Alice Cooper has been announced as performing at the 2017 Wacken Open Air festival in Germany. The exact day hasn`t been released but the festival runs between August 3rd and August 5th and as there is already a show in Hungary on the 3rd , that obviously leaves August 4th or 5th.

It's all been a little quiet this week since the last show announcements but here's a couple of things worth reporting:

Alice and Shep are set to be keynote speakers at 'Pollstar Live 2017!' which takes place in Los Angeles between January 31st and February 2nd, and it looks like they will appear on February 1st. The title of their event is "Shep Gordon and Alice Cooper: A 47 Year Conversation" so sounds like a repeat of the Bootleg Theater event a few weeks ago. The industry event is aimed at the Concert industry.

Epiphone Guitars feature Ryan Roxie and the Epiphone guitars he's been using on stage this past year. Expect more from this partnership in the coming year.

Neal Smith's movie "Desolation Angeles/Rise of the BOAS" gets it's world premiere on December 28th at the Bijou Theatre (275 Fairfield Ave.) in Bridgeport, CT. Admission free although a donation is encouraged. Quote: Smith wrote the title song for the film and plays a ruthless Russian mob boss in a full-length black-and-white production based on morality issues rooted in classical Greek mythology."

Steve and Karen Hunter have created a new 'GoFundMe' page where you can pledge your support for Steve's forthcoming new album, entitled 'Before The Lights Go Out'. The campaign features many of the usual incentives, as well as a few extra special ones like Tommy Henriksen's stage pants, and a signed Jason Becker guitar pedal!
To further the fund raising (which also helps with Steve's bills now he can no longer tour or work without assistance) there is an Ebay auction for a one-of-a-kind 'Loic Le Pape Mosteel J.Ramone tribute guitar'. The instrument has been donated by Tommy Henriksen, who played it at this years Christmas Pudding show, and is signed by many of the guests at that show including Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp, Joe Perry, Sammy Hagar, Tommy Henriksen, and Bob Ezrin, as well as Steve himself. The auction has about a day to run so be quick if you are interested!

Tickets have just gone on sale for a show at Trakai Castle in Lithuania on July 31st.

Alice Cooper has announced UK shows for next november with opening bands The Mission and The Tubes (which is a personal dream com true!!!!). The shows are:

11th November - Leeds - First Direct Arena
12th November - Glasgow - S.E.E. Hydro
14th November - Birmingham - Barcleycard Arena
15th November - Manchester - Manchester Arena
16th November - London - Wembley SSE Arena

Pre-sale tickets appear to go on sale December 15th at 9am except Glasgow which is December 14th at 9am.
The announcement also states that the shows will coincide with the new studio album!

More US dates:
April 21st - Biloxi, MS - Beau Rivage Theatre
April 23rd - Springfield, IL - Prairie Capital Convention Center
May 4th - Tulsa, OK - Brady Theater
May 7th - Midland, TX - Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center
May 8th - San Antonio, TX - Tobin Center for the Performing Arts
May 10th - Corpus Christie, TX - American Bank Center Arena

More US show dates have appeared, four on Ticketmaster and one in local press. They are:
April 22nd - Tupelo, MS - BancorpSouth Arena
April 25th - Charleston, WV - Charleston Municiple Auditorium
April 26th - Norfolk, VA - Chrysler Hall
April 27th - Salem, VA - Salem Civic Center
April 29th - Cherokee, NC - Harrah's Cherokee Resort Event Center.
Tickets appear to go on sale Friday.
Expect more shows shortly.

Nita Strauss has been chattig to Ultimate Guitar about learning to play.

Alice Cooper is returning to the Grona Lund in Stockholm, Sweden on July 27th. Admission comes free with entry to the park so presumably you can buy advanced park tickets now.
UPDATE: There is also a show at Liseberg amusement park in Gothenburg on July 26th.

I've been having a few computer problems here (basically my laptop died on me) so you may have seen coverage of the Xmas pudding show already, but from what I can tell it was again a huge success with the Hollywood Vampires (with Glen Sobel on drums) headlining with a set that opened with 'Raise The Dead', ran through many of the songs from the album, and closed with Run, Rudolph, Run'.
You can read a full review courtesy of AZ Central, while Phoenix New-Times has lots of photos and a review of their own. They also have photos from CO-OP's CD launch show, last Friday during which Alice joined the band for 'I'm Eighteen' and 'School's Out'.

CO-OP, the band featuring Dash Cooper, release their debut self-titled five track EP today via EMP and it should be available through all the usual digital outlets. The band, who have often stood in as Alice's back up band for local Phoenix functions, will have the first full length album out in 2017. You can check out the final epic track, 'Sleep', via Soundcloud and the band play a launch party tonight at Joe’s Grotto in Phoenix, AZ and open for Steel Panther on New Years Eve at Livewire AZ, in Scottsdale, AZ.

Beasto Blanco have released a new video for 'Death Rattle' from their new self-titled album which you can check out below.

The Musician's Friend interview with Alice and Nita is now available to watch via YouTube. There's also a new "Ask Alice" video up with Alice talking about tattoo's and Kyler  speaking about the Frankenalice smell!

Alice Cooper is set to play at the Bukta Tromso Open Air Festival in Norway on July 21st. Tickets appear to be on sale now.

Alice and Nita are featured on the front cover of the new 'Musician's Friend' Christmas catalog and there's a two page interview inside. You can see a copy online here.

Denis Dunaway will be appearing at Johnny's Records in Darien, CT tomorrow from midday to celebrate the Record Store Day release of 'Live From The Astroturf' and sign copies of his book, and probably anything else you put in front of him!

In related news the Dallas News has an article about the man behind 'Live From The Astroturf' Chris Penn and the "reunion" show the recordings come from. Ultimate Classic Rock also has a story with background on the release.

'Hello, Hooray' has been inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. The song was written by Canadian Rolf Kempf and to mark the awards indie rockers 'Fast Romantics' have recorded a new cover version which you can see here.

Alice Cooper will be playing the Jung Garde in Dresden, Germany on August 2nd. Tickets appear to have gone on sale yesterday. The show/tour again appears to be titled "Spend The Night With Alice Cooper".
It also appears there will be a show in Oslo, Norway on July 24th at the Sentrum Scene for which tickets are also on sale.
Expect many more to be announced shortly I'm sure.

Check out the video for 'Is It My Body?' from the 'Live From The Astroturf' single featuring Alice, Dennis, Neal and Michael (And Ryan) that will be released next week.

Beasto Blanco have added a couple more US shows for the beginning of next year. They are:
January 25th - Moline, IL - Rascals
January 26th - Nashville, TN - Basement East
January 27th - Atlanta, GA - 120 Tavern
January 28th - Birmingham, AL - The Nick

Alice's Q&A appearance at the Rhode Island Comic Convention on November 11th was recorded, and you can listen to it now on Soundcloud.

Nita Strauss will be appearing at Swing House Studios in Los Angeles on November 21st for a guitar clinic. Entry is free and Monster Energy Drinks will be providing free drinks! They will also apparently be filming the event.
And talking of film, Nita has been posting stage and backstage footage to her facebook page throughout the tour which is well worth checking out, especially this last one from the end of the tour.

There have been a few more Shep Gordon interviews over the last few days. Check these out at Jewish Light, WTF with Mark Maron, abd CBS News.

The first European show on 2017 appears to have been announced. Alice Cooper will be at the Fezen Festival in Szekesfehervar, Hungary on August 3rd. Tickets appear to go on sale Wednesday.

Beasto Blanco, featuring Chuck Garric, have released a new video for the song 'Grind' from their forthcoming second album 'Beasto Blanco' which you can check out below.

Chuck Garric has been promoting the new Beasto Blanco album (two weeks to go!) and has been chatting to Hair Metal Mansion and Mitch Lafon's Talking Metal Digital, while Beasto guitarist/co-founder Chris Latham has been chatting to Metal Titans.

Bodybuilding.com has a feature on Nita Strauss and her fitness regimen.

Metal Radar grabbed Glen Sobel to talk about his drum set up.

Dennis Dunaway's 'Snakes, Guillotones, Electric Chairs', read by Dennis himself, is now available on an MP3 CD via Book Repository for just £5.77 which is a bargain by any measure.

Ultimate Classic Rock has a new article concentrating on Alice's career during the 80s.

It appears (my German is non-existent) Beasto Blanco will be the main support for a German band called "Bohse Onkelz" during their 'Momento' tour, mainly of Germany, during November/December. The tour begins on November 21st in Frankfurt and runs through to December 22nd. The full list of shows also includes one off shows in Switzerland and Austria. Unfortunately for Beasto fans many shows already appear be sold out!

Dennis Dunaway is the guest on 'Atlantic Tunnel' which you can listen to on Soundcloud. Dennis appears around 35 minutes into the show.

KTRS has a interview with Shep Gordon which you can listen to here.

Backstage Auctions are a music memorabilia auction house and their annual 'Rock Gods and Metal Monsters' auction begins shortly and includes several Alice Cooper related artifacts. You can check out the list, including one of Alice's stage swords, here.

Alice and Shep Gordon were at the Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles last night and 'LiveTalks Los Angeles' streamed the event. You can watch what happened now over at Facebook. It was a strange interview, as Alice is obviously not used to being the interviewer and basically tells his own stories with Shep occasionally adding his memories, but fun all the same and well worth checking out.

Later in the evening Alice and the band performed on an outside stage for 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!'. Better video of this is sure to follow soon (it only aired a couple of hours ago), but at this point they certainly aired 'Elected' at the end of the show including the Trump/Clinton skit. Johnny Depp joined the band onstage for at least 'School's Out' and 'I'm Eighteen'.

Speaking of Johnny, he also turned up at the final show on the current tour in Pantages Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday, along with guitarist Butch Walker and five nurses including Sheryl and Calico Cooper.

Beasto Blanco have added another show to their schedule with the promise of more to be announced soon. The shows listed so far are:
November 4th 2016 - Brick by Brick, San Diego, CA
November 10th 2016 - Whisky A Go Go, West Hollywood, CA
February 2nd 2017 - Monsters of Rock Cruise, Tampa, FL
The new Beasto album is available to pre-order now.

