. The five hour long show features his favourite classic rock songs along with his insider anecdotes about many of the artists.
With his influence on popular music long since acknowledged, his place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame secure, and with multiple gold and platinum albums, sold-out tours plus countless honours and career achievement awards, there is little that Alice Cooper hasn’t accomplished in his remarkable career. He has spent almost 50 years touring the world, releasing 26 Studio Albums, has sold more than 50 million albums in the US alone, and is an entrenched, multigenerational pop culture legend.
Alice is showing no signs of slowing down at all, announcing tour dates all through the US, Europe and Japan, all whilst working on a brand new album with long-time producer Bob Ezrin.
This will be Alice’s (lucky) 13th tour of Australia and he’s excited about what fans can look forward to.
Ace Frehley is a founding member of KISS, a musical maverick and iconoclast adored by millions of fans around the world. Ace played on the classic KISS albums from 1983 to 1992 before reuniting with the band from 1996 to 2001. Ace was responsible for many of the band’s biggest hits including “Talk To Me”, “New York Groove”, “2,000 Man”, “Rocket Ride”, “Shock Me” and more. Like Alice, Ace is also a Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame inductee, and has influenced hundreds of bands and inspired guitar players of the ilk of Tom Morello and Dave Grohl.
Frehley and KISS took the music and make-up concept to a new high, debuting in 1973 – Alice Cooper was present at their first showcase, stating to the media “what these guys need is a gimmick!”. Ace’s most recent album, “Origins Vol 1” saw Ace collaborate with everyone from Slash to former band mate Paul Stanley – the latter reuniting on record with Ace for the first time since 1998. Ace’s impact on popular music is immeasurable, and he continues to be the best selling member of the original KISS line-up.
Ace says, “I have been friends with Alice since the 70s, but I’ve never had the pleasure of touring with him! Our tour of Australia in October this year will be a major Rock & Roll event down under and leave all our fans with big smiles and wanting more!!! I can’t wait to hit the road!”
Ace Frehley will perform a 60 minute set of hits from his career in and out of KISS – and of course, he’ll be bringing the smoking guitar!
AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES: ‘SPEND THE NIGHT WITH ALICE COOPER’ WITH VERY SPECIAL GUEST ACE FREHLEY
Tuesday 17 October Perth Arena, Perth, WA
Thursday 19 October Thebarton Theatre, Thebarton, SA
Friday 20 October Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne, VIC
Saturday 21 October Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, NSW
Monday 23 October AIS Arena, Canberra, ACT
Tuesday 24 October Entertainment Centre, Newcastle, NSW
Wednesday 25 October Convention Centre, Brisbane, QLD
Tickets will be available to the general public at www.ticketek.com.au from 9am Friday 28 April, with Adelaide tickets available at www.ticketmaster.com.au.
