Alice  Cooper's Brutal Planet

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Alice Cooper Brutal Planet Tour 2000
Sunday October 15th
Hawthorne Race Course
Chicago, IL

I can’t say I ever thought I’d be at an Alice Cooper show. At least not prior to his 1995 release The Last Temptation. Since then I have wanted to see him, but haven’t made it. Thanks to a friend who listens to the wrong kind of radio station I heard about this one before it happened. I saw Alice Cooper… with my own eyes!

I approached this event with a swirl of expectations. My first exposure to Alice Cooper came during his eighties metal phase via a poster on my brother’s wall. I’m pretty sure by brother was more interested in freaking out my parents than he was in Cooper’s music or message, but nonetheless I was convinced the guy was pure evil and that his music was just another rehash of the same metal crap I loved to hate. So, when word spread that Cooper had become a Christian and was to release an album that reflected his faith I was intrigued. The Last Temptation blew me away. True Tunes may have been the first Christian publication to cover Cooper (not without a sizable amount of controversy mind you) and that album deserved it. Not only was it one of the best-constructed morality plays I had ever heard, and not only did it articulate the artist’s faith in a way that was relevant to his audience, it was also an amazing project musically. Chris Cornell of Soundgarden participated as did other non hair-metal players. The production was incredible and the sound was enveloping and warm. I loved it.

Unfortunately Cooper’s fans and record company didn’t seem to get it. Though the die-hards hung with him, the seemingly impossible spectre of a faith informed shock rocker was more than some could handle. The fact that Cooper wouldn’t tour exacerbated the problem. Reportedly he was concerned about how to present the old Alice Cooper in light of his new faith. He had created an image he no longer believed in (and really never had) and he needed to work out if, or how, that image could inegritously exist alongside his new faith.

A best of album (or actually a couple of them) and a full blown boxed set followed, and in the coming years he did return to touring, though with a more subdued stage vibe. Gone were the trade-mark guillotines, blood and guts. Meanwhile he continued to grow in his faith and serve at his local church in Phoenix (even as a Sunday School teacher by some accounts.)

However, when he began to prepare a new album for the new millennium he was struck with horror that he could no longer shock people with fiction. Thus he took much of his inspiration from CNN with the added horror that the subjects were true. In a recent interview Cooper explained the post-post modern apocolypse that raged through Brutal Planet.
 

“Brutal Planet is 50 years from now, a world without God. It’s a horrific place. My stage show is gonna make it entertaining, and Alice the character is gonna make it entertaining, but the main message is “This is a place where we don’t wanna be. There’s no redeeming value to this place at all.” *

In light of the new album, the new focus and the rise of copycat shock rockers like Marilyn Manson, Cooper decided to return to his roots for the 2000 Tour. All the violence, all the theatrics and most of the old hits would be intermingled with his new songs and a more focused theme than he had ever attempted.

My friends and I arrived at the Hawthorne Race Course at around 4:30 in the afternoon. The idea of putting on an outdoor concert in Chicago after Labor Day shows the promoters to either be madmen or gamblers, both of which fit the Alice Cooper at a Race Course vibe. The skies were cloudy and threatening to rain. The temperature was a chilly 62 degrees or so, and the word spread via the net that the show would start early. We found seats about 20 rows back from the stage and right in front of the soundbaord and proceeded to wait for three hours for the carnage to start. Fortunately the audience provided plenty of pre-show entertainment, since the opening bands Premium and Enuf Z’Nuff (a Chicago based one-hit wonder band from the peak of the hair-metal days of the late eighties) had been cancelled.

The audience was amazing. In front of us was a fifty-something little lady with gray hair and a nice little jacket. She looked like someone’s grandma or a librarian. But when she told us about her real shrunken head at home, and how she knew how to make one, she took on a different hue. During the show she sang along with ALL the lyrics to every song. In fact, she became my answer lady when I lost track of song titles or what was going on.