Nita Strauss spent some time with 'Musicians Friend' at the Pantages show and you can see video at their Facebook page.

The Bay Bridged has photos from the Warfield show, CV Independent has pics from Fantasy Springs, and Alice has a few words with the Vauxhall Advance.

It appears Alice Cooper will be performing on ABC's 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' on Halloween October 31st. It's listed as an 'outdoor mini-concert' and it looks like you can try and get tickets here. Don`t forget that Alice and Shep's chat from the Bootleg Theater will also be streamed the same day.

You can check out the full trailer for 'Desolation Angles: Rise of the Boas', which stars Neal Smith, on YouTube. The new song in the trailer is also by Neal, and is availble now at CDBaby.

WBEZ Chicago have posted an interview with Alice from last year on Studio 360 while KGO810 have posted a more recent one.

Alice Cooper will be playing at the Choctaw Grand Theater in Durant, OK on May 5th 2017. Tickets go on sale October 28th.

CBS San Francisco and the San Diego Union-Tribune have new interviews with Alice.

Beasto Blanco, featuring Chuck Garric and Calico Cooper, have unleashed an amazing video for their stunning new version of 'Feed My Frankenstein' which you can check out below. If you haven`t already pre-ordered their forthcoming second album this should convince you to do so now!

The surviving members of the original Alice Cooper line up, Alice, Dennis Dunaway, Neal Smith, and Michael Bruce, will release a single entitled 'Live From The Astroturf' on Black Friday (November 25th) to record stores only. The seven-inch will come out in a limited edition of 2,500 copies split into white, pink, black, and pink and white vinyl. The pink-and-white version, limited to 100 copies, also features autographed prints from Cooper, Smith, Bruce and Dunaway.
The single will feature live versions of 'I'm Eighteen' and 'Is It My Body' recorded at Dennis Dunaway's book event in Dallas, TX music store 'Good Records' on October 6th 2015, and features Ryan Roxie standing in for Glen Buxton. A video has also been released which can be seen below. The release is apparently dedicated to Glen Buxton.

Alice Cooper and Shep Gordon's appearance at the Bootleg Theater in LA on Halloween, promoting Shep's recently released autobiography, is now sold out, but the good news is that it will apparently be streamed live at LiveTalk's facebook page. The event is set to begin at 8pm PDT.

Alice has been talking to radio station WZLX about Joe Perry's health scare and the Hollywood Vampires which you can here via Blabbermouth.

The new German edition of Classic Rock has four pages on Alice this month.

Alice talks to the Lethbridge Herald, Times Colonist, KFox, and CBC News promoting the current tour.

Shep Gordon talks to Forbes Magazine promoting his book.

In a new interview with Mitch Lafon Tommy Henriksen, Nita Strauss and Glen Sobel all talk about an album they are working on featuring all three plus Chuck Garric and Ryan Roxie, the full current Alice Cooper band. The album is apparently almost compete and has been recorded on the road over the last year or so. It will feature vocals by Ryan, Tommy and Chuck taking turns. No release date yet but certainly something to look forward to!

Nita Strauss is on the cover of the latest issue of K9 Magazine chatting about her two dogs and life on the road with Alice Cooper.

Alice Cooper and Shep Gordon will take the stage at the Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles on October 31st talking about Shep's new book and their long association together. Tickets are on sale now in various formats including packages that include signed copies of the book and a photo with Alice and Shep. The bootleg theater appears to be very small, so get your tickets quickly if you want to attend.

Shep has also been chatting to Rolling Stone, Q104 (audio) and GQ Magazine promoting his autobiography 'They Call Me Supermensch', while Alice has words with On Milwaukee.

Amazon Germany now has a sample chapter from Dennis Dunaway's 'Snakes, Guillotines, Electric Chairs..'

Thursday Nights show in Reading, PA has changed venue from the Santander Arena to the Santander Performing Arts Center apparently to create 'a more intimate concert experience for fans'. All tickets remain valid.

Alice will be appearing at the Rhode Island Comic Con at the Rhode Island Convention Center and Dunkin Donuts Center between November 11th and 13th.

The Daily Gazette has a new interview with Alice promoting the Albany show and the Indiana Gazette has one too.  104.7 W10T has also posted an interview from the 'Kramer Show'.

Shep Gordon talks about his career and new book 'They Call Me Supermensch' on Bloomburg.com.

The Hollywood Vampires have been announced as headlining this years Christmas Pudding Show on December 3rd at the Celebrity Theater in Phoenix, with Sammy Hagar also joining them for the show. This year will be the 15th Pudding show!
Update: Korn and the Gin Blossoms will also appear.

A reminder that Dennis Dunaway will be on the 'Jail Cell: Rock and Blues Show' tonight at 11pm UK time (6pm Eastern /3pm Pacific) on Scotland 96AM. Dennis's book will be released in German soon and Deutschlandfunk have an article about it, in German of course. On Sunday Dennis and Blue Coupe will be appearing at the Vinyl Revolution Record Show in Astoria, New York with guests Tish and Snooky, Nick Didkovsky and the Plasmatics Richie Stotts and Stu Deutsch.

Nita Strauss guests on wrestler 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin's podcast this week which you can listen to here. It features 40 seconds of Nita's first solo track, 'Pandamonium', which will be available in January on the 'She Rocks' compilation album on Steve Vai 'Favored Nations' label.

Shep Gordon's Book 'They Call Me Supermensch' is out now, and although I haven`t seen it yet (mine's still on its way from the US) I'm hearing good reports. Gothamist talks to Shep about the book and hs long career and Amplify has a review.

Alice has a few words with TribLive before the Indiana show. He also appears in a new trailer for a documentary called 'Danny Says', the story of music manager, publicist, journalist, and author Danny Fields.

The November issue of Mojo magazine (Lou Reed cover) has a couple of pages on Alice Cooper including a list of the top ten Cooper albums as voted for by readers. While the top entries are probably predictable it's nice to see such a good showing from 'Dada'. The magazine should be on the shelves in a few days.

It's been a little quiet the last couple of weeks but here's a few things worth checking out:

Alice will be at the 'Days of the Dead' horror convention at the Schaumburg Marriott in Chicago between November 18th and 20th. Also appearing are Dave Ellefson of Megadeth and Charlie Benantte of Anthrax.

Lake County News-Sun has a short interview promoting the Genesee Theatre show on Sept 22nd while Cleveland Scene has another for the Akron show.

MTV.com has a feature on 'Elected' relating it to past and the current US elections.

Shep Gordon's new autobiography 'They Call Me Supermensch: A Backstage Pass to the Amazing Worlds of Film, Food, and Rock N’ Roll' has started shipping from the USA so is presumably in US shops now, and Shep has been chatting to PR Week and the New York Post promoting it.

Blabbermouth reports Kane Roberts has signed a new deal with Frontiers Records for his forthcoming solo album which is due next year.

Dennis Dunaway and his co-author Chris Hodenfield will be appearing at a special book sighing at Barnes and Noble in Stanford, CT on Sept 17th between 7pm and 9pm. Blue Coupe will also play a live set with guests Tish and Snooky of Manic Panic and guitarist Nick Didkovsky, the man behind the 'Pretties For You' performance last year.  Check out facebook for details.
Following this, on September 25th Blue Coupe will sign autographs and play the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden in Astoria, NY at the Vinyl Revolution Record Show with special guests Richie Stotts & Stu Deutsch of the legendary Plasmatics! This is an afternoon show at 3pm. More details again at facebook.

Most of you will have heard that we lost another legend this week in actor Gene Wilder. Alice has long been a huge fan, sometimes listing 'Young Frankenstein' as one of his favorite films, and he also worked with Wilder on his short lived TV show 'Something Wilder'. Alice posted the following message: "I count working with Gene Wilder on his TV sitcom 'Something Wilder' to be one of the most precious memories of my entire career. Doing "one on one" comedy with Gene was like jamming with The Beatles. It doesn't get any better. Gene Wilder is irreplaceable and will always be an American treasure."

Tucson.com has a live review and photos from the Casino Del Sol show.

A few new interviews and reviews to catch up on from the last few days.

Alice talks to Austin-American Statesman with comments about the next album, and CBS San Francisco,  Vegas Seven and Tucson.com about touring and the 'Elected' campaign.

FSU News has a short review from the Tallahasse show with photos. Houston News, Guide Live, and Abilene Reproter-news also have show reviews. KHOU Houston have photos from the Houston show.

Still having time for promotional duties while on tour Alice talks 'Presidents and Parody' on CNN in a new short video on CNN, and HBO's 'Vinyl' TV show at NewsOK. He calls into Bob And Jim's Morning Show at Lonestar925, talks about touring buddies with The Austin Chronicle and youring and Joe Perry's health scare at My Statesman.
UPDATE: CNN have posted video of Alice talking about his current 'Elected' presiential campaign. This was originally meant to be aired a few weeks back but was pre-empted by both world events and Joe Perry's collapse.

Not to be outdone Chuck Garric chats to the Great Southern Brainfart about Beasto Blanco's forthcoming new album and touring with Alice Cooper, while Glen Sobel chats to Sweetwater Sound in a new video.

Offbeat Magazine has a review and some nice photos from New Orleans (where there was a "surprise" set list change).

Alice has been talking to Rolling Stone promoting the current 'Elected" re-release and the 'Alice Cooper For President' campaign. This is the main source of many other news stories appearing on various sites. The Standard-Times and the Tallahassee Democrat have different interviews though. The Tampa Bay Times has a show review.

Last night's show in Huntsville was spoiled by one drunken moron who threw a 'half full tall boy can of beer' a Sheryl Cooper as she performed the 'Zombie Hillary vs Zombie Trump' skit during 'Elected' at the end of the show. The can hit Sheryl in the eye, but luckily she escaped with just some bad bruising. It could have been far far worse. Despite an understandably furious Alice asking who had thrown the can, the sad excuse for a human escaped identification. Why anyone would buy a ticket to a show, just to get drunk and assault a performer is a mystery.
Here's a quote, courtesy of #Cerealkyler, from Sheryl herself: "My understanding is that this person was so intoxicated that he or she could barely stand. Getting hit in the eye with a full can of beer certainly hurt! It could have been so much worse. I am thankful I'm not in the hospital or had to have stitches. My hope and prayer is that this individual made it safely home without injuring another."

