Tag: #olblackeyesisback

Weekly Update

More dates cancelled, and new interviews

Alice has been hard on the lockdown interview trail in the last week. First was ‘Rock For Relief’ where he is interviewed by Cathouse legend Rikki Rachtman. Then Yahoo Sports talked to Alice about the ‘Flush The Fashion’ album and Q104.3 ‘Out Of The Box’ chatted about lockdown, ‘Detroit Stories’ and other stuff. He’s also been talking to Loudwire. Metal Hammer have published an interview from last year (?) which was in the print edition but possibly not online before. Also the Hawaii public radio interview mentioned a little while ago is now online to listen to.

More of the November rescheduled dates have now been cancelled (with one officially ‘postponed’ again). I would say the rest will be gone soon with a completely new set of shows next year. It’s a shame, but what can you do. Not only have they got to keep Alice, the band and the crew safe, but also the fans at the show. Better to be safe then sorry.

Alice is also now on ‘Cameo’, A site that allows you to pay for personal video messages from the star (or it seems almost anyone – there even seems to be a cat and a pig available!) of your choice. All the info is here including a few examples of what you get.

The Danzeisen Dairy in Phoenix. AZ is producing a special Alice Cooper chocolate milk bottle with all profits going to the Solid Rock Teen Center. The instant collectors items will be available in stores this fall. Hopefully they will announce some way of getting one for those of us outside the Arizona area.

Glen Sobel was interviewed by GalaxyCon which you can check out here. Glen talks about all sorts of things including his early career and of course Alice.

Ryan Roxie has annouced two live shows in Sweden. He will play "An Evening With Ryan Roxie’ shows on July 25th at the Garage Bar in Höganäs. and August 15th at Trollhättan’s Backstage Bar. The next ‘In The Trenches’ podcast will feature Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser on July 14th. Roxie also turned up on ‘The VoiceIt Show’ which you can check out here.

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.

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.

US Shows Postponed

Alice Cooper postpones US Dates

From Alice Cooper:

“We are regretfully postponing our Spring 2020 headline North American tour from March 31 through April 22. The tour is being rescheduled for Fall 2020 and the new schedule will be announced as soon as possible.”

“Due to the current concerns regarding COVID-19, the health and safety of our fans, local venue staffs, as well as the health and safety of our band and crew, is of utmost priority. Information regarding previously purchased tickets and VIP packages will be available soon at alicecooper.com; it is recommended that those who have tickets should retain them, as they may be valid for the re-scheduled shows.”

“Let’s get through this together and resume rocking later in the year.”

Fire Fight Australia

Alice Cooper Rocks Fire Fight Australia

Alice and the band stormed the ANZ Stadium ‘Fire Fight Australia’ stage earlier today for a short four song set featuring ‘Department Of Youth’, ‘I’m Eighteen’, ‘Poison’ and, of course, ‘School’s Out’ which included the ‘Another Brick In The Wall’ snippet. Even without a stage set and mostly prop-free the band still took the roof off, with Alice managing to go through a few costume changes including the white tailcoat with an Australian flag sewn on the back. During and after the performance both #AliceCooper and #HurricaneNita were apparently "trending" on twitter in Australia for a while, and there were nothing but positive reports in the mainstream media. I’m told there was also a very brief clip of Alice on the BBC news earlier today.

The Daily Mail (UK) strangely probably has the best text coverage with photos from the show, but currently you can watch the full performance on YouTube.

The previous evening ‘The Goon Squad’ (Chuck, Ryan, Glen and Tommy) played a small club show at Frankie’s Pizza in Sydney which included a surprise appearance by Rose Tattoo legend Angry Anderson for a cover of the Tatts "Rock And Roll Outlaw". So far I’ve only found a short 15 second clip showing Anderson with the band, but hopefully more footage will show up soon.
UPDATE: Frankies have posted video of the the full show on their facebook page!

In other news the New Zealand Herald has a story about Alice playing golf downunder, while ‘Heavy‘ and ‘Noise11‘ have reviews of the Melbourne show, and the Daily Mail (again!) have a review and excellent photos from the same show.

The latest issue of ‘Steel Notes Magazine’ has one feature on Dennis Dunaway’s ‘Cold Cold Coffin’ film, and another of frequent DD collaborates Tish And Snooky of ‘Manic Panic’ who are also on the cover. You can read the whole magazine here.

New Shows – USA

Alice Cooper announces new US tour dates.

