New Show In Sweden

Alice Cooper added to Töreboda Festival

Alice Cooper will play the Töreboda Festival, Töreboda in Sweden on July 9th, stepping in as a replacement for Billy Idol. Sounds like a great deal for anyone already with tickets!

It looks like the Hellfest show on June 24th *may* be livestreamed. The festival certainly has a history of streaming shows live and Arte Concert have already begun streaming shows from this years festival. An official YouTube link did appear but has since gone, but keep an eye on Arte Concert where they are listing upcoming streams from the festival.

Rolling Stone have posted a new video interview with Alice which you can check out here.

Blue Coupe have added a show at Overflow Beer in Ottawa, Canada on July 20th with support from ‘The Uninvited Guests’. Tickets are on sale now.

The latest episode of ‘No Cover’ features a surprise appearance from Nita Strauss to give advice to one of the acts. If you haven’t been following the show it’s well worth it. Check out the latest episode here. They are now open to submissions for season two of the show so it looks like it’s been a success so far.

The video for ‘I Never Want To See Me Again‘ by TBelly, and featuring Dennis Dunaway on bass, has been selected for competition in the ‘London Video Festival’.

Don’t forget the Reelz channel Alice Cooper ‘Story of the Songs’ is due to air this Sunday at 10PM ET. It looks like it includes a lot of familiar faces including a rare appearance by Prakash John! Could be good!

Blue Coupe

UK Tour and Catch Up

UK Tour Reviews, New show date and more

With the UK dates now behind us there have been quite a few show reviews to mention, some of which have some really great photos. Check out:

WalesOnline meanwhile catches Alice out on the golf course, while the Daily Mail is more interested in reporting that Alice was seen out shopping in Swansea…

An additional US show show has been announced for October 7th at the Taamava’ Resort & Casino in Highland, CA. Tickets are on sale now.

‘Trash’ co-writer/producer Desmond Child is planning a special show on June 27th at the ‘Odeon of Herodes Atticus’ in the Acropolis, Athens, Greece, and among the promised guests is Alice Cooper, who will perform ‘Poison’ and ‘Bed of Nails’, and Kip Winger. Tickets are on sale now.

Alice shows up in the new issue of ‘Fireworks‘ magazine in the UK which should be on newsstands now.

Blue Coupe have added a show at the Biltmore Theatre in Oshawa, Ontario for July 28th. Tickets are on sale now. Dennis was also a guest on the ‘Bill Kelly Show’ talking about the 50th Anniversary of ‘School’s Out this month and you can listen to that here.

Martin Popoff has two new Alice Cooper books on the way via Wymer Publishing. The first, entitled ‘Easy Action: The Original Alice Cooper Band’, obviously concentrates of the band years, while ‘Feed My Frankenstein: Alice Cooper, the Solo Years’ covers the years since 1975. Both books are due September 9th and available to pre-order now. How these books relate or repeat Martins previous Alice Cooper book ‘Welcome To My Nightmare. Fifty Years Of Alice Cooper’ isn’t clear, as it kinda sounds like he’s split the previous book in half to make two books.Time will tell how they differ. In the meantime you can currently get that first book direct from Wymer for just £12.50 which is a pretty good deal.

Steve and Karen Hunter have released a new track called ‘Sweet Love Of Mine’ which you can check out here. Steve was recently interviewed by American Blues Scene which you can read here.

And thanks to eagle-eyed Johnart69 for letting me know Alice Cooper is mentioned in the first issue of ‘Batman: Fortress‘ which is out now. While on a school bus the Joker sings ‘School’s Out forever!’ and is rather distressed when the kids on the bus don’t get the reference! "Really? No Alice Cooper fans? What are they teaching you kids these days?" We’ve all wondered that on occasion!

Back In The UK

News from the UK Tour and other happenings

Back from the UK tour for a bit. It’s a sadly shortened setlist for these shows due to The Cult being co-headliners, so only around 75 minutes or so a night. Chuck missed the opening show in Swansea so Hollywood Vampire bassist Chris Wyse stepped in at short notice to help out. Chuck was back in London though, and Chris joined in on ‘School’s Out’ as well. The show is as expected, with the ‘Nightmare Castle’ set again. ‘Shut Up And Rock’ has been added to the list as well.
If you’re going to any of the UK shows yet to happen try and get there early enough to catch Creeper. We were all very impressed by their entertaining and energetic performances, just a shame their stage time is so short.