Alice is featured in the new issue of 'Classic Rock' magazine (ZZ Top cover) with two pages of text and a full page photo. Quotes from the interview have been pulled for various other news articles but this is the source for all of them, although some of the wording doesn`t sound very much like Alice speaking...

Alabama.com also have a new interview with Alice, Louisville Courier-Journal has a short show review.

Ryan Roxie was in jail a few days ago! He visited the West Shoreline Correctional Facility on Saturday August 6th to share stories and play for the inmates, hoping to inspire them to use their time behind bars constructively. Michigan Live have photos and a report.

Rhino are reissuing 'Billion Dollar Babies' on vinyl on October 18th. This time it's on Green, yellow, & orange marble colored vinyl but dosn`t appear to have anything new included.

"Talk Stoop" has a short video interview with Alice promoting last years 'Peter and the Wolf' album.

Shep Gordon's forthcoming memoir "They Call Me Supermensch" is due out in hardback, paperback and ebook on September 20th in the US (UK is November 1st) and is now available to pre-order though AmazonUS an AmazonUK. Published through Anthony Bordain's Ecco Books imprint, via HarperCollins, the book promises to be "A backstage pass to the amazing worlds of film, food and rock 'n' roll" and undoubtably the book will be an essential read for any Alice Cooper fan.
Here's the back cover blub and a few celebrity quotes about the book and Shep:
"In the course of his storied career as a manager, agent, and producer, Shep Gordon has worked with—and befriended—some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry, from Alice Cooper to Bette Davis, Raquel Welch to Groucho Marx, Blondie to Jimi Hendrix, Sylvester Stallone to Salvador Dali, Luther Vandross to Teddy Pendergrass. He is also credited with inventing the “celebrity chef,” and has worked with Nobu Matsuhisa, Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, Roger Verge, and many others.
In this wonderfully engaging memoir, the captivating entertainment legend recalls his life, from his humble beginnings as a shy, unambitious kid growing up on Long Island to his unexpected rise as one of the most influential and respected personalities in show business, revered for his kindness, charisma—and fondness for a good time.
Gordon shares riotous anecdotes and outrageous accounts of his freewheeling, globe-trotting experiences with some of the biggest celebrities of the past five decades, including his first meeting with Janis Joplin in 1968, when the raspy singer punched him in the face. Told with incomparable humor and heart, They Call Me Supermensch is a sincere, hilarious, behind-the-scenes look at the worlds of music and entertainment from a consummate Hollywood insider."

“Reality has never seemed to important in the 50 years Shep and I have been working together.  When we need something to happen, Shep just works his magic to simply MAKE it a reality.  I’m still not sure how he does it, he just has that natural ability to create scenarios and relationships that help to get you where you need to go”
Alice Cooper

"The amazing, incredible, unlikely-but-true story of the man who's done everything, been everywhere, and was at seemingly every important moment in musical and culinary history. He's a one-man history of cool. And through it all, he's somehow managed to remain a mensch. Shep Gordon is a legend."
Anthony Bourdain

"I have never been so hungry after finishing a book! Shep Gordon loves life, and Supermensh is his joyful, soulful, and hilarious account of how he found some purpose for his own life. One for the good guys. Thank you, thank you"
Michael Douglas

"When you realize what Shep has done for the world of rock and roll, Hollywood and artists at large, you will be floored. What you don't know is that he also single handedly created the movement of "celebrity chefs" and not only changed the profession forever but also the entire perception of food; he created a culture. Not only is Shep my dear friend, he's one of the greatest humans I know and the journey this book takes you on will expose all the reasons he is truly Supermensch."
Emeril Lagasse

"Snoop said I was the only one to smoke him under the table But I remember more than once when the pot party Ended,  Shep and I were the last ones standing Let's burn another one soon Shep”
Willie Nelson

“Shep's memoir is a testament to the human capacity for adventure, survival, and kindness. This is truly the most interesting man in the world, not to mention one of the most generous and loving. Luckily for us, his lust for life is contagious. If I had to be stuck in a prison cell for the rest of my life, my only requests would be this book, and an annual meal prepared by its sensational author.”
Olivia Wilde

Far from a “walk down memory lane,” Shep’s memoir is like a rollercoaster highway ride through the greatest decades for food, celebrity, and entertainment—and it made me smile and laugh at every turn.  
Throughout Shep’s career, he’s mastered the art of giving people a great show.  From Hollywood to Cannes, dabbling in food, music, and all things entertainment, this book is no exception.
-Daniel Boulud, Chef/Owner, The Dinex Group

"Super Mench is an understatement. I've known Shep Gordon for over 40 years. He's the real most interesting man in the world!!!"
Sammy Hagar

Alice Cooper has added a show at the First Arena in Elmira, NY on September 26th to the current 'Spend the Night with Alice Cooper' tour. Tickets go on sale Friday.

Dennis Dunaway's appearance in Los Angeles this weekend attracted various old Alice Cooper friends, including original co-manager Joe Greenburg, 70s roadie Ron Voltz, and Monica Lauer, who provided the childs voice of the classic 'Ballad of Dwight Fry'. You can check out a 25 minute video with words from all three as well as Dennis and Cindy of course.

Beasto Blanco, featuring Chuck Garric and Calico Cooper, will apparently play a show at the Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood, CA on November 10th. Interestingly Ex-Alice bassist Kip Winger's band Winger play the following night!

Dennis and Cindy Dunaway will be at the 'Manic Panic Style Asylum' on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles this Saturday (30th July) between 4pm and 6pm signing cpoies of "Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs!" and probably anything else you want to put in front of him!

Phil Collen of Def Leppard and Eric Kretz of Stone Temple Pilots joined the Hollywood Vampires for 'School's Out' at the final Vampires show in Pasa Robles on Monday. You can check out footage via YouTube.

According to a Twitter post from The Hollywood Vampires, Joe Perry will return to the stage for tomorrows show in Rohnert Park, CA. Perry was forced to leave the stage in Coney Island, NY eleven days ago due to "a combination of dehydration and exhaustion" and missed the next five shows to rest up. Since then the band have had Joe's amp and hat on stage and shown photos on the video screen, wishing him a quick recovery. He returns with four shows in just four days before the tour ends in Pasa Robles on Monday. The San Francisco Chronicle has a short interview with Alice promoting tomorrows show.

Alice Cooper will play the Genesee Theatre in Waukegan,  IL on Spetember 22nd. Pre-sale tickets go on sale July 19th.

The Hollywood Vampires were at the Starkey hearing Foundation Gala in St. Pauls, MN last night and performed at the event which is expected to raise up to $9million towards their aim of outfiting children in poorer countries with free hearing aids. The Vampires tour has been supporting the charity and the band have been making personal appearances around the world to help raise the charities profile.

While nothing much else has turned up about the situation with Joe Perry, it appears from some reports that Joe is now back home resting after his recent hospital stay. It's still hoped Joe will make a return before the end of the tour but with only five shows to go this is looking encreasingly unlikely.

There's been more Vampire reviews from the tour including the Daily Tribune, and KNAC (with photos).

THE WHOLE WORLD'S GOING CRAZY!

LOOKING FOR A BETTER CANDIDATE? A BETTER PLATFORM?

LOOK NO FURTHER

GET ALICE COOPER 'ELECTED'

ALICE COOPER RUNS FOR U.S. PRESIDENT AND U.K. PRIME MINISTER

“A TROUBLED MAN FOR TROUBLED TIMES”

July 12, 2016 – Los Angeles, CA -- Alice Cooper is tired of the rhetoric - the mudslinging – the media frenzy.  Keeping his snake in his cage and the guillotine in storage, he is putting people before career.  Alice Cooper wants to be "Elected".

His classic 1972 hit is once again an anthem for modern times and when it all boils down to it – a long flowing mane of (real) hair beats Bernie/The Donald/Hillary/Boris styles hands down and his American accent and people's policies are way easier for the British to understand than any of Theresa May's (although it might not be just the accent).  

But it’s not all about debonair good looks, long flowing locks and a wicked accent -- Alice Cooper has a platform that every voter can get behind. He is asking his fellow Americans, his British friends and all those around the world who are disillusioned with their leaders, to join "The Wild Party."

Alice Cooper has spent countless nights on the road; many troubled hours worrying about the course of our great nations. Not afraid of controversy or springing into action, Alice Cooper plans to channel every ounce of energy (in between his Alice Cooper and Hollywood Vampire concerts, his syndicated radio show "Nights With Alice Cooper”, and his daily round of golf, of course) towards solving the world’s problems. He is tackling the everyday concerns discussed among his fellow woman and man - the ordinary, decent hard working (and rocking) people he meets and entertains every day while performing nearly 100 concerts a year around the world.
So, if you’re looking for a candidate with a platform that matters, vote Alice Cooper, the man with the plan to tackle the hot button, contentious and provocative issues on the minds of the real America and Britain:
⦁    Getting Brian Johnson back in AC/DC
⦁    A snake in every pot
⦁    No more pencils, no more books
⦁    Adding Lemmy to Mt Rushmore
⦁    Rename Big Ben "Big Lemmy"
⦁    Groucho Marx on the $50 bill
⦁    Peter Sellers on the £20 note
⦁    Cupholders required for every airplane seat
⦁    Ban on talking during movies in movie theatres
⦁    Ban on taking selfies, except on a designated National Selfie Day

These "troubled times" call for a "troubled mind" indeed.  These "troubled times" call for Alice Cooper.
Said Alice, "Why NOT me? I have t shirts to sell."

www.votealicecooper.com
www.aliceforpresident.com

WelI, guess we now know why 'Elected' turned up as a new Alice Cooper single on Spotify and Deezer a couple of days ago. It's official, Alice is campaigning to become both President of the USA and Prime Minister of the UK (despite there not actually being an election here)!
The press release says: "Alice Cooper is tired of the rhetoric – the mudslinging – the media frenzy. Keeping his snake in his cage and the guillotine in storage, he is putting people before career. Alice Cooper wants to be elected.
But it’s not all about debonair good looks, long flowing locks and a wicked accent – Alice Cooper has a platform that every voter can get behind. He is asking his fellow Americans, his British friends and all those around the world who are disillusioned with their leaders, to join The Wild Party.
Alice Cooper is tackling the everyday concerns discussed among his fellow woman and man - the ordinary, decent hard working (and rocking) people he meets and entertains every day while performing nearly 100 concerts a year around the world. s, stating that Alice wants "a snake in every pot, no more pencils, no more books" and "cupholders for every airplane seat". These troubled times call for a troubled mind indeed. These troubled times call for Alice Cooper. Why not me? I have t-shirts to sell."
There's also a list of things Alice promises if elected including getting Brian Johnson back in AC/DC, renaming 'Big Ben' to 'Big Lemmy' and a ban on talking during movies... things I think we can all support!
Check out aliceforprimeminister.com and aliceforpresident.com for campaign packs with posters, stickers and t-shirts plus a cool facebook header which you can add your own face to!

