the Alice Reel: 10.07

As I said, the music has pretty much always been with me. But some experiences seem to stand out. Here are the highlights:

the Movies
• Wayne's World (1992) - Yep, we saw this at least four times in the theater. (It was high school, people. Senior year. Give us a break.) I believe this is the ticket from our first viewing—and the night someone locked the keys in the still running rental car. (No, it wasn't me.) Amusing anecdotes aside, this was one of those defining moments for me. The guy's hilarious.

So this was around the time everyone started asking, "Did you know Alice Cooper is really smart?" Since I missed the years when I guess they thought otherwise, this always amuses me.

Prior to WWI, in '91 I remember being very excited to see him as Freddy Krueger's father in "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare." (Or, as I like to correct, his stepfather, since Freddy is actually the son of a thousand maniacs. But I digress.) We thought this was pretty funny, but I was kind of a sick thing back then myself.

I also recall an early 90's television viewing of "Prince of Darkness" one late October night and being just utterly terrified of the whole thing, Alice included. (It didn't help that we switched stations only to find someone with spiders hatching from a cheek. I was also terrified of spiders back then.) I always said this was the only horror movie that ever actually scared me.

the Comics
• The Last Temptation (1994) - Well, this caught me right in the midst of my comic book buying phase, so I was in on that action. I loved the music and the story, sympathizing with the boy while the Showman (who reminds me just slightly of Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud from Ray Bradbury's "The Halloween Tree") creeped me out, and I've read it several times since. Unfortunately, this was B.C. for me, so I didn't catch the Christian theme at the time, and I didn't listen to the album enough to know the lyrics. Yet.

the Shows
• Six Flags Over Mid-America, Eureka, MO (October 1999) - My first live Alice Cooper show. Early that year, an insider told me he was coming, which clinched the decision to purchase my first and only Six Flags season pass to date.

I never told anyone, but I was kinda nervous. I'd become a Christian barely a year and a half or so before and didn't know what in the world I'd see. Lo and behold, he did quite a bit of "The Last Temptation" album, completely freaking us out as that Showman—top hat and all. (I'd love to see that again now, as this is probably my favorite album of all time.) But somewhere in there I thought I heard him say, "What about Christ?" That piqued my interest to want to know more.

Since it was Fright Fest, this also included a stroll through the Brutal Planet haunted house, for which we had to pay extra. I remember Fangoria Magazine just loved it, but it was so crowded we didn't get a decent presentation. Too many people streaming through in a slow, solid line, so you already knew what was coming in the next scene by the time you got there. Still, I remember the "red room." It was a seemingly uninhabited room in which everything was red. And then, something moved. Something humanoid! Also completely in red. Creepy mind games at their finest. Loved that part.

• The Pageant, University City, MO (October 2001, 2002, 2006 & July 2004)As adapted from another personal blog and posted on 1/20/07:

The last several years, typically in October, Alice has been at the Pageant. Don't get me wrong, the place is a nice, intimate venue. But I can't stand going in there without an oxygen mask. Low ceilings + chain smokers = me with big headache. I've never been there for anything else. But for Alice, I deal.

So, Alice. I mean, what do you say about Alice? He's a classic. I've always loved his sense of humor. He's still doing a lot of his old stage tricks. But if you like a good classic horror film, you won't mind that bit.

They take turns between just rocking the place and doing their little performance side pieces. He usually starts out as evil Alice, gets beheaded or killed somehow, usually with the help of his daughter, and comes back regenerated as Party Alice out to exact his revenge.

We think it's hilarious. You are probably worried about us. Don't be. We still like the Twilight Zone and old school horror too. But we despise the torture films, so fear not.

Alice has pretty much successfully managed to clean up his act since becoming a Christian. Yeah, he kept all the silly, fake horror fun stuff in. But he's pulled a raunchy song here and added a lyric to change a meaning there. Some of the new stuff contains more blatant spiritual references. I get it. But I'm not sure everyone in the audience does. Still, people do tend to bring their kids to this show if it's not a school night, so I guess they reckon it's pretty safe.

There are a few things he still does that I would love to ask him about. But overall, Alice is always fun, entertaining and full of energy. He blends the classics (I'm Eighteen, Welcome to My Nightmare, No More Mr. Nice Guy) with the new stuff. It's fun. Pure rock stage show. Best showman around.

Somewhere within the time frame of these shows, I also was excited to learn about the Solid Rock Foundation and have since kept an eye on their progress.

• Missouri State Fair, Sedalia, MO (August 2007) - As adapted from another personal blog and posted on 9/24/07:

Yes! Alice again! Just can't get enough of this guy. (Though I did unfortunately miss out on seeing him last night with Queensryche and Heaven & Hell. Couldn't justify the cost. Somehow. ::sob:: I hear he's in town today golfing...)

Unfortunately my car, the one with the a/c, broke down in the 100ish degree weather the day before this trip. Good timing, as I'd rather not have dealt with it on the road. So we suffered in the non-a/c'd car just to get there and back. I think it was worth the pain.

This was probably the biggest Alice show I've been too, because it was the biggest stage I've seen him on. They pulled out all the stops with the props. I've seen the whole shtick in some way or another over the years, though I've never before seen the noose in action since it's so big, so that was fun. There were also a lot more older tunes than usual. It was the Psycho-Drama Tour, so this was full-on rock/horror/vaudeville all the way. Too much fun, if you can handle that sorta thing. Got lots of pix too, so bonus.

the Internet/iTunes
• Nights With... - Well, I might as well include this. Since the last concert, I signed up for the "Nights With" forum (dragonfireflyte in case you're wondering), and also discovered the interviews and clips from the show.

Now personally I rail on most talk shows. I've tried to sit through them, but I usually just don't care much about opinions anymore. But when I heard this, I told my friends there's finally a talk show I love. Unfortunately, I can't actually hear most of it!

So, since we don't have a station carrying it in our area (and I couldn't stay up all night listening even if we did), I'm catching up with the podcasts, which usually have me laughing 'til the tears come, and repeating the word "huge" without the "h."

Anyway, thanks for the memories, Alice. Keep 'em coming.

Collectors will probably appreciate this post. Just some fun AC related stuff I've picked up over the years.

Yes, I do own an Alice teddy bear. I bartered for him several years after a friend bought it at my first Alice show. This is the "Welcome to My Nightmare" t-shirt with the spider, but there are different style bears with different shirts. This is the cutest one I ever saw for sale.

The rest of the collection (excluding albums) currently includes:

• Alice Cooper Elected! '04 bumper sticker, as displayed on my office wall. (Always gets me thinking about that write in vote.)

• Dragontown Bandana

• The Last Temptation 3-comic set

• The Last Temptation trade paperback (purchased autographed, though I've never met him). I absolutely love this cover art.

• The 2002 tour book (also purchased autographed)

• A few print items from the Cleveland Cooperstown

• And a really cool Detroit Hard Rock Cafe flier featuring Alice's guitar, which my mom was nice enough to pick up for me.
Funny, this is a comparatively small collection for me, but I've been fairly conservative in my AC purchases. We'll just count it toward saving up for future shows. :)

(BTW, if you're a collector of random junk, visit Stuff 'n' Junque. There's usually no Alice stuff, but plenty of rock related merch. to keep you happy.)