Other news to catch up on:

There’s been a couple of show reviews so far from Swansea by The Guardian and Metal Planet.

As mentioned previously the ‘Live From The Astroturf’ movie will finally be seeing a general release on August 26th on CD, DVD, Blu-Ray and four more coloured vinyl – just when you thought they had run out of colours! This time it’s "Curacoa" (whatever colour that is) in Europe, Glow In The Dark (US/Germany), Apricot (Worldwide) and Gold (another Good Records Dallas exclusive with a print and trading card). Each vinyl comes with a DVD while the CD comes with the Blue-Ray. All versions have the bonus of an instrumental ‘Desperado’ recorded during rehearsals which wasn’t in the previous releases.

Good Records are also holding an album launch party on August 27th with a screening of the film and chat with various people behind the project (but not any of the band it seems unless it’s a surprise) followed by local band The Mumbles performing ‘Love It To Death’ in it’s entirety. The evening will close with other Dallas musicians playing a selection of Cooper classics. Tickets are available here.

Ryan Roxie is again offering his "All Excess Pass’ which offers various merchandise and access to a private instagram channel with special backstage videos and message, live guitar lessons and all sorts of other bonuses. Get all the info here. You can also check out a new Roxie interview from Boomerocity.

Super7 are releasing a new Alice Cooper "ReAction" figure which comes with a microphone, a snake and a billion dollar bill. Must admit personally I don’t think this one is that great (and I normally love this sort of thing) but decide for yourself.

And lastly for now, US TV channel ‘Reelz‘ will be showing ‘Alice Cooper: Story of the Songs’ on June 19th with Alice talking about ‘School’s Out’, Welcome To My Nightmare’ and ‘Poison’.

US Tour Roundup

New Show in Nevada and Tour News

A new show has been added to the October tour in the US. Alice Cooper will play the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, NV on October 8th.

Creeper‘ have been announced as the opening act on next months UK tour with The Cult. They’re a goth/punk/emo band from Southampton who have been building a substantial following over the last few years.

Alice has been talking to Planet Rock about the forthcoming UK tour, promising to do "something a little different" for the dates. "We’re gonna do something a little different (on the UK tour). Every night we’re gonna be doing different songs – at least two or three different songs. If you see the show in Birmingham, the next night you’ll see two or three different songs in the show." Whether these songs will be the same old warhorses they’ve played endlessly (‘Lost In America’ again anyone?) or something more interesting only time will tell.

There’s also a new interview from the Yorkshire Post which you can check out here.

The last few nights of the US tour saw a few unusual events. Tommy missed three shows, presumably due to illness (I’ve not seen the reason posted) but was back for the final Greek Theater show, and Nita Strauss has been seriously in the wars, after "…struggling with a bit of knee pain on and off the past couple weeks, it all finally came to a screeching halt on stage last night [April 22) when I stepped off the castle stairs and my right knee went POP! Definitely some of the most overwhelming pain I’ve ever had in my life." She managed to finish the show with her knee heavily strapped up before heading for the ER for tests. Nita soldiered on to finish out the US dates and has since had more treatment and been cleared to play her scheduled solo dates over the next few weeks, although you probably won’t been seeing her tearing around the stage quite as much as usual for a few weeks!

Music Connection has a long review of the final LA show the other night including so great photos.

‘No Cover’ episode 3 is now up on YouTube as four more hopefuls play for Alice and the other judges for a chance at the top prize.

The Akron Beacon has a cool new interview with Neal Smith, talking about his childhood growing up in Akron, OH.

German tour posters are advertising the release of a ‘Live EP” version of ‘Live From The Astroturf’, the recording of the original band’s 2015 reunion at Good Records in Dallas, TX, which is to be released on August 26th. No more details as yet.