Newsweek have a chat with Alice about the current show and working with Dennis, Neal and Michael while High Plains Reader have a short interview with Alice promoting the Fargo show on Monday.

There's also a new 'Ask Alice' video where he explains why Alice rarely talks to the crowd during shows with a bonus cartoon at the end!

Alice Cooper will play two addition shows as part of the 'Spend The Night With Alice Cooper' tour. They are Sept. 23rd in Akron, OH at the Civic Theatre, and Sept. 28th in Albany, NY at the Palace Theater. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10AM EST.

For those who didn't see the updates added yesterday there hasn't really been any news on Joe Perry situation beyond the fact that he is in a stable condition and it's hoped he will return to the stage soon. It has been suggested in some places that Joe suffered cardiac arrest on stage on Sunday, but this hasn't been confirmed anywhere official at all, so until more information is released it's probably best not to speculate. All we know for sure is that he wasn't feeling well before the show and had to be rushed to hospital after just one song.
All Hollywood Vampires shows will go ahead as planned, obviously without Joe until such time as he's fit enough to return.

Spotify and Deezer both seem to have a "new" Alice Cooper single streaming. It's 'Elected' with the subtitle "Alice Cooper For Prime Minister 2016". I haven't had time to compare this version of the song to see if it's the original, the 'Alice Does Alice' version or a new mix, but the cover image of a Union Flag and "Vote Alice Cooper for Prime Minster" is a little strange as (so far) there isn't going to be an election in the UK this year... so you can't vote for Alice. Maybe I'm missing something...
UPDATE: Check out www.aliceforprimeminister.com and www.aliceforpresident.com.

The Oakland Press has published an interview with Joe and Alice, obviously done before Sunday's events.

Eternal Terror has a review of the Stonefree festival last month while Live In Limbo also has a review with some great photos.

Reports are coming in that guitarist Joe Perry was forced to leave the stage at last nights Hollywood Vampires show in Coney Island to receive medical treatment. As of writing no cause has been released, however a representative for Joe, Sujata Murthy, stated “Joe Perry is stable and resting.”
From what I can get from reports that are still coming in, it appears Joe started the show but only got as far as the second song, a cover of Spirit's 'I Got A Line On You.' First he was forced to sit on on the front of the drum riser, clearly in distress,  before leaving the stage to get help.  According to reports he was quickly rushed to Coney Island Hospital, before being transferred to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.
The show continued without Perry, with Alice stating from the stage "If you notice one of our brothers is not onstage with us, he was very sick before the show’.”
After the show the official Joe Perry Twitter channel posted "Thanks to all of the fans reaching out and asking about Joe. He is stable right now, with family and is under the best care" while the Hollywood Vampire's feed posted "Joe Perry is stable and resting. His brother Vampires and fans wish him a speedy recovery".  The Alice Cooper feed posted "Thanks to everyone asking about our brother @Joe Perry. He is stable right now, with family & is under the best care."
(Photo (c) Kyler Clark)
Obviously this is an ongoing story so I will try and update as and when new information is released.
It goes without saying everybody in the SickthingsUK community wishes Joe all our very best wishes for a quick recovery and return to the stage.
It seems likely the tour will continue, with Joe returning if and when he is well enough to do so, but this will likely be confirmed in the coming hours or days.

Here's some links to news reports that have appeared so far which have some eye witness acounts from Coney Island: PageSix and the New York Times have quotes from fans at the show, while there is footage from the show apearing on YouTube including this short clip of Joe Leaving the stage. Video shows Ian Hunter of Mott The Hoople joined the band on stage for covers of  Lou Reed's "Sweet Jane" and Mott's "All The Young Dudes".

UPDATE: The Hollywood Vampire's appearance on the Colbert Show tonight has been canceled. Blink 182 are now listed as playing the show.
TMZ have just posted video of Alice saying that Joe is "stable" and that the rest of the Vampires tour is currently "up in the air".

UPDATE: The Alice Cooper Twitter account has confirmed the rest of the tour will be going ahead as planned.

UPDATE: Tom Hamilton, bassist with Aerosmith just posted the following message: "Thankfully, Joe seems to better then we all first feared. Here's hoping he's back on stage soon doing what he loves to do."

The Hollywood Vampires will perform on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' this coming Monday, July 11th (11:35 PM-12:37 AM, ET/PT), on CBS.
The Milwaukee Record have a review of the Summerfest show.

Dennis Dunaway appears on 'One On One with Steve Adubato' which you can watch here.

The first Alice Cooper record 'Pretties For You' was performed live in NYC in Nov 2015 by a band assembled by Nick Didkovsky (Doctor Nerve, Vomit Fist). In attendance were Neal Smith, Dennis Dunaway, and Cindy Smith Dunaway and the place was packed with people from all over the world. Dennis also joined the band for a few encores including the rare tune 'Nobody Likes Me', and Cindy contributed with a custom designed PFY shirt she made for Nick.  A DVD of this special performance is now available at http://www.didkovsky.com/pfy/ and is well worth checking out. You can see a trailer here and check out a few reviews via Metallbibliotekarierna, SteveHoffman.tv and Stashdauber.

Below you can check out the new video from Damon Johnson. The track 'Nobody Usin'' is taken from Damons excellent new EP 'Echo' which is out now.

Alice Cooper will be playing the Kovalchick Complex Ed Fry Arena in Indiana, PA on September 24th. Tickets go on sale Friday July 8th at 10AM EST.

The Sales Blog has a great story about a recent Alice meet and greet and what to expect. Well worth reading. 

The Boston Herald has a story about a fan who got to meet Alice, Joe and Johnny despite a horific accident that left her paralyzed from the neck down before the show. Quote: "Because Amanda was unable to attend the concert on her own, her hometown donated an ambulance to transport her to Foxwoods for the show. When she arrived, Amanda was greeted by Depp, Cooper and Perry, who visited with her in the ambulance, then escorted her to the side of the stage, where she and her family watched the show."

More Hollywood Vampires stories: OnMilwaukee have a lengthy review of the Vampires' Harris Pavillion show on Tuesday with some photos and Joe Perry has been talking to the Toronto Sun about the band and the Aerosmith final tour.

Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp are amongst the celebrity guests at this years 'Starkey Hearing Foundation' gala at the RiverCentre in St. Paul. MN on July 17th. The Hollywood Vampires have been supporting the Starkey Hearing Foundation during their current tour.

Joe Perry talks about the Vampires with the Metro, Atlantic City.com, and Guitar World. 

'The Rock' teen center in Phoaenix has been expanded to include a new art studio and the Phoenix Business Journal has some photos.

Alice Cooper will be playing the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, WA on October 20th. Tickets go on sale June 30th at 10am.

The Hollywood Vampires hit the road again in the US in a few days and Alice talks to the Morning Call, Joe Perry chats to the CT Post, and Matt Sorum talks to the Chicago Tribune.

WMGK has a new podcast interview with Alice which you can listen to here.

Ryan, Tommy and Glen chat to 4Sound at the Copenhell festival about their Gibson guitars, and paying tribute to Glen Buxton and Michael Bruce's original twin Gibson setup.

Ghost Cult Magazine has a chat with Chuck Garric about Beasto Blanco and their forthcoming second album.

MusicOHM has a review of both days of last weeks 'Stone Free festival'.

The Alice Cooper show in Tilburg last night was in danger of being stopped after smoke from the stage was seen rising from the venue roof. Luckily it was a false alarm and the show continued as normal, but fire engines were called as a precaution.

The Chicago Tribune has an interview with Dennis Dunaway promoting the audiobook version of his 'Snakes...' book. The feature has 6 previously unseen photos from the Billion Dollar Babies' 'Battle Axe' stage show from Chicago 1977 which are definitly worth checking out. There are very few photos around from the shows and these are excellent, showing the boxing ring show design, in Colour!

There have been a couple of articles about Alice's first ever show in Israel last week including a review in the Jerusalem Post.

Dennis Dunaway, Joe Bouchard and Al Bouchard will be amongst the artists playing at the 'Made In New York' festival at Madison Barracks, Sackets Harbour, NY on July 2nd. 'Special Forces' guitarist Mike Pinera, Edgar Winter and Denny Lane are also on the list of guest stars performing as part of 'The Classic Rock Allstars' at the show.

Glide Magazine has a new interview with Damon Johnson talking about the recently released 'Echo' EP, Alice Cooper, Thin Lizzy, and Black Star Riders.

Steve Hunter has released a new 'single' entitled 'Camellia'. This is the full demo of a song from 1980 (remixed in 2016) that can be heard in the Bette Midler movie 'The Rose' (which Steve also appears in).

Alice Cooper will headline the `Rock Carnival` at FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, NJ on September 30th. Also on the bill are Blue Osyter Cult, Clutch and Zakk Sabbath. Tickets are on sale now.