To the left of us was a nice young couple chain smoking clove cigarettes and camels and quietly enjoying a romantic evening. Up and to the left was a group of three that would later become the enemy of the whole center of the audience. One, maybe the dad, had a make-shift “Johnny” costume on as if Halloween had come early. None of us could figure out who he was supposed to be. A young lad of about thirteen years (maybe the son) accompanied him and was adorned with face make-up somewhat like Coopers. A third gentleman in a full body cow costume (udders and all) and a Sting mask (the wrestler) with a makeshift head on a stick rounded out the group. About an hour before the show started cow-man produced an inflated bovine about two feet long by one foot high. Why cow-man had an inflatable cow with him was anyone’s guess. But when the show started and the trio felt it was their job to hold their head and blow-up cow up over their heads blocking the view of the rest of us, they almost met their doom.

Lots of folks wore top hats and marked their eyes with Alice marks. (One guy seemed to actually have tattoos around his eyes!) There were teens, metal heads, Goths, dads, grandpas and a handful of normal folks. One guy had a home-made Alice t-shirt and a satanic pentagram around his neck. His girlfriend had Alice Cooper panties on her head (I can’t make this stuff up!) So the three hours passed relatively quickly. The rain started and gathered strength throughout the afternoon. At one point there was a complete rainbow arching over the park. I blurted out that it was “God’s promise not to drown the Goths” and was met with several semi-violent glares. Most people just saw the natural sky art as an inspiration to get more beer.

The show kicked off shortly after 7:30 with the temperature dropping down to 50 degrees and the winds and rain picking up. October, gray, cold, wet and at an Alice Cooper show… I suppose the setting was perfect.

The show opened with one of the props being wheeled to the center of the stage. It was a type of cupboard box with a little man in it. The creature welcomed the crowd to Brutal Planet and then warned them that the leader of this violent godless place, Alice Cooper, wanted to lure them in. He told us to run away and not to look back. Then the stage exploded with a wash of lights and noise as the band churned out the title track to Brutal Planet. Cooper wore a very Nine Inch Nails / Matrix inspired leather outfit and carried a sword on his back. The sound was excellent (though it took much of the first song for Cooper’s vocals to be dialed in correctly.) The band, made up of pro players culled from Guns and Roses, Kiss, and other bands I had never heard of, were amazingly good. The stage props looked much cooler in the stage lighting than they had earlier that afternoon. The crowd exploded with pent up energy.

The band, already 80% done with this tour, was in lock step. They parried from Brutal Planet tracks to catalog hits with ease. Cooper’s daughter played his foil during several of the trademark Cooper scenes (the straight jacket, getting his head cut off, etc) which was amusing. During a medley of “Dead Babies” and “The Ballad Of Dwight Fry,” the beheading was done. After Cooper’s body was liberated from it’s upper extremity the band churned through a fifteen minute instrumental jam that included a cliché drum solo from Eric Springer (one of the most popular drummers in metal.) A time later the nurse re-emerged, picked up Cooper’s head and took it to a Frankenstein chamber that looked like a cross between one of Spinal Tap’s pods and a Gotham City phone booth. Lights flashed, sparks flew, and out popped Alice in a white tux moving into “No More Mr. Nice Guy.” After he threw the nurse into the trunk of his car and finished the song he removed the tux and ripped into “It’s Hot Tonight,” a song that was especially funny since the audience was wet and freezing.

During the set-up for “It’s The Little Things” from Brutal Planet he ran through a list of bad things that had happened that day. “I woke up this morning with a migraine headache, but I can handle that,” he ranted. “I woke up with pain all through my body, but I can handle that. You good people have been rained on all day, but I can handle that. But I came out here on this stage, after flying here from Moscow Russia, and I see this guy in the front row wearing a Marilyn Manson T-shirt!” The crowd booed and the fan instantly removed the shirt and flung it at Cooper who held it up, pretended to use it as a personal hygiene product, and then threw it away. The crowd roared and the band tore into “The Little Things,” a song about the petty minds of the evil violence mongers out there. Another chuckle came when Cooper came out for his encore in a T-shirt with “Britney Wants Me” emblazoned on the front. As if that wasn’t funny enough he turned around to show to reveal the word “DEAD” on his back… get it? “Britney wants me dead.” I think he was flattering himself, but for a fifty-something man he showed amazing stamina, vigor and pipes regardless.