Alice has been signed up to be a character in HypGames‘ ‘Ultimate Golf’ at some point in the future. The mobile golf simulator is available to download now but it’s unclear when Alice will make an appearance.

Alice plays Blue Ridge Rock Festival

Alice plays Blue Ridge Rock Festival

Alice Cooper and Nita Strauss are both confirmed as playing the Blue Ridge Rock Festival at the Virginia International Raceway on September 8th. Tickets are on sale now.

Alice’s official channels posted a statement following the tragic death of the Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins earlier this week:

"I got to know #TaylorHawkins thru both the Foo Fighters and his band Chevy Metal and was blessed to share the same stage with him a handful of times. Taylor drove both bands like a semi truck. There’s no one else like him. He was one of the great characters in Rock N Roll, beloved by all who knew him, and certainly one if the greatest drummers of his time. My band and I are devastated by this news and we will truly miss him. Much love from us to the Hawkins family and to the Foos and Chevy family."

The Davenport Gazette has a new short interview with Alice promoting the local show.

Dennis Dunaway has also been busy with interviews with long chats with ROX TV’s Carrie-Anne Grove, and Stefen Adika.

Roxie All Access Pass

Roxie All Access Pass

Ryan Roxie has launched a new ‘All Access Pass’ for the new US tour which began last night at Foxwoods. With the virtual pass you will get access to exclusive backstage videos, contests and giveaways, access to an exclusive instagram account with more content and lots more. You can sign up now at RyanRoxie.com.

Ryan’s ‘In The Trenches‘ podcast interviewed David Libert, the Alice Cooper 70s tour manager who has just released his biography ‘Rock and Roll Warrior’. The book is sadly only currently available in the US from Sunset Blvd Books, but they are looking at distribution in the UK and elsewhere.

Roxie is also the guest on the latest ‘Noisy Paul Podcast’ which you can check out on YouTube.

Alice is interviewed by ‘The Aquarian‘ talking about the problems of remaining politically correct among other things.

Check out Calico Cooper’s video promoting the first Beasto Blanco comic book ‘Space Wave’ on facebook here or below.

Nita Strauss is interviewed on iHeartRadioCA talking about ‘Dead Again’ and her forthcoming second solo album.

Alice plays Louder Than Life Festival

Alice plays Louder Than Life Festival

Alice Cooper will play the ‘Louder Than Life‘ festival in Louisville, KY on September 24th. Also on the bill the same day are Kiss, Rob Zombie, and Nita Strauss playing a solo set. Weekend and single day tickets are on sale now.

Coopstock 2 will take place on April 30th in Phoenix, AZ at the Las Sendas Golf Club. A now annual fundraiser for Solid Rock, this will feature performances from Alice, Chuck Garric, Rob Halford, Larry the Cable Guy and many others. Tickets are on sale now.

Dennis Dunaway and Ryan Roxie are both interviewed on the Flustercluck show which you can watch here.

‘SW Wall Interviews’ has a new interview with Calico Cooper which you can check out on YouTube.

Finland Update and Greek Show

Alice Cooper plays Finland and Greece

Firstly a correction. The Finland show mentioned in the last update appears to actually be two shows in Finland. The ‘Rock In The City’ festival appears to be taking place in two places, and Alice Cooper is scheduled to play at both locations. The correct dates appear to be June 10th 2022 in Vantaa, Finland and June 11th in Kuopio, Finland.

In addition to the Finnish shows there is now an additional show on July 6th in Athens, Greece at the Olympic Stadium, as special guest for The Scorpions.

Alice’s recent appearance on the Eddie Trunk podcast is available now on Spotify. You can also listen to Alice’s appearance on Freq 90.5 FM yesterday at Speaker.com.

There’s a new interview with Chuck Garric at Metal-Rules promoting the new Beasto Blanco comic book, during which he says the new Alice Cooper album is well on it’s way with most of the instrumental tracks recorded. It’s likely a release is a fair way off yet though.

Ryan Roxie will be on ‘Reignite with Cathy Grant’ webcast on march 12th, and you can set a reminder for that here.