Nick Didkovsky's performance of 'Pretties For You' in New York last November is now available to buy on DVD. You can check out the video promo and order directly from Nick's site at didkovsky.com. While there is nothing stating that Dennis Dunaway's guest appearance is on the DVD I'm assuming it is.

The Stone Free festival has released the full schedule for the weekend with details of all the other acts playing on the 18th when Alice Cooper headlines. As expected there is an Alice Q&A in the afternoon, however it turns out only people with expensive meet and greet tickets will get to see it. This is the only event of the whole weekend to have such a restriction.

NYS Music has a review of the Turning Stone Hollywood Vampire's show with some great photos, and Rock FM in Romania has an interview with Alice and Joe.

Standing Room Only have a new interview with Steve Hunter talking about his career and Alice Cooper.

Shep Gordon's autobiography "They Call Me Supermensch: A Backstage Pass to the Amazing Worlds of Film, Food, and Rock’n’Roll" now has a release date of September 20th and will be published by Anthony Bourdain/Ecco. Here's the description:
"An eye-popping peek into entertainment industry from the magnetic force who has worked with an impeccable roster of stars throughout his storied career.
In the course of his legendary career as a manager, agent, and producer, Shep Gordon has worked with, and befriended, some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry, from Alice Cooper to Bette Davis, Raquel Welch to Groucho Marx, Blondie to Jimi Hendrix, Sylvester Stallone to Salvador Dali, Luther Vandross to Teddy Pendergrass. He is also credited with inventing the "celebrity chef," and has worked with Nobu Matsuhisa, Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, Roger Verge, and many others, including his holiness the Dalai Lama.
In this wonderfully engaging memoir, the charismatic entertainment legend recalls his life, from his humble beginnings as a "shy, no self-esteem, Jewish nebbisher kid with no ambition" in Oceanside, Long Island, to his unexpected rise as one of the most influential and respected personalities in show business, revered for his kindness, charisma—and fondness for a good time.
Gordon shares riotous anecdotes and outrageous accounts of his free-wheeling, globe-trotting experiences with some of the biggest celebrities of the past five decades, including his first meeting with Janice Joplin in 1968, when the raspy singer punched him in the face. Told with incomparable humor and heart, They Call Me Supermensch is a sincere, hilarious behind-the-scenes look at the worlds of music and entertainment from the consummate Hollywood insider."
The book is available to pre-order now at AmazonUK, and AmazonUS which between them list Kindle, Hardback and paperback versions.

Nita Strauss has been talking to Music Mania about her career, influences and working with Alice. Nita also appeared at the Lucky Strike Live in LA a couple of days ago jamming on various songs with AC drummer Glen Sobel amongst others including a few Iron Maiden covers with her old band mate Courtney Cox. You can check out their version of 'The Number Of The Beast' at Glen's facebook page.

Alice is interviewed by the Heavy Demons radio show which you can hear on YouTube. Alice talks about working with the original band on new material.

Syacuse New Times has a review of the first Hollywood Vampires show. Despite everything that has been happening in Johnny Depp's private life there seems to be no sign of it affecting the current European shows which end in Romania on Monday. If anything it's just given more publicity to the tour, the US leg of which starts on July 1st and appears to be going ahead as planned according to venue sources.

Ryan Roxie will host a new edition of 'Big Rock Talk' this Sunday. Roxie's posting that this will start at 7pm Swedish time. . Roxie and Anna's guests this time will be CJ & Brother Max, and Billy Miles Brooke.

The Hollywood Vampires rolled into Lisbon on Friday for their first European show amid mass media coverage due to events not on the stage, but in Johnny Depp's private life. While I don`t intend to report or comment on all that stuff (it's nothing to do with the music), it is worth noting that quite a few of these reports contain excellent photos of the band on stage in Portugal, as well as pics from their appearance at the Four Season Hotel Ritz to supply hearing aids to locals on behalf of the Starkey Hearing Foundation.
Worth checking out is the Lisbon 'Rock In Rio' live webcast which is currently available to watch on YouTube. The festival didn't pass without problems, support act 'Korn' had to abandon their performance after the sound system failed three times, but luckily there were no such issues when the Vampires played and they performed the full set.
From what I hear the German show a couple of days later was uneventful, but there are now local reports that a few "fans" are calling for a boycott of the Stockholm show over the Depp situation. It seems unlikely this will actually have any effect as there is already a queue outside the venue for tonight's show.

TeamRock have Alice listing the "10 Songs That Changed My Life" which mainly includes all the usual bands he picks like The Stones, The Who, The Yardbirds etc.

Glen Sobel gets the Mitch Lafon treatment in a new interview you can hear at Blabbermouth.

BraveWords have some excellent photos from the Port Chester show taken by Jennifer Bartram-Schmitt.

Chuck Garric has a new facebook page where you can keep up with all Beasto news. He hit the 'friend' limit on the old one so this will allow more people to 'follow' him. In case I haven`t mentioned it before Chuck is featured in the latest issue of Bass Guitar Magazine.

Syracuse.com has the first review of first Hollywood Vampires show of the year in Verona, NY with photos and the setlist. The show opened with 'Raise The Dead', with 'As Bad As I Am' and 'Dear Drunk Friends' the only other original songs in a set that included most of the album plus tributes to David Bowie and Lemmy.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a review and photos from the Stage AE Alice Cooper show while KNAC have a review and photos from the Warren show.

It appears that the Hollywood Vampires show next Friday (May 27th) will be streamed live at http://www.livexlive.com/. There's a looping promo video running now on the site, featuring Alice, which you can see below advertising the event. According to the festival site the band are scheduled to take the stage at 11.45 local time which, if i'm correct, will be 10.45 UK time, so do you're own calculations for where you are.

New England Music News have a new interview with Chuck Garric which you can hear here.

I don`t generally post every show review any more as they normally say the same thing (Band is amazing, especially Nita, Alice is amazing, the audience loved it etc) but here's a few worth checking out:
Trib Today has a review of the Packard Music Hall show with some amusing comments from fans while Neo Music has photos and a review, and Nepa Scene has some great photos from Wilkes-Barre.

Alice and Ryan were out golfing at the Fort Wayne County Club yesterday and ABC 21Alice has a short news clip and a few words. Love the golf outfit Roxie!

Live Design have an article about Bandit Lights who are doing the lighting for the current tour.

Alice Cooper will play the 'Center of Tallahassee' in Tallahassee, FL on August 16th with tickets going on sale May 20th.

Alice has been talking to Billboard about working with Neal, Dennis and Michael for the forthcoming album.

Glen Sobel is interviewed for the Moore Cymbals Podcast talking about working with Alice, The Hollywood Vampires and stepping in for Tommy Lee last year.

Alice has been talking to Weekender.com about the forthcoming new Alice Cooper album - "..every once in awhile, though, there’s just a flavor of what album do we want to go to here to give it that flavor. And it seems to be going toward the ‘Killer’ album."
He also reveals he's been working with Dennis, Neal and Michael on new songs - "I wrote three or four songs with Neal Smith and Mike Bruce, and so we worked together in Phoenix for about two weeks just writing songs and demoing songs. Dennis Dunaway (bassist in the Alice Cooper Band) wrote two or three things. We haven’t seen those yet, but I know Dennis has always written great stuff. It’s fun to go back and work with guys you haven’t worked with in awhile. It’s not trying to recapture your youth. It’s trying to recapture a sound. And it’s a very elusive sound."
Alice goes on to talk about the current setlist and the Hollywood Vampires.

Also: Ryan Roxie and Tommy Henriksen will apparently be at 'Record Connection' in Warren, OH on May 16th between 7pm and 8pm for a meet and greet.

Last night was the first show of the 'Spend The NIght With Alice Cooper' tour 2016 in Biloxi, MS but there appear to have been few surprises. The setlist (see setlist section) has been changed with some cool additions, and there are different covers in there from last year, but sadly no big surprises. Of course all reports are that Alice and the band nailed it and put on a great show anyway! Video and photos are starting to appear on social media if you want to check them out.

Ryan Roxie's 'Big Rock Talk' will air live tomorrow night at 6pm (UK) and will feature eevryone's favourite drummer, Glen Sobel!

NWI.com has a short interview with Alice and NiagaraThisWeek has a short chat with Joe Perry about the Vampires. There's also a short interview with Nita at the Sun Herald.

Chuck Garric is featured in the new issue of Bass Guitar Magazine.

The final episode of the 'Alice Cooper Eras' podcast is now up and covers 2003-now including discussions on 'The Eyes Of Alice Cooper', 'Dirty Diamonds', Along Came A Spider', 'Welcome 2 My Nightmare' and the 'Hollywood Vampires' album.

Last night saw the 'Alice Cooper Rock and Roll Golf Classic' show in Phoenix, in aid of 'Solid Rock' and 'The Rock' teen center, and the first reports are appearing. Joining Alice were Neal Smith, Alex Lifeson of Rush, Dash Cooper and CO-OP, Kiss guitarist Tommy Thayer, Slash guitarist Frank Sidoris, Chicago drummer Danny Seraphine amongst others. There's video on facebook of Alice, Neal, Alex, Tommy and CO-OP playing 'Eighteen', as well as footage of 'Rock and Roll All Night' and 'Wild Thing'. Alice also sang 'Satisfaction' and 'Johnny B. Goode' while Sheryl and Calico also did a version of 'I Love Rock and Roll'. AZCentral have a great write up with some photos.
It was also announced that the 2016 Christmas Pudding will take place on December 3rd.

Dennis Dunaway and Paul Brenton put together an excellent 80 minute tour of Dennis' 'Snakes Museum' at the Chiller theater this weekend with Dennis telling stories and showing some of the amazing items they had on display. You can see it in the 'Snakes, Guillotines, Electric Chairs' facebook group but you may need to be a member to view the video. Alice, Michael and Kane Roberts were also at Chiller show and stopped by the museum.

Alice was on radio station WLVQ talking about Prince, Axl/DC, The Pudding, Vampires and the tour.

Joe Perry talks Hollywood Vampires in a new interview for Syracuse.com.

