Weekly Round Up

Alice Cooper will be one of many acts to take part in this weekends ‘Lighthouse Live‘ streaming event. This is a 12 hour marathon livestream featuring dozens of Detroit related musicians aiming to raise money for homeless children, families and individuals in the south east of Michigan. You can tune in via YouTube or Facebook (links to be announced on their site) today between 2PM and 2AM local time with Alice set to show up around the 6PM mark (10PM UK time I think).

Beasto Blanco were livestreaming earlier this week, performing an excellent three song set for German media. Unfortunately the actual livestream was region locked, but it’s available now for everyone to see now at Magenta Musik. Well worth watching. Chuck Garric will also be the next guest on Ryan Roxie’s ‘From The Trenches‘ podcast this Tuesday at 5PM UK time.

The Cooper family also posted a truly brilliant lockdown video in place of the cancelled Alice Cooper 2020 golf tournament. You can also watch it below.

Alice himself has been talking to ‘American Songwriter‘ about his song writing influences.

Dennis Dunaway has posted the 4th and final part of his Manchester trip blogs which you can check out here. He will also be taking part in an interview with Alice for ‘Ozzy’s Boneyard’ on Sirius XM radio which should air on Friday May 15th to coincide with the release of the new Alice Cooper single ‘Don’t Give Up’.

Nita Strauss has been talking to Ultimate Guitar and Metal Injection about playing with Alice, the lockdown, and her forthcoming second solo album, which is set to feature a couple of guest vocalists. She’s hoping this will be released before the end of the year.

Don’t Give Up!

New Alice Cooper song released on May 15th

Alice Cooper.com has just announced that a new song, entitled ‘Don’t Give Up’, will be released on May 15th, and they want fans help in making a video to go with it! They’ve posted the lyrics to ‘Don’t Give Up’ and want photos or short video clips of YOU holding up a sign featuring one word from the lyrics. You can enter as many times as you wish for a chance to be seen in the official promotional video of the song. Full details and entry form are up on AC.com now so get going! Entries must be in by Monday.
Here’s Alice’s announcement in full:

“I know these times are hard, but there is hope and together we will win.
I wrote a new song, “DON’T GIVE UP” coming MAY 15 and I want ALL OF MY MINIONS to be a part of this special song! Share a photo or video of you holding a sign featuring A WORD FROM THE LYRICS to the song and you could be in the final video.
Preview the lyrics + submit your photo at www.AliceCooper.com

GB Memorial Mural

GB Memorial Mural planned for Tempe, AZ

Dennis Dunaway emailed to let us know that Tommy Gwinn, an artist in Tempe, AZ, is painting a public mural as a memorial to musical artists who grow up in the Phoenix area and wants to include a portrait of Glen Buxton in the work. He is crowd funding to get this to happen and is already half way to his goal so lets get this done! You can pledge any amount and every bit will help to reach the target so Glen is permanently memorialized in his home town. You can help out here.

Dennis has also posted part three of his Manchester chronicles which you can check out here.

According to Ticketmaster the Grand Rapids show has now been cancelled.

Nita Strauss has launched a new online guitar course, ‘Rock Guitar Fundamentals’, at IWannaPlayGuitar.com. The course’s three modules cover complete beginners through to those wanting tips on how to play like Nita, and currently is on offer for half price!

Alice Cooper has posted a short video marking the 40th anniversary of the ‘Flush The Fashion’ which you can see here.

Ryan Roxie’s latest ‘In The trenches’ features and interview with himself! Check it out here. Next up Ryan will be interviewing Hanoi Rocks frontman and huge Alice fan Michael Munroe.

Alice pops up briefly in a new Winger video for ‘Better Days Coming’ which you can watch here. The video features a total of 24 guests including Alice, as well as Jeff Scott Soto, Alan Parsons, Klaus Meine, and dozens of Winger fans.