Nita Strauss will be opening for Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society during a break in the Cooper tour during May. The dates are as follows:

April 30th – San Diego, CA – House Of Blues
May 1st – Reno, NV – Virginia Street Social Outdoors
May 3rd – Casper, WY – Gaslight Social Outdoors
May 5th – Belvidere, IL – Apollo Theater
May 6th – Sault Ste. Marie, MI – Kewadin Casino
May 7th – Bowler, WI – North Star Mohican Gaming & Resort
May 9th – Lexington, KY – Manchester Music Hall
May 10th – Raleigh, NC – The Ritz
May 11th – Chattanooga, TN – The Signal
May 13th – Fayetteville, AR – JJ’s Live
May 14th – Tyler, TX – Country River Club
May 15th – New Orleans, LA – Fillmore
May 17th – Birmingham, AL – Iron City

New Show In Finland

Alice Cooper plays Rock In The City, Finland

Alice Cooper will appear at the ‘Rock In The City‘ festival in Kuopio, Finland on June 10th. Tickets appear to be on sale now. Also appearing on the same day are Uriah Heep, Lordi and Michael Monroe among others.
UPDATE: This seems to have been changed to the 11th.

Alice will also be the subject of the next episode of ‘Frontman’ on the Reelz channel in the US which airs on Sunday at 9ET and 11PT.

You can watch Alice’s Q&A from last weeks ‘Monsters Of Rock’ Cruise over at Blabbermouth. The MOR show saw some differences to the normal tour shows, in that there was no castle stage set and it appears no guillotine either!

There’s a new interview with Alice from BBC Radio Scotland which you can check out on YouTube.

I haven’t seen many reviews from recent shows but Creative Loafing have covered the Clearwater show with some great photos.

Shep Gordon is the subject of the Gibson TV ‘Icon’ web show which you can watch here. There’s plenty of Cooper coverage.

Nita Strauss is on the bill for this years Aftershock Festival in Sacramento, CA on October 7th. Also playing are Kiss, Judas Priest and Lamb of God.

Alice Cooper And The Tome Of Madness

‘Alice Cooper And The Tome Of Madness’ 12″ Release

The new tour was expected to start last night but it seems the first show in Windsor, Ontario was cancelled
. I’m not sure how much notice there was of this as it was only pointed out to me yesterday, but looking at the venue site it seems the whole place is currently closed until the 31st so maybe that’s why. Hopefully tonights show will go ahead as expected.

‘Metal Department’ have announced the release of "Alice Cooper And The Tome Of Madness" as a 12" vinyl single. This is taken from the Alice Cooper slot machine game which appeared a couple of months back and features Alice narrating an 18 minute horror story featured in the game. The record come in two forms – a plain black vinyl version and a limited edition (500) yellow vinyl version both in a deluxe gatefold sleeve with artwork from the game. Both are available exclusively from Metal Department and they aren’t cheap, especially when you add in postage to the UK! The slot machine game is apparently available on a couple of gambling sites, but you have to sign up to them to play. You can see a short promo video here.

Nita Strauss appears to like being on the road as she’s added even more solo shows on her ‘Winter Wasteland‘ tour during the gaps in the Alice Cooper schedule. The new shows are:

February 22nd – Jacksonville, FL – Underbelly 
February 23rd – Tampa, FL – The Brass Mug 
February 24th – West Palm, FL – Respectable Street 
March 1st – Atlantic City – Anchor Rock Club 
March 2nd – Annapolis, MD – Rams Head On Stage 
March 3rd – Hampton, NH – Wally’s 
March 4th – Frederick, MD – Cafe 611 
March 5th – Johnson City, TN – Capones 
March 6th – Huntsville, AL – Side Tracks Music Hall 
March 8th – Corpus Christi, TX – House Of Rock 
March 9th – Houston, TX – Warehouse Live 

Nita is also on the bill of the ‘Rockfest‘ festival in Cadott, WI on July 14th.

Beasto Blanco have a new comic book on the way from Source Point Press entitled ‘Beasto Blanco: Spacewave Conquest’ and it looks really nice! Check out some images from it here. It’s due sometime during the summer but some comics sites seem to be taking pre-orders from next month.