Alice has been out on press duties the last few days including appearing on 'Today' although strangely it's been promoting last years 'Peter and The Wolf In Hollywood' project. He's also talking about it with AudioBoom, WZLX and WNYC.
He was also on 'The Sound In The Morning' on The Sound 100.3 (Alice shows up around 45 minutes into the show) and was in SiriusXM studios in New York for some reason I have yet to discover.
Blaze.com have a short video of Alice inviting members of the Evangelical Covenant Church to go to Phoenix for the denomination’s conference, Gather 2016, in June. Watching it you have to wonder if someone shouldn`t have held the cue cards a little lower...

Another new show announcement. Alice Cooper will play The Coliseum at Ceasars in Windsor, Ontario on October 2nd. Tickets go on sale April 30th.

Alice Cooper will play Cirque Royal in Brussels, Belgium on June 21st. Tickets appear to go on sale April 22nd.

Alice Cooper has announced yet more North American shows as follows:
Aug 9th - Huntsville, AL - Von Braun Center
Aug 10th - Atlanta, GA - Atlanta Symphony Hall
Aug 17th - New Orleans, LA - Saenger Theater
Aug 20th - Abilene, TX - Taylor County Coliseum
Oct 9th - Bemidji, MN - Sanford Center
Oct 11th - Winnipeg, MB - Burton Cummings Theatre
Oct 12th - Regina, SK - Conexus Arts Centre
Oct 13th - Lethbridge, AB - ENMAX Centre
Oct 15th - Calgary, AB - Winsport Arena
Oct 16th - Penticton, BC - South Okanagan Events Center
Oct 19th - Vancouver, BC - Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Oct 22nd - Portland, OR - Keller Auditorium
Oct 25th - Reno, NV - Grand Sierra Resort

Alice, Dennis Dunaway and Michael Bruce will all be at the Chiller Theatre Expo in Parsippany, NY next weekend (22nd-24th) and Dennis has a special poster available for his Snakes Museum of rare Alice Cooper artifacts which you can see below.

"Louder Than Love - The Grande Ballroom Story" is released on DVD on June 10th by MVD and features Alice talking about the legendary Detroit venue.

Episode 5 of the 'Alice Cooper Era' series is now online covering 'The Last Temptation' to 'Dragontown'.

Alice Cooper is among various stars to be featured in a new advert for the new Apple watch which has started airing in the US. You can see the advert here.

Ryan Roxie's 'Big Rock Talk' airs live on Saturday at 7pm Swedish time (6pm UK I think) via blab.im/RyanRoxie and this weeks guests are Mr. Beasto Blanco himself Chuck Garric and music novelist Marisa Tellez. If you haven`t stopped by to watch the show you should, as it's a lot of fun, and has a chat room to ask questions and comment to other fans watching.

Speaking of Chuck, 'For Bass Players Only' have a new interview with him covering his career from school days to Beasto Blanco.

Dennis Dunaway is featured in a new hour long interview for the 'Welcome To Connecticut' podcast which you can find here.

Rolling Stone have been chatting to Alice and Joe Perry about the forthcoming Hollywood Vampires shows and what the setlist might include this time around.

Cobrasfire have part 4 of their six part podcast series available now, this one looking at the "comeback Era" of 1986-1991. Check it out here.

And lastly, just for fun, here's a story and video of Cooper the cockerel playing guitar in a charity shop near Southampton!! Seriously!!!

Hot on the heels of the Vampires dates we now have lots more Alice Cooper solo dates announced. VIP packages go on sale 12th April with tickets available on the 15th April. Here's the list:
Aug 6th - Kalamazoo, MI - Wings Event Center
Aug 7th - Louisville, KY - Louisville Palace
Aug 12th - Ft Lauderdale, FL - Broward Center for The Performing Arts
Aug 13th - Clearwater, FL - Ruth Eckard Hall
Aug 14th - Orlando, FL - Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
Aug 19th - Oklahoma City, OK - The Criterion
Aug 21st - Austin, TX - ACL Live at The Moody Theater
Aug 23rd - Houston, TX - Reverton Music Center
Aug 24th - Grand Prairie, TX - Verizon Theater
Aug 26th - Tuscon, AZ - AVA Amphitheater
Oct 4th - Toledo, OH - Stranahan Theater
Oct 5th - Indianapolis, IN - Murat Theatre
Oct 6th - Milwaukee, WI - Wilwaukee Theatre
Oct 8th - Omaha, NE - Ralston Arena
Oct 18th - Victoria, BC, Canada - The Q Center
Oct 26th - San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theatre
Oct 28th - San Diego, CA - Harrah's Springs Casino
Oct 29th - Indio, CA - Fantasy Springs Casino
Oct 30th - Los Angeles, CA - Pantages Theatre

UPDATE: Blabbermouth.net have a special presale available beginning Wednesday (13th) at 10AM using the pre-sale code "EYES" and the links on their page.

The Hollywood Vampires have announced 8 more US shows for July to add to the ones we already knew about. They are:

July 1st  - Bethleham, PA - Sands Bethlehem Event Center
July 3rd - Atlantic City, NJ - Bogata Resort Spa and Casino Events Center
July 8th - Orillia, ONT - Casino Rama Entertainment Center
July 9th - Niagara Falls, NY - Stage at Seneca Niagra Resort and Casino
July 16th - Clarkston, MI - DTE Energh Music Theatre
July 18th - Fargo, ND - Scheels Arena
July 22nd - Rohnert Park, CA - Weill Hall
July 24th - Saratoga, CA - The Mountain Winery

The press release also confims that Robert DeLeo of 'Stone Temple Pilots' will be playing bass at the shows in place of Duff, who will be busy with Guns 'n' Roses. He joins Tommy Henriksen, Matt Sorum and Bruce Witkins to complete the live line up.

Also announced is an Alice Cooper show in Orlando, FL at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on August 14th. Tickets for this one go on sale April 15th at 10am.

According to the Omaha World-Herald Alice Cooper will be playing Ralston Arena in Ralston, Nebraska on October 8th with tickets going on sale April 15th at 10am. 'Head East' will open the show.

The Hollywood Vampires have two new shows announced today. They play:
RiverEdge Park in Aurora, IL on July 7th. Tickets go on sale April 29th.
Britt Music and Arts Festival in Jacksonville, Oregon on July 23rd. Tickets go on public sale May 13th at 9am.

The Hollywood Vampires tour just keeps growing with the announcement of a show at the Coney Island Amphitheater in Brooklyn, NY on July 10th. Tickets go on sale April 15th at 10am.  Still more shows to come...

Part three of Cobrasfire's 'Alice Cooper Era's' podcast is now up talking about 'The Lost Years' from 1980-1983 and covering 'Fluch The Fashion' to 'Dada'.

AXS TV in the US has announced it will be broadcasting live from the Carolina show on May 8th.  The announcement suggest they will air the Alice Cooper show.

Yet another Hollywood Vampires show has just appeared. This one is Highland Park, IL at the Ravinia Festival on July 17th. Tickets appear to go on sale to the general public on April 26th.
UPDATE: This is no longer happening.

The Hollywood Vampires play Hessentags-Arena in Herborn, Germany on May 29th. Tickets appear to be available now.

The Hollywood Vampires have added two new shows to their short US run. They will play Foxwoods Grand Theater in Mashantucket, CT on July 2nd and Fraze Pavillion in Kettering, OH on July 12th. Tickets for Foxwoods go on sale April 8th and Kettering are on sale April 9th at 9am.

Check out an hour long video interview with Dennis and Cindy Dunaway on 'Studio 411' with Larry Dasilva at DennisDunaway.com.

Alice Cooper has been announced as playing the 'Psycho Las Vegas' festival at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas between August 26th and 28th. Presumably Alice will play one night only but the daily lineups don`t seem to be available yet. Three day tickets are on sale. Also among the many bands playing over the three days are Blue Oyster Cult and Arthur Brown!

Hollywood Vampires will play Soaring Eagle Casino in Mount Pleasant. MI on July 13th. Ticket go on sale April 9th.

Michael Bruce will be making a personal appearance at Asylum Records in Mesa, AZ as part of Internatinal Record Store Day on April 16th. Michael will perform an acoustic set in the morning followed by an electric set with his band 'Michael Bruce Force' in the evening.
UPDATE: Neal Smith will be there as well.

Screamer Magazine has a new interview with Chuck Garric talking about Beasto Blanco and their forthcoming album.

Alice Cooper posted the following quote following the recent passing of comedy legend Ronnie Corbett:
"Even Americans know who Ronnie Corbett is. I was fortunate to do a few talk shows with him over the years. I became his 'flatmate' in a commercial, and even played golf with him. The Two Ronnies are reunited in a better place. Heaven is better than London, isn't it?"

Extreme guitarist Numo Bettencourt joined Glen Sobel and the Lucky Strike house band a few days ago and you can check out video of their drum jam here as well as footage of Orianthi joining them for' Voodoo Chile'

Metal Mania have a new interview with Kane Roberts.

Cobrasfire have started a series of podcasts discussing Alice Cooper history. The first two shows are up now with show one discussing the original band and show two taking the story up to 'From The Inside'.

And the keep on coming.. The latest Hollywood Vampires show to be anounced is Borgata Hotel Casino in Atlantic City, NJ on July 3rd. Tickets for this one go on sale tomorrow April 1st at 10AM.

And there's another show.... The Hollywood Vampires will play the Romexpo in Bucharest, Romania on June 6th.

The Hollywood Vampires will play at the Faegslet concert hall in Horsens, Denmark on June 1. Tickets go on sale April 11th. The press release says the band will play six shows in Europe, which leaves two more to be announced.

The Hollywood Vampires will play the Grona Lund in Stockholm on May 30th. This is an amusement park in Stockholm with a concert stage which Alice has played many times in the past. Generally you just buy a ticket to the park to have access to the show.

There's a new video featuring Alice watching and talking about the famous 'Muppet Show' appearance which you can check out on YouTube.

Chuck Garric and Beasto Blanco have been added to the Monsters Of Rock Cruise next year which runs between February 2nd and 7th 2017.