Rescheduled Dates

Alice Cooper rescheduled dates so far

Over the last week many of the previously postponed shows have now received new dates either via AC.com, Ticketmaster or individual venue sites. As far as I have been able to put together the changes are as follows:

31st March – Fallsview Casino, Niagara Falls, ON – Postponed until November 6th
1st April – Memorial Centre, Peterborough, ON – Postponed until November 7th
5th April – Fox Arts Center, Appleton, WI – Postponed until November 11th
8th April – Adler Theatre, Davenport, IA – Postponed to November 14th
10th April – Alerus Center, Grand Forks, ND – Postponed until November 18th
11th April – Centennial Concert Hall, Winnipeg, MB – Postponed to November 19th
13th April – Conexus Arts Centre, Regina, SK – Postponed to November 21st
15th April – Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton, AB – Postponed to November 23rd
16th April – CN Centre, Prince George, BC – Postponed until November 25th
18th April – Abbotsford Centre, Abbotsford, BC – Postponed to November 28th
19th April – S.O. Events Centre, Penticton, BC – Postponed to November 27th
5th June – Winstar World Casino, Thackerville, OK – Postponed until October 30th
6th June – Stormont Vail Events Center, Topeka, KS – Postponed until October 31st
17th June – Mohegan Sun Arena, Wilkes-Barre, PA – Postponed until January 24th 2021

Original tickets for all shows *should* be valid for the new dates. The April 22nd show in Portland is now marked as cancelled on the venue website, which leaves just four shows from the original schedule not either cancelled or having a new date: Grand Rapids, Milwaukee, Omaha, and Seattle. There’s no firm news on the Hollywood Vampires European shows yet, but the Lowlands Festival in August has been cancelled so that’s one show gone.

If you missed Ryan Roxie’s ‘In The Trenches’ chat with Kane Roberts you can watch it on YouTube, as well as another episode featuring Airboune’s Joel O’Keeffe which was recorded during the Australian shows in February. Ryan will be back again tomorrow for ‘Sunday Livestream Sunday’ at 5pm UK time.

Dennis Dunaway has posted the second part of his Manchester trip blog which you can read here. If you missed part on it’s here.

Nita Struass will be taking over the Ibanez Instagram channel on Monday posting videos, photos and anything else she can think off.

New Goon Squad Video

Goon Squad Release Tribute Video

Ryan Roxie’s ‘Sunday Livestream Sunday’ yesterday featured something a little bit special, the debut of a new version of the Stooges classic ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ by ‘The Goon Squad’ which features Roxie, Chuck Garric, Tommy Henriksen and Glen Sobel. Recorded this week while everyone was in isolation the recording was made as a tribute to New York punk stylist Jimmy Webb who passed away on April 14th. Webb was best known for his work as a manager/buyer at the punk shop ‘Trash & Vaudeville’ and as the owner of the rock clothing shop ‘I Need More’ which was frequented by a long list of music legends in cluding Alice and the band. You can read more about Jimmy, including other tributes, at Billboard.

You can watch the full podcast video from yesterday here, while the Goon Squad video itself can be seen here. The song itself will be released shortly with profits going to a NY charity. Ryan’s next ‘In The Trenches’ interview will be with Kane Roberts and will air Tuesday evening.

Alice’s appearance on the livestremed Detroit Music Awards yesterday was short and sweet, and featured Alice presenting two awards including one to himself for the ‘Breadcrumbs EP’! You can watch teh full show here, with Alice showing up around 1 hour 17 minutes into it. They also show the lyric video for ‘Detroit City 2020’ which is also used over the end credits.

Tour Updates On Ticketmaster

Ticketmaster have started to mark US shows during May/June as canceled. Not every show has so far been marked as canceled, but it’s probably safe to say the rest will follow soon (as of posting there’s seems to be only four shows not canceled). Two shows: Thackerville, OK and Topeka, KS, have been rescheduled for October 30th and 31st respectively.
Also, three of the postponed April shows are showing new rescheduled dates: Niagara Falls is now on November 6th, Appleton, WI is now November 11th and Grand Forks, ND is listed as November 18th. Expect more rescheduled dates soon.
Currently everything from July 13th onward is proceeding as planned, but of course this also could change at any time. In fact while writing this the July 15th Columbus show has also been marked as canceled by Tickemaster.
There WILL be an official announcement listing all the changes soon, but until then Ticketmaster or individual venues sites seem to be the best way to keep track of any show you have tickets for. If you have tickets for postponed shows, these should be valid for the rescheduled date. For canceled shows contact your point of sale for refund information, but please bare in mind venues and ticket sellers are currently swamped due to all the cancellations worldwide.