Alice Cooper has announced a new batch of shows for May/June in the USA. The dates are as follows and VIP tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10AM. Support will be Tesla and Lita Ford

30th May Paso Robles, CA – Vina Robles Amphitheatre
31st May Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
3rd June Denver, CO – Mission Ballroom
5th June Thackerville, OK – Winstar World Casino
6th June Topeka, KS – Stormont Vail Events Center
7th June Maryland Heights, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheater
9th June Nashville, TN – Ascend Amphitheatre
10th June Huber Heights, OH – Rose Music Center
12th June Welsh, MN – Treasure Island Resort and Casino
13th June Rosemont, IL – Rosemont Theatre
14th June Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center
16th June Boston, MA – Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion
17th June Wilkes-Barre Township, PA – Mohegan Sun Arena
19th June Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
20th June Gilford, NH – Bank of NH Pavilion
21st June Hanover, MD – The Hall at Live! Casino and Hotel
23rd June Wantagh, NY – Northwell Heath at Jones Beach
25th June Philadelphia, PA – The Mann Center
26th June Burgettstown, PA – S&T Bank Music Park
27th June Clarkston, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre

Alice will be a guest on Steve Jones (Sex Pistols) radio show ‘Jonesy’s Jukebox’ at the Viper Rooms in LA this Friday and you can win tickets to be there in person at 955klos.com.

He will also be at the ‘Motor City Comic Con‘ in Detroit between May 15th and 17th (all three days) for autographs and photos.

Nita, Chuck, Glen, and Michael Bruce, appear to have been at NAMM over the weekend. The easiest way to see what else they’ve been up to is check their facebook pages. Alice doesn’t appear to have been there this year.

Alice has been talking to the Australian press about the upcoming bush fire benefit, but sadly they won’t let you read it in Europe.

Dennis Dunaway’s ‘Cold Cold Coffin’ has won another award, this time for ‘Best Music Video’ at the Los Angeles Motion Picture Festival.

New Show In Milwaukee

Alice Cooper announces Milwaukee show

Alice Cooper has added an extra show to the US 2020 tour. It’s April 4th in Milwaukee, WI at the Miller High Lite Theatre. Tickets go on sale Wednesday at 10AM local time.

The Adalaide show on February 11th has been upgraded to a larger venue. The show will now take place at the AEC Arena, rather then the smaller AEC Theatre. All tickets will remain valid.

Calico Cooper appears on the new Wednesday 13 cover of Gary Numan’s ‘Films’ which you can hear on YouTube. Alice himself appears on the title track from the last Wednesday 13 album ‘Necrophaze’.

Alice also appears very briefly on the Planet Rock charity single ‘You’re The Voice‘. You can hear him saying a couple of lines at the very start of the song.

‘Three Sides of the Coin‘ sit down with Alice in Mystic Lake for an interview which covers a few things not normally asked.

The San Tan Sun News has a few words with Alice about the upcoming Christmas Pudding show and the original band reuniting. AZ Central also has an article recalling past Pudding shows and the guests who have appeared.

Nita Strauss is on the front cover of the new ‘Guitar World’ magazine which should be on the shelves now.

‘Music In Minnesota‘ has posted a review of the Mystic Lake show with some photos.

New North American Shows

New 2020 US and Canadian shows have been announced. They are as follows:

April 1st – Peterborough, ON – Memorial Centre
April 3rd – Grand Rapids, MI – Devos Music Hall
April 5th – Appleton, WI – Fox Performing Arts Center
April 7th – Omaha, NE – Orpheum Theatre
April 8th – Davenport, IA – Adler Theatre
April 10th – Grand Forks, ND – Alerus Center
April 11th – Winnipeg, MB – Centennial Concert Hall
April 13th – Regina, SK – Conexus Arts Centre
April 15th – Edmonton, AB – Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
April 16th – Prince George, BC – CN Centre
April 18th – Abbotsford, BC – Abbotsford Ent & Sports Centre
April 19th – Penticton, BC – South Okanagan Events Centre
April 20th – Seattle, WA – McCaw Hall
April 22th – Portland, OR – Keller Auditorium

AC.com Pre-sale tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10am local time and Lita Ford will open these shows.

End Of UK Tour Wrap

End of tour news catchup

And so another UK tour comes to an end with an epic show in Cardiff, which closed with a stage invasion by the opening acts! What a week it’s been. MC50 and the legendary Stranglers offered the best support we’ve had in many years, highly entertaining and surely gaining new fans every night, but of course no one can top The Coop and the best live band in the world who tore up the stage despite tiredness setting in from a long tour. What a set list, and what a show! We even had Dennis Dunaway join the band in Brighton and London!
As always a few thank you’s before we get to all the news from the last 10 days. To Alice, Sheryl and the band (Roxie, Tommy, Glen, Nita, Chris, and Chuck) who always give 110% at very show. To Bujie, Kyler, Amber, David and all the backstage team and crew without whom there would be no show. To the great Toby Mamis who always comes through for us to make every tour unforgettable. To Andy Michael for his help, and of course all the Sickthings whose company, as always, has been the very best! Couldn’t do it without you all, and here’s to next time!
UPDATE: Photos from all shows now up in the Photo section.