The Hollywood Vampires have been added to the bill of the California Mid-State fair on July 25th. Tickets go on sale Friday April 8th at 10am.

Thisisourmusic.co.uk have a new interview with Dennis Dunaway.

Episode 2 of Ryan Roxie's 'Big Rock Talk' is now online for those who missed the live broadcast. Check it out here. Tommy Henriksen will be Ryan and Anna's guest next Saturday.

The Keen Sentinel have an interview with Special Forces tour drummer Jan Uvena with some Alice related comments.

Alice Cooper will be playing 013 in Tilburg, The Netherlands on June 20th. Tickets go on sale March 28th.

The Hollywood Vampires have been announced as a headliner of this years Summerfest festival in Milwaukee, WI on July 5th. The exact venue will be announced shortly.

The second installment of Ryan Roxie's 'Big Rock Talk' will happen this Saturday at 7pm (Swedish time) with guest Chad Cherry of 'The Last Vegas' and other surprises. Check out www.blab.im/ryanroxie to sign up and join in. An edited version of last weeks show with Nita Strauss can now be seen here.

Rock 'n' Roll World Magazine has a new interview with Dennis Dunaway.

Dash Cooper and CO-OP were featured on 12News a few days ago with short interviews at 'The Rock'  and some background info.

Nita Strauss has recorded a guest appearance on a new Quistarama backing track which you can check out on YouTube. Quistarama records cool backing tracks for budding guitarists to practice and jam over and while Nita's intro solo is less then a minute what she plays is just amazing. Her forthcoming solo album just can't come soon enough!
And Speaking of Nita Mariskal Rock have a short video interview and also footage of NIta teaching you how to play 'Poison'.  Also just to complete your Nita fix for the day there's another interview from Blackstar Amplification which I may have missed when it first appeared.
Don't forget Ms Strauss will also be the first guest of Ryan Roxie's 'Big Rock Talk' on Saturday!

Alice has been announced as the headline guest for the 'Spooky Empire' convention in Orlando, FL on April 1st-3rd.

Damon Johnson will be playing at the WorkPlay Theater in Birmingham, AL on March 25th with his new electric band plying songs from his new 'Echo' EP as well as classics from Brother Cane, Alice Cooper, Thin Lizzy and Black Star Riders. The show will be recorded for a live album to be released later this year.

Alice Cooper's Rock and Roll Bash takes place on April 24th as part of this years Alice Cooper Golf Tournament in Phoenix, AZ. The event will include "a Cocktail Reception where you can chill with us in the Pro Em VIP Lounge, Silent Auction, Dinner, Live Auction and Live Entertainment with Alice Cooper and friends."

Alice Cooper will apparently be playing Z7 Konzertfabrik, Pratteln, Switzerland on June 9th. Tickets appear to be on sale now.

Ryan Roxie launches his first 'Blab' show, 'Big Rock Talk', on March 19th which will feature Roxie chatting with Nita Strauss about whatever comes to mind. There is a  chat room where you can post questions as well. The show will air at 6pm Swedish time so you can do the maths for you own local time.

Billboard has Alice interviewing horror author Anne Rice ('Interview with a Vampire') about writing, religion and other things.

Glen Sobel has won this years Drum! Magazine readers best 'hard rock drummer' award!

Dangerous Minds have pulled together a collection of photos recalling the 1975 promotional Alice Cooper hot air balloon.

Alice Cooper has just announced his first ever show in Israel at the Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv on June 16th. Tickets are already on sale. Check out the announcement video below.

The audiobook version of 'Snakes, Guillotines, Electric Chairs', read by Dennis Dunaway himself, is out now via Audible in the US but has yet to make it to the UK version of the sites. You can hear an extract from the book courtesy of Rolling Stone.

Shep Gordon shares some 'behind the scenes' info about the 'Vinyl' TV with Billboard.

From the facebook press release: "For the first time in his nearly three decade career, Damon Johnson releases fully realized electric music under his own name as a solo artist. 'Echo' features five stellar tracks of music that will further cement his reputation as a quality guitarist, singer, and songwriter. The songs were recorded over various sessions throughout 2015 (in between his tour schedule with Black Star Riders) and features the talents of longtime friend and drummer Jarred Pope and bass guitarist, Tony Nagy. 'Echo' was produced and mixed by Nick Raskulinecz (Alice In Chains, Rush, Foo Fighters, Black Star Riders) at Rock Falcon Studio in Nashville. The physical CD is now available for Pre-order (official release date: March 18). Anyone that pre-orders will get a signed copy and may request to have it personalized (simply add a note at checkout)."
Be aware that postage to Europe currently seems to cost more then the CD itself, but if you just want to hear the music (which is the most important thing!) you can pre-order digital downloads from both AmazonUK and AmazonUS.

Alice Cooper has been listed as playing Ljubljana, Slovakia on June 12th at the Hala Tivoli.

Dennis Dunaway has posted a blog about the 'Vinyl' TV show as his part in re-recording 'I Love The Dead'.

Dennis Dunaway will be a guest on 'The Special with Jessie Camp' which premiere's tonight at 11pm (EST?). You can apparently watch the show online at http://www.mnn.org/.

'Special Forces' era drummer Jan Uvena is in the news today after a tree fell through the roof of his house! Luckily Jan appears to be okay. You can read more at Sentinal Source.

Alice picks the 'five songs I wish I'd written' over at Rolling Stone.

Nita Strauss is interviewed by Music Mania during her current European tour taling about her career and playing with Alice Cooper.

HBO's new series 'Vinyl' will feature Alice Cooper content on this Sunday's episode and include an excellent new version of 'I Love The Dead' performed by singer Andrew WK and backed by Blue Coupe with Dennis Dunaway, Joe Bouchard and Al Bouchard! You can hear the full track below.

Mick Mashbir contributes to the 'Velvet Saints' upcoming CD titled "Shadows".  Mick was in the Alice Cooper band during the Billion Dollar Babies and Muscle of Love years.  He plays on two Velvet Saints tracks, 'Hate' and 'Break You Down'.  "Alice is a big influence on our songs, especially in the dark sinister kind of way," say Jeff Epperson of Velvet Saints.  "I approached Mick about playing on the CD and sent him the basic tracks to work with. Within a few days, he presented us with his tracks and they had the exact groove and feel we were looking for. He definitely understood the direction we were headed.  We are looking forward to collaborating with him soon on the 3rd CD."

Banger Films, the company behind 'Super Duper Alice Cooper', are searching for ZZ Top footage from the '70s (or '60s, including their former bands). ZZ Top of course opened for Alice Cooper in 1973. If anyone out there can help you can send responses to zzfans@bangerfilms.com with "ZZ Top Fan Submission - Footage" in the Subject line.

Many of you have probably already seen the current Twitter "spat" between legendary Alice Cooper producer Bob Ezrin, and rapper/professional egotist Kanye West. Bob apparently wrote a piece which refered to West's “excessive behavior, egomaniacal tantrums and tasteless grandstanding” to which the talentless rapper responded with a rant that began with "Has anybody ever heard of Bob Ezrin???", thus showing how little he actually knows about real music. Twitter exploded, which probably his aim all along, unless he really is that stupid. You can read his posts here. That wasn`t the end of it though when another rapper called 'Young Platinum' also saw an opportunity for self-promotion and took to twitter pretending to be Ezrin to respond to West. The whole thing escalated resulting in national and international coverage.

ABC15 have a video report as Alice helps open a new 'Hopdoddy' burger restaurant on Monday (22nd). Hopdoddy is donating a dollar for every 'No More Mr. Nice Guy' burger to Cooper's Solid Rock Foundation.

Dennis Dunaway has posted a blog about his recent trip to Canada and the Dick Wagner Memorial Concert on the same day. There's also a new video promoting 'Dr Dreary's Snakes Museum' at the Chiller Expo in April which shows a glimpse of some of the amazing things Dennis will have on display.

Nita Strauss has added three UK guitar clinics to her current European tour. She'll appear at:
March 19th - Sounds Great Music Cheadle, Cheshire
March 20th - Absolute Music in Bournemouth
March 22nd - Dawson's Music in Reading.
Check the shops for details of times etc.

Alice Cooper will be announced as playing the Foellinger Outdoor Theatre in in Fort Wayne, IN on May 19th according to Pollstar as part of the venues 'Concert and Movie Season'. An official announcement is scheduled for tomorrow and tickets go on sale February 26th.

Alice appeared at the Solid Rook Teen Center the other night to celebrate the 20th aniversary of the charity. You can check out a video of 'I'm Eighteen' with guest Jack Blades here.

You can also check Denis Dunaway performing at the Dick Wagner Memorial show also playing 'I'm Eighteen' with guest Maryann Cotton here.

NIta Strauss is interviewed by Jammcard about her Alice Cooper auditions.

Neal Smith's memorbilia auction is now over. For those interested the classic drum kit sold for $15,000 while the guillotine went for an amazing $32,500!  Drinks are on Neal then!

Alice Cooper talks to Andrew WK in a new video interview for Noisey.

Dennis Dunaway takes part in 'Doug's Podcast' at WCSX chatting about his career, book, chckens and the Dick Wagner Memorial show.

Rock 'n' Roll World Magazine have a new interview with Neal Smith talking about his recent auction of classic Alice Cooper memorabilia which ends tomorrow and tells some classic Cooper stories.

'In The Studio' have updated their 'Love It To Death' show for it's 45th anniversary and you can listen to it here.

Rolling Stone is reporting that The Hollywood Vampires will play Turning Stone Events Center in Verona, New York on May 24th. Tickets reportably go on sale February 23rd. In the article Alice also mentions he's working on the next solo record and that there will be a second Vampires album at some point.