Though there were a few subtle references to Christ, like in “Brutal Planet,” Cooper’s show was, this time, more about pointing out the weakness, seduction and futility of evil, than it was about offering an alternative. Though many Christians would bristle at the violent imagery, the context was totally campy and fun, like a bad horror movie. It was the lyrics to the new songs like “Pick Up The Bones” and “Wicked Young Man” that brought the darkest aspects to the show. The difference between the silly evil of Alice Cooper as a character performing “Dead Babies” or “Go To Hell” compared to the real life horror of the genocide in Kossovo or the killings in Columbine were stark and startling. Unfortunately I doubt if many of the fans caught the difference.

In the end tours are about selling new albums. Though there was nothing in this show that would make the average fan deduce that Cooper had come to Christ, there was plenty to make them want to buy Brutal Planet. There was nothing blasphemous or evil being promoted as good, or right. Hopefully they do buy Brutal Planet and maybe Last Temptation if they missed it, and hopefully Cooper’s obvious disdain for Satan has an impact on them. In interviews he is much more up-front than he used to be about the whole show. Hopefully he can continue this exploration and have a real impact on his obviously devoted fans, as well as continuing to crank out gripping rock and roll in the process.

-JJT
http://www.truetunes.com/content/features/101600alicecooper.asp
(* from an Alice Cooper Interview with Rich Black)

i am catholic, and have no problem understanding that my life and doings are
all in the hands of God!
i have been an Alice Cooper fan since i was 7 years old ,way back in 1973.
Alice always did add in religious lyrics in his music, nothing much has
changed on Alice's part with Brutal Planet, it tells what the world would be
like in the future in Alice's eyes as a Godless world,  he claims in the
title track" right here we fed the lions Christian flesh and christian blood"
that is tipical "in your face" Alice Cooper, also Alice states on the same
song,"it was a holy garden,thats right were Adam fell,its were the bite was
taken, its were we chose to sin,heres were we first were naked,this is were
our death begins"!!
that in my eyes, no matter who it is singing it, is totally way deep!
people listen to the main steam of entertainment, and when the hear Alice is
a Christian, they right away think that Alice is singing church hymns!
this is not true at all, this whole album rocks harder than any band out
there!! and Alice does a great job at trying to get people to realize where
the world is heading!!  and that  the world is going to be nothing but
Havoc,and destruction, in a Godless world.
but if you listen to all the Alice Cooper classic albums, you will find that
he always makes a refference to God, he never even tried to be "satanic" he
is a movie star playing the part ! when Alice walks off stage, whatever he
does in his life, is his every right!  i was "shocked" at how heavy "Brutal
Planet"was,  and whatever Alice has to say, i wanna hear!! i trust Alice, and
knowing that Alice loves God, makes it easier!

6-00 Review by: Paul R Tomczak 

6-00 Review by: Daniel Taylor,  from Montevallo, Alabama, USA

Alice Cooper, has been known as the "Shock Rocker", but as a long time fan, I have never thought of him as such.  He is, infact an artist who has always spoken what was on his mind, no matter what the reviews.  In many of his lyrics throughout the years I have found solice the words.  He questions, probes and pokes at all of humanity, taking many different perspectives. Both social and religious issues are addressed in most of his albums.  The Last Temptation may not be considered his best work, it was my favorite album.  To me it really detailed my struggle with faith and evil.  Brutal Planet, his latest release, is also very good, but much harsher. On first listen I was not excited, now it dominates much of my cd player's time. Hard rock that really, Really makes you think.  I applaude Alice for not producing a "christian rock album", but letting his love of the Lord show in his work and in his life.

6-00 Dawn Bunda

6-00 Paul R Tomczak

Alice did a pretty straight gospel rock song on his 1977 album "Lace and Whiskey"
called "My God."  It's really good, and I think it should be included on your Alice page.
It was a pretty tame album,  leaving off all references to graveyards and
insanity (as was Alice's favorite choices for material through the seventies)
but it does include references to his alcoholism, and has a pretty amusing
song about a drag queen that could be considered offensive.  =)    However,
I do believe "My God" is an excellent track,  and should be brought to the
attention of Christian music fans.  "I Never Wrote Those Songs" isn't a
Christian song,  but it's very spiritual as Alice was going through his worst
with alcoholism at the time.  It's very reflective.  Of all his albums, it's
probably his least offensive besides TLT and BP.