In other news, Alice Cooper and Joan Jett are among the names that will perform at “Cleveland Rocks: From Our Living Rooms”, a benefit concert airing on Fox 8 WJW this Wednesday, April 15 between 7-8pm local time. Unfortunately the station website is completely blocked to Europeans. What form Alice’s "performance" will take is yet to be determined.

Alice will also take part in the ‘29th Annual Detroit Music Awards‘ which take place on April 19th at 8PM local time. Original set to be held at The Fillmore’ theater, it will now be a live streamed event with Alice presenting an award in a specially filmed video segment. You should be able to tune in here.

Alice, Sheryl, and Dash Cooper, along with Nita Strauss, appeared on Dave Ellefson’s ‘Oh Say Can you Stream’ charity fundraiser the other night and you can watch it now on YouTube. They turn up around the 4 hour 30 minute mark in the 9+ hour broadcast.

Alice also turned up during the ‘Stars In The House‘ podcast based around the repeat of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ at the weekend. For most of the show he’s just there in a little box on the screen, but they do finally get around to talking to him around 38 minutes in.

Ryan Roxie is interviewed by Metal Talk about his new ‘System-12 Guitar Method’ project and other things. You can watch the interview here. Ryan’s ‘In The Trenches with’ podcast tonight will feature the legendary Michael Des Barres.

Nita Strauss is interviewed by ‘That Drummer Guy’ and you can listen to that interview here. Glen Sobel has been active as well streaming drum lessons and other things on his facebook page.

Weekly Update

Weekly Alice Cooper Update

This weeks news is mostly streaming events, as there isn’t much else happening.

Alice, Sheryl and Dash Cooper, as well as Nita Strauss and many others, will be appearing during the ‘Oh Say Can you Stream’ charity fundraiser which is happening TODAY from 3PM CST (9pm UK time) on YouTube. The event is being put together by Megadeth’s Dave Ellefson and you can find more details and full cast list and timings here. Alice and co are due on between 8-9 CST (2AM UK).

Nita Strauss will be on ‘Sumerian Live‘ on April 15th at 2PM PDT (10pm UK) for a live Q&A session.

Alice has been talking to Forbes magazine about the current situation and his new podcast series. He also posted a short video message to the NWAC facebook page.

The last ‘In The Trenches With Ryan Roxie’ was excellent and featured Calico Cooper and Ryan chatting about Alice, Beasto and Calico’s own career. It’s probably the best one yet and well worth watching here. Next up for Roxie is his regular ‘Sunday Livestream Sunday’ at 5PM UK time. Keep up to date all the stuff Ryan is streaming via his Facebook page where he posts the links for each event.

Damon Johnson was also online a couple of days ago for an acoustic performance from his home.

Weekly Roundup

For obvious reasons there isn’t a huge amount to report this week but there are a few things worth mentioning.

Spin Magazine has a new interview with Alice and Sheryl discussing the current closure of The Rock Teen Center due to Coronavirus.

Punk Globe has a new interview with Neal Smith telling stories about the original band and his solo albums.

ABC News has a short article on Dennis Dunaway with a couple of videos including the full Blue Coupe Pro-Filmed Sweden Rock show from last year.

NBC are to repeat last years ‘Jesus Christ Superstar Live’ on Sunday April 12th, although it’s unlikely anyone reading this hasn’t seen Alice’s turn as ‘King Herod’ by now.

Alice’s appearance at the Motor City Comic Con between May 15th and 17th has unsurprisingly been canceled. You can get information about refunds here.

Lastly, Zee Productions are releasing 500 piece jigsaws on April 4th featuring the cover art for ‘Welcome To My Nightmare’ and ‘Trash’. They look pretty cool and can be pre-ordered here.

Alice Cooper Jigsaws

Detroit Stories

New Alice Cooper Album is ‘Detroit Stories’

Alice has been talking to Arizona Central this week and chats about how he and the family are dealing with the current virus situation. During the interview he also reveals the title of the next studio album. The new album is called ‘Detroit Stories’ and features songs about or inspired by the city. We already know that Michael, Neal and Dennis have recorded parts for the album, and from the ‘Breadcrumbs EP’ we know that it also features various Detroit musicians which he also confirms. No release date yet but it’s getting closer!