After a seemingly interminable wait The Hollywood Vampires took the stage last night at the Grammy Awards, introduced by Dave Grohl, and stole the show with 'Bad As I Am' running into a shortened 'Ace Of Spades' . As at previous shows Alice, Johnny and Joe were backed by Duff and Matt from Guns n' Roses as well as Tommy Henriksen (although you barely saw him on TV) and Bruce Witkin.
There's a fair amount of press this morning surrounding the appearance, although you'll have to look around to find the actual performance due to copyright. As of writing you can see it at Fansided, and there's a short clip at the Hollywood Reporter but these may be removed. Most of the press doesn`t really say that much but just take quotes from interviews like Artisan News, Billboard, Entertainment City, and E!. Maybe the funniest one is the Daily Mail's silly headline, but it does have some nice photos!

The Hollywood Vampires play the Grammys tonight, apparently performing 'Bad As I Am' going into 'Ace Of Spades'. Artisan News have footage from rehearsals and an interview with Alice, Perry and Depp while USA Today also have a chat.

Dennis Dunaway will be sitting in on the 2nd Annual Dick Wagner 'Remember The Child' Memorial concert on February 20th in Detroit after his Q&A and signing at the Chapters Bookstore in Windsor, Ontario.
Dennis and Blue Coupe, with the Darlings of The Demented Tish and Snooky, will also be at the BB King Blues Club at Times Square NYC on March 26th.
Then on April 22-24th 'Dr Dreary's Snakes Museum of Rare Alice Cooper Artifacts' will return to the Chiller Theatre Expo at the Seraton, Parsippany with a display of Alice Cooper memorabilia, and Alice will also be there!

Dennis Dunaway will be at Chapters in Windsor, Ontario (Devonshire Mall, 3100 Howard Avenue) on Saturday, February 20th at 3pm signing copies of his memoir "Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs!". Dennis will make a 30-minute presentation, followed up with a Q&A and he will then sign books. A traveling portion of the Snakes! Museum (of rare Alice Cooper costumes and artifacts) will also be on display. The audiobook version 'Snakes...' is now available for pre-order from  Audible. The audiobook is released on March 8th. Read by Dennis himself this the full, unabridge version of the book.

Rolling Stone has Alice talking about a dinner date with David Bowie and writer Ray Bradbury, as well as an article with him talking about the Guns n' Roses reunion. You can also check out Alice speaking about meeting Pink Floyd in a YouTube video promoting the 'Symphonic Wish You Were Here' album.

'Rock Fest' in Cadott, WI have announced that the Hollywood Vampires will be performing at their event which runs between July 14th and 16th. From the advert it looks like they could be playing the 15th although this isn`t specifically stated on the site. Three day tickets are on sale now. Also scheduled to play are Slipknot, Alice In Chaines, Marilyn Manson and Five Finger Death Punch (featuring Jason Hook) among many others.

The 2nd annual Dick Wagner 'Remember The Child' memorial concert takes place on February 20th at The Fillmore, Detroit. The show celebrates the work of legendary guitarist Dick Wagner and will feature Brad Whitford (Aerosmith), Derek St Holmes (Ted Nugent) and a long list of Wagner associated from through the years.

According to Rolling Stone Alice Cooper along with the Hollywood Vampires (inc. Johnny Depp, Aerosmith's Joe Perry and Guns N' Roses' Duff McKagan) will perform at February 15th's Grammy awards ceremony in Los Angeles performing a tribute to Lemmy as well as a new song called "As Bad As I Am". The new song is apparently a bonus track on the (inevitable) deluxe edition of the Hollywood Vampires album which also includes 'I'm A Boy' (The Who) and 'Seven And Seven Is' (Love) and is released on February 12th.

Dennis Dunaway's 'Snakes, Guillotines, Electric Chairs - My Adventures with the Alice Cooper Group' is going into it's third printing and Dennis has just completed an audiobook version which will be released by Audible on March 8th. A German translation is also on the way. In the US the book is apparently available at branches of 'Hamilton R Robinson Booksellers' for just $5.95 while stock last so there's no excuse not to get a copy.

February 7th will see AXS in the USA airing last years 'Live From Austin' Webcast.

It looks like Michael Bruce has been forced to pull out of his appearance with Dennis Dunaway on January 30th/31st in Hamilton, Ontario after badly injuring his hand. You can see Michael's post here, but beware, it's not a pretty picture. No cause of the injury has been given. Our best wishes go out to Michael for a speedy recovery.
Dennis will still be doing his meet and greet on Saturday afternoon (Jan 30th) from 3pm to 5:30pm at 'This Ain't Holllywood!' followed by the Sunday night concert with the Snake Charmers.

Spike Games are to make a new slots machine based around Alice Cooper and 'School's Out'. The game set to be released in the next couple of months for mobile, tablet and desktop on HTML5.

The OCRegister has a full review and photos from the Duesenberg Guitars event on Saturday.

Nita Strauss will be back in mainland Europe for a series of guitar clinics in February/March. She will appear in the Neatherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Hungry, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and France promoting Ibanez guitars, playing songs, chatting and signing stuff. Check out the link for the full dates and venues. So far there's nothing listed for the UK.

Alice Cooper joined Johnny Depp and 'The No Name Band' (Tommy Henriksen, bassist Bruce Witkin, guitarist Joey Malone, and drummer Abe Laborial Jr. - more or less the 'Hollywood Vampires' album line up) at the annual Duesenburg 'Imperial Ball' at NAMM on Saturday (23rd), running through various covers and Cooper songs including 'Be My Lover', 'I'm Eighteen', 'No More Mr Nice Guy', 'School's Out', 'Come Together' and 'Five To One/Break On Through' with guest Robbie Kreiger.

Elsewhere at NAMM Nita Strauss co-hosted the 'She Rocks Awards' while Glen Sobel launched his new signiture drum stick 'The Sobelizer' which is made by Regal Tip and available to order now through your local store.

It seems Alice has recorded a version of Pink Floyd's classics 'Wish You Were Here' and 'Welcome To The Machine' for a new symphonic version of the record. Entitled 'Wish You Were Here Symphonic' the album is due February 5th and also features Rick Wakeman. You can pre-order from AmazonUK and AmazonUS.

I've mentioned Neal Smith's role in the forthcoming movie 'Desolation Angles: Rise of the Boas' a few times before. There is now a Indiegogo funding campaign to raise funds to complete the movie, with lots of the usual incentives including dinner with Neal! Check out the site here and watch the video with the cast and director.

Finally a reminder that Beasto Blanco will be playing a show at the NAMM music convention tonight and Alice himself will be guesting with them. From what I can tell most of the AC band will be at NAMM again this year as well as many old band members including Steve Hunter. NAMM is an industry event but you can check out who will be there and when at the official NAMM site which will also apparently be streaming some of the events.

AC.com has announced more shows under the banner 'Spend The Night With Alice Cooper'. Tickets go on sale Friday an 10am. The shows are:

4th May - Peoria, IL, USA, Peoria Civic Center
5th May - Merrillville, IN, Star Plaza Theatre
6th May - Columbus, OH, LC Pavilion
10th May - New Brunswick, NJ, State Theatre
12th May - Port Chester, NY, Capitol Theater
13th May - Wilkes-Barre, PA, FM Kirby Center
14th May - Lynn, MA, Lynn Memorial Auditorium
15th May - Morristown, NJ, Mayo Performing Arts Center
17th May - Warren, OH, Packard Music Hall
20th May - Pittsburgh, PA, Stage AE
21st May - Rama, ON, Canada, Casino Rama Entertainment Centre

Three shows have been announced today going on sale in a few hours. They are:
29th April - Billoxi, MS, Beau Rivage Resort & Casino
2nd May - Nashville, TN, Tpac's Jackson Hall
8th May - Concord, NC, Carolina Rebellion Campground

Alice posted the following after the death of David Bowie yesterday: "It's hard to know exactly what to say when you hear of someone's passing. I know that I have certainly lost one of my life-time Rock and Roll theatrical comrades in David Bowie.
We both started in theatrical Rock N Roll at the same time, and in some cases we challenged each other to go farther and push the envelope.
The loss of David Bowie will be hard to swallow for everyone. He leaves behind a rich history of musical and cultural experimentation and invention that will rarely be seen again, if ever.
He was one of a kind. The man that fell to Earth has gone back to the planet that he came from.
Condolences to his family and fans. "

Ryan Roxie: "David Bowie....You will ALWAYS be our brother....AND our lover. Glamnation salutes you! Long live Rock n Roll....and Mr. Bowie, you ARE rock n roll..."

Glen Sobel: "I think Coop accurately sums it up here. My 1st exposure to Bowie was the "Let's Dance" LP. And eventually I found everything else. Just that record alone features players we've lost: Bowie, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Tony Thompson (a big influence on me), and Bernard Edwards. RIP David Bowie."

Dennis Dunaway and Michael Bruce will play a special show at 'This Ain't Hollywood' in Hamilton, Ontario on January 31st. At the show they will be backed by 'Nick Sinopoli and The Snake Charmers' featuring Nick Didkovsky (the man behind the recent 'Pretties For You' performance', Gordie Lewis and Russ Wilson (DDP). Tickets are available here.

Alice appears to be featured in the new February issue of Q Magazine. I've not seen it yet but various sites are pulling quotes from it.

Glen Sobel is featured in the latest (January) issue of Drum Magazine.

With Ebay etc being such a part of life nowadays we're used to seeing the odd gem turn up, but you don`t see an auction like this every day! The Platinum God, Neal Smith, is letting go of some amazing items he's kept from the glory days, including his legendary mirrored drum kit and the original guillotine from the 'Billion Dollar Babies' tour in 1973!! It looks like the auction will go live in February so better start saving your money now!

Alice Cooper'stown is holding the "Second Annual 'Flippin' With The Greats' Pinball Party Showdown"  between January 28th and 31th. All proceeds go to Solid Rock.

Reports are now coming in from Shep Gordon's annual New Year's Eve bash in Maui, Hawaii. The whole band were present this year along with guests including Sammy Hagar, Steven Tyler, Michael McDonald, Pat Simmons (Doobie Brothers), and Dave Murray (Iron Maiden) who between then ran through Cooper classics, Hagar/Van Halen classics (Poundcake, I Can`t Drive 55) and all sorts of covers including a blistering version of 'Ace Of Spades' for Lemmy. And congratulations to Roxie and Bianca on their engagement!!