Review of Alice Cooper (Raise the Dead Tour 2012, Halloween Night of Fear)

Review of Alice Cooper (Raise the Dead Tour 2012 - Halloween Night of Fear, Wembley Arena, London, UK):

Venue: Wembley Arena is a nice venue yet the acoustics, as I said many times before, are not great. 6/10

Opening Acts: Duff McKagan's Loaded & Ugly Kid Joe. Well, I was not familiar with either of their work but I was impressed. Well I knew Duff I just didn't follow him after GNR. Both acts were energetic and gave us a good warm-up. 8/10

Quality & Versatility:  Is there even a doubt that Alice Cooper is the definition of versatility? He's been doing this for the last 40 years and he's only become better at it. And that gal Orianthi, she's stunning in every sense! I wish I had her talent. 10/10

Passion: Frankly, being 65 years old and pulling off such a production is admirable to say the least. Alice is surely devoted to his work and his fans. The tribute to some of his late friends (i.e. John Lennon, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix & Keith Moon) was a pretty awesome touch! 9/10

Running Time: Four hours in total! 1 hour & 45 for Alice Cooper. 10/10

Set List: Brilliant! From the classics like Poison, Welcome to My Nightmare, and School's Out to 70's covers, the list is endless. 9/10

Crowd: Well, the crowd was enthusiastic but they were lacking in numbers. Still, many showed up dressed up for Halloween, which was great. 7/10

Show: Show is synonymous to Alice Cooper; everything you would expect from the lord of shock rock. Theatricality is paramount so the inclusion of fog machines, confetti, balloons, horror movie props, a straight jacket, whips, and the infamous boa constrictor were not absent. The only thing I really wanted to see is the guillotine but I guess there is only a certain number of things you can fit into a show! 9/10

Overall Experience: Since Download 2011, when I missed Alice Cooper closing the second stage for another act (damn peer-pressure!), I waited and waited for the time I get to see them live. I have no regrets for waiting really. Alice Cooper himself is a legend and I'm more than glad I had the opportunity to experience his horror show. 'Till next time! 8.5/10

Videos can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyzuwe_kJsZ44TOyt-TL5fh-N7OTBuQXw&feature=mh_lolz
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Stone-Rolling the Money Dough

Yes I am pissed off. Who wouldn't be? But not with the band. