Hollywood Vampires UK Tour Roundup

With the conclusion of the Hollywood Vampires UK dates we can do a quick round up of the press and happenings during the tour. Ronnie Wood and Imelda May joined the band in London for the Jeff Tribute and Train Kept a Rollin’, while Black Sabbath legend Tony Iommi appeared in Birmingham for a unique version of ‘Paranoid‘ with Alice singing it! Not something you see everyday. Jimmy Page was also at the London show (again) but sadly didn’t make it onstage (again!).

Unsurprisingly the tour generated a great deal of press. Also unsurprisingly most of it just revolved around Johnny Depp’s every move or satorial choice. As usual I will ignore all those and concentrate on worthwhile articles or reviews about the band and/or shows.

Firstly there was the surprise appearance of Alice on ‘Good Morning Britain’ on Monday. It was a short interview and there wasn’t really anything new said but nice to see him back on UK TV. You can see a version of it on YouTube., but sadly they have blurred out the images and footage (presumably for copyright reasons). If you’re in the UK the show is currently still available on ITVX. You want Monday 10th July show and Alice appears around  1 hour 56 minutes into the show. 

There’s been various show reviews/photos, including Scarborough: Yahoo, Yorkshire Post, Northern EchoSoundsphere Swansea: WalesOnline  Planet Rock. Manchester: Daily Mail, RamZine, JustJared. London:, Far Out, The Telegraph (paywall), The UpcomingDaily Express, TotalRock, Birmingham: BirminghamLive, BirminghamWorld and here, Express & Star, Metal Planet.

While in Manchester Alice was out and about shopping and was spotted buying a T-shirt for Johnny Depp. This, of course, also made the news.

The Arizona Republic has an interesting article about the early days of the band in Phoenix and their mentor Jack Curtis, who will be inducted into the ‘Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame’ on Sunday, with comments from Dennis Dunaway.  They also have a new article on Michael Bruce’s induction into the AZ Hall of fame on the same day.

Nita Strauss made her solo show at the Whisky in LA special by geting engaged to long time boyfriend and band drummer Josh live on stage. Congrats both! Naturally it was caught on video which you can see here. There’s also new Nita Strauss interviews this week from Metal Global,  and the Mistress Carrie Podcast.

If you remember back in April 2022 Solid Rock announced there would be Alice Cooper Arizona car license plates, and then it all went quiet. But now it appears they are finally available to order and it also appears anyone can order one! On top of that $17 from each sale goes to Solid Rock.

Alice Hits The Road

Alice Cooper hits the ‘Road’ with new album

While we’re still waiting for the official press announcement, details of the new album have been surfacing over the last few days from various retailer listings and the appearance of the short video teaser above [since removed for some reason] suggests a full announcement won’t be long coming.
What we know so far is that the album is entitled ‘Road’ and it will be released on August 25th by earMusic in various combinations. There are *at least* three different CD versions: CD, CD/DVD and CD/Blu-ray. Then there are also *at least* three double vinyl versions, in black, red and orange, which also come with the DVD. There will also be a deluxe limited edition vinyl+CD+Blu-Ray+merchandise version. The DVD contains last years Hellfest performance which was streamed live at the time. (I’ll post order links up once both AmazonUK and US have finalised their listings)
The album was produced by Bob Ezrin and features the current live band (Tommy, Roxie, Nita, Chuck, Glen) plus guest appearances by Kane Roberts, Tom Morello, Keith Nelson (Buckcherry) and Wayne Kramer (MC5) who all also co-write at least one song. The track listing as listed on Amazon is:

  1. I’m Alice
  2. Welcome To The Show
  3. All Over The World
  4. Dead Don’t Dance
  5. Go Away
  6. White Line Frankenstein
  7. Big Boots
  8. Rules Of The Road
  9. The Big Goodbye
  10. Road Rats Forever
  11. Baby Please Don’t Go
  12. 100 More Miles
  13. Magic Bus

Amazon.com has the following description:

“The road will make you or break you. To survive it, you need to be as tough as asphalt and move fast enough to make the competition eat dust. Throughout 2022, Alice collaborated closely with the members of his touring band as well as long-time producer Bob Ezrin, putting together what would become his brand-new studio album “Road.” You can feel the energy and lightness that the band brings with every riff and hear the story behind what inspired them. Bringing everything full circle, it channels the spirit of old school Alice with instantly recognizable grit and plenty of gusto. It’s everything you’d hope for from him and more. And this time his trusted longtime bandmates— Ryan Roxie [guitar], Chuck Garric [bass], Tommy Henrikson [guitar], Glen Sobel [drums], and Nita Strauss [guitar]—are riding shotgun. Kane Roberts (a touring and recording collaborator with Alice’s in years past who briefly rejoined Cooper on the road in 2022) makes a special guest appearance, contributing the raucous and rip-roaring “Dead Don’t Dance.” Other special contributors to the album include Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello, who co-wrote, and plays and sings backing vocals on “White Line Frankenstein,” and Buckcherry’s Keith Nelson and MC5’s Wayne Kramer, who also co-wrote new songs with Alice.”

Obviously I’ll post the full release information as soon as it’s released

In other news, Nita Strauss has released another track from her forthcoming second album. This one is called ‘Victorious’ and features "Dorothy" on vocals. Nita says: "Victorious is the anthem I always wanted, a song about inspiring change, marching forward relentlessly, being willing to save yourself instead of waiting for someone to do it for you, and never backing down from a fight, Dorothy was the perfect powerhouse voice and personality to stand and deliver, and knock this one out of the park.” You can see the video below.

Radio Eksen in Istanbul, Turkey have posted a short interview with the Hollywood Vampires which you can check out here. It’s in English. The band began their European tour a couple of days ago with a similar set to the last tour but with a couple of nods to Jeff Beck added in.

The "Sally Steel Rocks! Show" has posted the second part of her interview with Alice talking about being on Hollywood Squares, what he feels his best song was, what he was like in high school. You can check it out here.

Beasto Blanco have signed a deal with COP International for two new singles later this year followed by a new album in 2024. You can read the full press release here.

Vampires Postpone US Shows

Vampires Postpone US Shows

The Hollywood Vampire have postponed their three US shows this week after Johnny Depp sustained a “painful injury to his ankle following his recent appearances and has been advised by his doctor not to travel.” The statement continues: “He is devastated by this turn of events, but looks forward to resting up so all four Vampires can bring their absolute best to the tour in Europe.”
The shows have already been rescheduled with all tickets remaining valid for the new dates. They now play:

July 28 – Boston, MA – Wang Theatre Boch Center
July 29 – Manchester, NH – SNHU Arena
July 30 – Bethel, NY – Bethel Woods Center For The Arts

Alice was interviewed on AXS TV’s ‘Power Hour’ last week part of which is now on YouTube.

‘Forbes’ magazine has a review and photos from the Champaign show including commenst from Nita. Check it out here.

Nita Strauss has released a new video on YouTube for ‘The Golden Trail’ featuring Anders Fridén of In Flames.

This Weeks Happenings

This Weeks Alice Cooper Happenings

Alice has been amusing himself with interviews over the last week including AXS.TV’s ‘At Home And Social With‘ show, the Don Jamieson (‘That Metal Show’) podcast, and a text interview for AZ Centralwith talk about ‘Detroit Stories’ and this years Christmas Pudding.

In case you couldn’t spot yourself in the ‘Don’t Give Up’ video AliceCooper.com has posted every photograph sent in, so you can have fun trying to spot yourself there now!

If you have missed any of the Alice Cooper ‘Vintage Vault’ podcasts you can listen to them all here. The latest has Alice talking to, and about, Johnny Depp.

Ryan Roxie has been busy online as usual with this week’s ‘In The Trenches‘ featuring The Lost Angels’ including Eric Dover and John Corabi, while the ‘Sunday Livestream Sunday‘ featured a guest appearance from Nita Strauss along with the usual fun and performances. Ryan is also the subject of an hour long interview at ‘9.42’ which you can listen to here.

What Difference Does It Make?" has a new interview with Glen Sobel. It’s part one of two so watch out for the second segment to be posted.

Damon and his bandmates Jarred Pope and Robbie Harrington will perform a livestream set from Nick Raskulinecz’s Rock Falcon Studio in Nashville, TN on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 at 8PM Eastern/7PM Central. The show will be a ticketed event through ‘VEEPS’, and tickets are limited. Damon says: “This will be a one of a kind event, featuring a performance of a brand new song from my upcoming album. We’re thrilled to perform again as a unit, while practicing safe distancing in these times of the pandemic.” Tickets are on sale now here.

Louder.com has posted a long article about the ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ album that originally appeared in Classic Rock back in 2004.

‘Rise’ Album due June 21st

Hollywood Vampires 2nd album details released.

Good to their word EarMusic have release details of the new Hollywood Vampires album ‘Rise’ which will be released on June 21st. The video for the first single can be seen below, with the full album press release undeneath.

The Hollywood Vampires – return with new music from their explosive second album, “Rise.” Rock and roll royalty Joe Perry, Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp and shock rock icon Alice Cooper join forces once again for the unmissable rock album of 2019.

Seconds into the opening track “I Want My Now,” it’s clear this supergroup has created something special – the chemistry between the individuals is unmistakable when they come together on stage or in the recording studio. Forget the star-studded lineup’s individual reputations, “Rise” is some of the purest, unapologetic and most enjoyable rock and roll of the year, made by masters of the craft and true fans of the form.

Unlike their 2015 debut record, the new album “Rise” consists mainly of original material, written by the band. There are however, in the spirit of the Vampires’ original mission, three covers of songs originally written and recorded by some fellow rockers who died far too young: an intimate and intense version of David Bowie’s “Heroes”,  beautifully performed by Johnny Depp; the late Jim Carroll Band’s “People Who Died,” and Johnny Thunder’s “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory,” sung by Joe Perry. Raucous rock anthems like “The Boogieman Surprise” and “Who’s Laughing Now” (the first single from the new album), capture the natural, raw, celebratory attitude of Hollywood Vampires displayed in their rowdy shows around the world.  But the album shows off their range as well with tracks like “We Gotta Rise” – a tongue-in-cheek politics song in the the tradition of Alice’s “Elected” – to the psychedelic gothic epic of “Mr. Spider.

“‘Rise’ is not only a totally different animal than the first Vampires album, it is unique to anything I’ve ever been a part of.  I approached it very differently than I usually do when working on an album.  Each of us; Joe, Johnny, Tommy and myself have written songs on this album.  What is different though is that I didn’t try to change any songs to be more “Alice-like.”  Because each of us has different influences, the sound of this album is very cool.  I think that with this album, we are establishing what the Vampires’ sound really is, whereas with the first album we were more tipping our hats to our fallen rock n roll brothers.” – Alice Cooper

“’Rise’ came from pure creative energy, which is just like playing live with the Vampires. The record showcases everyone doing what they do best without anyone looking over our shoulders. There was no pressure or deadlines, allowing us to write and record an album that is one of the freest and most honest sounding records I’ve been part of. I can’t wait to perform some of these tunes live for our fans.” – Joe Perry

earMUSIC, the global independent rock label of Edel Germany GmbH, is proud to announce the worldwide signing of Hollywood Vampires. Following the release of Alice Cooper’s 2017 studio album “Paranormal” on earMUSIC, his best chart-performing work in decades, the label is proud to welcome the band to their family.

Produced by Tommy Henriksen and the Hollywood Vampires, “Rise” will be released on June 21st, 2019 on earMUSIC as CD Digipak, 2LP+Download (various color vinyl) and Digital.

TRACK LIST

  1. I Want My Now
  2. Good People Are Hard To Find
  3. Who’s Laughing Now
  4. How The Glass Fell
  5. The Boogieman Surprise
  6. Welcome To Bushwackers (feat. Jeff Beck & John Waters)
  7. The Wrong Bandage
  8. You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory
  9. Git From Round Me
  10. Heroes
  11. A Pitiful Beauty
  12. New Threat
  13. Mr. Spider
  14. We Gotta Rise
  15. People Who Died
  16. Congratulations

Hollywood Vampires US Dates

Hollywood Vampires 2019 Tour Dates

Hot on the heels of the Alice Cooper/Halestorm dates announced earlier this afternoon, now we have six more Hollywood Vampires shows to add to the previously announced Indio, CA show. The full list of shows is below. Still no date for the new Vampires album though – the advertising still shows the first album. According to Blabbermouth the band, Alice, Johnny Depp, Joe Perry and Tommy Henriksen, will again be joined by Glen Sobel, Chris Wyse and Buck Johnson. Tickets for these shows also go on sale Friday, but again watch out for pre-sales at hollywoodvampires.com.

May 10th – The Joint – Las Vegas, NV
May 11th – The Greek – Los Angeles, CA
May 12th – Warfield Theatre – San Francisco, CA
May 14th – The Fillmore – Denver, CO
May 16th – Sandia Casino – Albuquerque, NM
May 17th – Talking Stick Casino – Scottsdale, AZ
May 18th – Fantasy Springs Casino – Indio, CA