Ryan Roxie’s latest ‘From The Trenches’ podcast features a great interview with Dennis Dunaway which is well worth watching. Dennis tells lots of stories from the early days and talks bass for over an hour and you can watch it here. There promises to be a "part 2" in the future too!

During his short livestream show the other night Roxie also announced a new project called the ‘System-12 Guitar Method’. This is a "fresh new approach to learning guitar that differs substantially from the more ‘traditional’ methods that have been taught in the past. This new ‘system’ for learning guitar is easy to understand, filled with guitar ‘life-hacks’, and focuses on the most important techniques and theories to get one playing songs and riffs faster than any other learning method out there." You can learn more and get onboard early via this Kickstarter campaign page, where you can pledge as little as $10 for various perks.

Alice is also getting into podcasting with a new one called ‘Alice Cooper’s Vintage Vault‘. The podcast features Alice talking about a subject with clips from interviews conducted for the ‘Nights With Alice Cooper’ radio show over the past 16 years. The first show is all about Slash!

Beasto Postpone and New Coop Album Confirmed

Beasto Blanco postpone shows, while Alice confirms he’s finishing new album.

I didn’t think there was very much to report this week thanks to the current Coronavirus situation, but I seem to have found a fair amount including a few links to entertain you while we get through this mess.

Sadly Beasto Blanco have had to postpone the last few dates on their current tour. They hope to reschedule the dates later in the year.

Alice sent an email to Rolling Stone in which he confirmed he will be spending the enforced time off caused by the postponed shows to finish off the new Alice Cooper album. No more details yet of course, and just because it’s nearly finished doesn’t mean they will change any planned release schedule and put it out any earlier, but it’s good to know it’s getting closer. Read the full article here.

Blue Coupe have posted professionally filmed footage of their full Sweden Rock show from last year with guest Ryan Roxie. It’s great and you can watch here.

If you’re looking for something to kill a couple of hours Ryan Roxie has been busy making podcasts. In the first he sits down with bandmate Tommy Henriksen for an interesting chat about Tommy’s career including lots of AC info, and in the latest (today) he interviews Billy Idol/Atomic Playboys guitarist Steve Stevens. The Tommy podcast is already up on Roxie’s YouTube channel and the Steve Stevens one should be there soon as well.

Nita Strauss has been chatting to Kerrang! about working for Alice, and her solo career, which you can read here.
Nita is also taking part in a cool new project put together by Dave Ellefson of Megadeth, called ‘School’s Out!‘. The idea is to help entertain youngsters during the virus crisis by offering "free music lessons and one-on-one mentoring sessions via Skype from major artists to students stuck at home due to COVID-19 restrictions." It’s free, and students aged 18 and under can sign up to get a call. The list of artists also includes former Alice Cooper drummer Jimmy DeGrasso along with various other Megadeth related musicians and friends. Nice one Dave!

There’s a short interview with Dennis and Cindy Dunaway at the Manchester, UK ‘Astroturf’ showing last week. I couldn’t be there but it seems to have been a great success.

The Fire Fight Australia charity show has spawned a double album featuring performances from the concert. It’s out now, and features Alice and the band performing ‘School’s Out’ at the show.

The multitalented Eric Dover (‘Eyes Of Alice Cooper’ etc) has a new band called ‘The Lickerish Quartet’ which sees him hooking up again with a couple of his pre-Alice bandmates from Jellyfish. Their debut EP is out on May 15th and is called ‘Threesome Vol. 1’. They’ve also released a video for the lead track called ‘Lighthouse Spaceship’ which is pretty awesome and you can check it out in this article about the band from PopMatters.

Kerrang! magazine have an article ranking every Alice Cooper album from worst to best. Their order is a little odd to say the least but you can check it out here.

Go Tech Daily have a longish article about the ‘Welcome To My Nightmare’ album, however it’s obviously been google translated or something, as you get classic statements like "Bob had labored with us on every single album from ‘Adore It To Demise’ to ‘Billion Greenback Infants’" I must have missed those albums! Maybe worth a read just for a laugh.

Lastly for now the ‘Alice Cooper Solid Rock Teen Center’ is to broadcast a series of concerts on Facebook between March 23rd and 27th featuring different performers each day from the teen center, and "some other surprises". You never know who might show up at some point! Check it out via facebook.