HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES – JOHNNY DEPP AND ALICE COOPERS SUPERGROUP AT AO ARENA MANCHESTER – 8TH JULY 2023

 

 

WORDS AND IMAGES BILLY SEAGRAVE

 

 

Tonight, the AO Arena Manchester plays host to, Alice Cooper, Joe Perry Johnny Depp and Tommy Henriksen, collectively known as The Hollywood Vampires. and along for the ride are 70’s punksters The Tubes.

The Tubes are a band from San Francisco, formed in 1973 and raised in the theatres of punk, rock and art. There were some seasoned fans in the arena, one in particular having seen the band more than 30 times and I felt comfortable knowing that their inevitable excitement would help me get to know this band and their infamous ways. Fronted by the irrepressible and chameleon-like Fee Waybill, a man whose CV boasts many a song and performance with the likes of Richard Marx, Toto, Vixen and the Foo Fighters, the band soon gave us a performance blessed with a capital ‘P’. Costume changes, zoot suits, straight jackets, glam transvestite punk until eventually no clothes at all.

The Tubes will always be associated with the anthem ‘White Punks On Dope’ .but tonight the crowd were rewarded with song after memorable song, ‘What Do You Want from Life’, ‘White Punks On Dope’, ‘Talk to Ya Later’, ‘Let There Be Drums’, ‘Mr. Hate’ As sets go, this was amongst the best of them and the arena crowd were left with a real sense of ‘Wow, what was I just a part of!’. The Tubes are what ‘Rock and Roll’ should be and hopefully will always be, timeless, brilliant and forever young, so please, if you ever get the chance, do yourselves a favour and go and visit, nay embrace a Tubes performance, you will not regret a single moment and if you like, tell them I sent you!

Set List.

1/ What Do You Want from Life

2/ No Not Again

3/ That’s life.

4/Mr Hate

5/ She’s a Beauty

6/ Talk to Ya Later

7/ Let There Be Drums

8/ White Punks on Dope

 

 

The modern-day Hollywood Vampires came together to pay tribute to the original Hollywood Vampires a celebrity drinking club formed by Alice Cooper in the 1970s, 70’s members included  Keith Moon, Ringo Starr, Micky Dolenz and Harry Nilsson and every once in a while John Lennon and Keith Emerson. They still have a plaque at the Rainbow Bar and Grill in west Hollywood, where it says ‘The Lair of the Hollywood Vampires

Alice Cooper formed this incarnation of Hollywood Vampires in 2012 with Johnny Depp and Joe Perry.  The band has released two studio albums featuring guest appearances by Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Joe Walsh, Zak Starkey and Christopher Lee, among others. Their albums feature a mix of original songs and cover versions of classic rock songs from the 1970s, paying homage to the music that influenced the band members.

As the band begins to assemble on stage and white smoke bellows from the front of the stage, the fog begins to disperse to reveal a  four-frame visual backdrop of a Bella Lugosi video, that calls the band to the stage.

The Hollywood Vampires perform a combination of their original songs and cover versions of classic rock songs tonight as per their album releases.  Iconic tracks from their self-titled debut album, “Raise the Dead,” “I Want My Now,” and “My Dead Drunk Friends.” Additionally, they pay tribute to the music of their musical heroes The Doors “Five to One / Break on Through (to the other side)”. The Who’s “Baba O’Riley”, a great version of Bowie’s, “Hero’s” produces an instant sing-along.

 

 

Then Johnny Depp takes the mic to pay homage to Jeff Beck and introduces his best friend a white Stratocaster that he hands to Joe Perry, who sets about working his magic, and the covers keep coming, “Walk This Way”, Aerosmith, along with Killing Jokes, “Death And Resurrection Show”. these rock icons bringing their expertise, passion, and charisma to the stage is amazing, I almost have to pinch myself, the set is dynamic and electrifying.

The final song of the set is, “A Train Kept A Rollin”, and everyone in the arena is totally entertained, and best is yet to come and it seems so fitting that a riotous Encore is from one of the best showmen ever to grace a stage, Alice Cooper and the brilliant “Schools Out”.

As the band leave the stage with a huge standing ovation which was thoroughly deserved  for a fantastically powerful and superb gig.

Set List.

1/ I Want My Now

2/ Raise the Dead

3/ I’m Eighteen

4/ Play Video

5/ Five to One / Break on Through (to the Other Side)

6/ The Boogieman Surprise

7/ My Dead Drunk Friends

8/ You Can’t Put Your Arms Round a Memory

9/ Baba O’Riley

10/ Who’s Laughing Now

11/ People Who Died

12/ The Jack

13/ As Bad As I Am

14/ “Heroes”

15/ Bright Light Fright

16/ The Death and Resurrection Show

17/ Walk This Way

18/ Jeff Beck Tribute

19/ The Train Kept A-Rollin’

Encore:

20/ School’s Out

 

 

 

 

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