6-00 Daniel Taylor,  from Montevallo, Alabama, USA

By Jane Stevenson - Toronto Sun - Tuesday, August 29, 2000
It's not such a wonderful, wonderful world anymore, Alice Cooper said yesterday during a promotional trip in Toronto.

That explains the title of his latest album, the hard-rocking, apocalyptic-themed Brutal Planet.

"It's by far the darkest thing I've ever written, because it's reality-based," said The Coop, 52, during a Canadian newspaper exclusive with The Sun. "Reality's pretty dark."

This from the man who pioneered theatrical shock rock in the early '70s with simulated executions on stage.

'SCARIEST SONGS'

"When I'm writing things that are fictional -- like Welcome To My Nightmare and Last Temptation, I'm creating places to take Alice that are all fictionally based, so they're lighter, they're generally fun," he said. "Brutal Planet -- I started writing it as a piece of fiction and realized that the three or four scariest songs on the album were all from CNN."

They are Blow Me A Kiss (about the Columbine shootings), Wicked Young Man (about hate groups in America) and Pick Up The Bones (about the war in Kosovo).

"I literally saw that on CNN," said Cooper about the latter song. "I saw the guy collecting his family in a pillow case. I couldn't believe it. I sat there and I said, 'Stephen King couldn't write this.' Nobody would believe it. I was in the midst of writing Brutal Planet, and I started getting all this evidence that we're already there."

WE DON'T REACT

The even greater horror, said Cooper, is that we don't react.

"We live in these convenient little pockets called Toronto, Phoenix," said the Arizona-based rocker. "We might as well have the glass bubble put over top of us, because we're so insulated. There are 65 wars going on this planet right now! But everybody talks about how enlightened we are. Everybody talks about how technology is bringing the global community together, and 'Isn't it great that we're living in such a time of peace?' Genocide is rampant!"

As you might expect, some of Brutal Planet's lyrics are heavy, and Cooper expects some flak, particularly when it comes to Wicked Young Man, in which the protagonist talks about having 'a pocketful of bullets and a blueprint of the school.'

"Well, don't you think we ought to know who this guy is?" he said.

"I think Alice should write about him, should describe him, should warn you about him. He's here. We can't just sweep him under the rug. As much as I hate Columbine, we can't just let that be just another page in history. We need for that to be something that's in our face for quite a while, because, I mean, if that wasn't a wake-up call, what was?"

Cooper, who has three children, aged seven to 19, said he is genuinely concerned about the state of the planet. But he would never put the blame on increasingly violent entertainment.

"I took exception to their blaming rock and roll because, of course, it's the easiest target. Rock and roll! How does a parent not know his kid's got 50 bombs in the garage. I have a 15-year-old son. I know if he's got a firecracker. I know if he's got a BB gun. I'm in touch with him. I'm connected to him. How do you not know your kid's got (enough) to wipe out an army with weapons?"

Still, Cooper, who won't perform in Toronto until spring, did say he has some problems with his '90s counterpart -- Marilyn Manson.

"I'm Christian and I'm sitting there going, 'How dare you tear up the bible on stage?' He even pissed me off. And this whole AntiChrist Superstar. Personally, as a Christian, I took real exception to that. I wasn't surprised by it."

He was surprised, however, that Manson adopted a style similar to his.

"I figured anybody that creative would go out of his way not to look like Alice Cooper. To name yourself Marilyn Manson -- that's like coming out with a band that looks like KISS and calling yourself 'Smooch.'

"It's a little too close, isn't it?"

Sounds Listen to Savage Rock Radio Listen to the premier Extreme Christian Metal Radio Station that plays the Hardest Christian Metal on the web as well as some tunes from AC's Last Temptation & Brutal Planet! Visit: SavageRockRadio

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