So… on with the news!

As I quickly posted yesterday we sadly lost Erik Scott a couple of days ago. In my limited interaction with Erik he was always generous with his time and it was fascinating listening to his stories from the ‘Special Forces’ years which he told with affection and pride. He’ll be missed, and of course the Sickthings community sends their condolences to his family and friends. His music will live on.

Back to the UK tour and the big shock was that Chuck Garric only played the first show in Manchester! Couldn’t believe it when he told us afterwards that he would be heading home, as he had the Beasto Blanco Megacruise show to prepare for. We missed you Chuck! In his place we had Hollywood Vampire’s super-bassist Chris Wyse standing stage left, who did a excellent job filling in on short notice for the last six shows. Chuck will be back in the band for the next run of shows in the USA, and Chris will be back with the Vampires next year (hopefully!)
Speaking of the Hollywood Vampire’s they’ll be back on ‘Late Night With James Corden’ on Halloween night, when the show will air the second song the band recorded a few months ago when they last appeared.

A couple of enterprising fans did their best to promote the UK shows, including the bus driver in Aberdeen who wore full Alice makeup the evening of the show, and the enterprising London Underground worker who put this up in honor of the master! (Thanks Mercy for photo)

The Aberdeen Evening Express had an article about AC fan Carol McLean and the Aberdeen show.

There’s been lots of reviews from the UK shows as well. Check out Purple Revolver, The Guardian, Manchester Evening News, Aberdeen Press and Journal, Society Aberdeen, The Argus, Arts Desk, Brighton News, The Express, The Up Coming, Financial Times (subscription), and Express and Star.

And there’s a few new interviews in The Metro, The Telegraph (may need to register), and Express and Star.

Also check out a new interview with Glen Sobel at ‘That’s My Gig‘.

The Daily Mail caught Alice and Sheryl out and about in London and seem surprised he wasn’t in full stage costume!

This years ‘Record Store Day Black Friday’ on November 29th has a couple of Cooper related releases to look for. First is the release of the 1973 Houston, TX show which comes on one LP and one 7″. This was previously released on CD as part of the ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ Deluxe reissue some years ago, but this is the first time it will be on vinyl. It’s being released by Rhino Records but there’s no info on how many will be pressed yet.
There’s also a new vinyl version of ‘Dragontown’ on 2xLP coloured vinyl. This is a limited edition of 1500.

European Tour

Dee Snider joins Alice Cooper on stage and other news this week.

The European ‘Ol’ Black Eyes Is Back’ tour began last week in Switzerland with no changes to the setlist. The opening show did feature a surprise appearance by Dee Snider on ‘School’s Out’, during which the band went into Twisted Sister’s ‘We Not Gonna Take It’ for a few bars much to the surprise of Dee it seems! You can check out video of it here.

Alice was on French TV last week appearing on a show called ‘Quotidien avec Yann Barthès’ and you can watch this on their site. It’s dubbed in French but you can just about hear Alice speaking underneath.

Going by a post to social media Alice will be premiering a track, possibly ‘Detroit City 2020’, on Monday’s ‘Nights With Alice Cooper’. The song is from the new ‘Breadcrumbs EP’ which is out next week on vinyl and download. For collectors there is a (French?) three song promo CD around which features ‘Detroit City’, ‘East Side Story’ and ‘Devil In A Blue Dress/Chains Of Love’.
UPDATE: Check out ‘East Side Story’ from ‘Breadcrumbs’ below.

Chris Penn has posted to Facebook to wan UK fans to ‘Save The Date’ of October 9th, suggesting the announcement of a London showing for ‘Live From The Astroturf, Alice Cooper!’. This is the day off between the Brighton and London shows, but also the day Ryan Roxie has a solo appearance, so hopefully the timings will work out!! More details once they are announced.

Before leaving the US Ryan and Tommy stopped by News Center Maine for a chat. The first clip is an interview with them, and the second clip is a fun guitar lesson by Ryan.

Dennis Dunaway has a new song on the forthcoming album by country singer Mary Lamont. The song is called ‘What Was Right For You Left Nuthin’ For Me’ and will feature on Mary’s new album ‘Not Far From Here’ which is due September 13th. Dennis doesn’t play on the album, but the connection is that before she was a country star Mary Lamont worked for Alice Cooper at Alive Enterprises, their management company.

In a few days it will be the 50th anniversary of the legendary ‘Chicken Incident’ at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival. Global News has an article about the event, and while it only mentions Alice Cooper in passing I thought the background info they have on John Lennon’s appearance was worth reading as I don’t think I’ve seen it before.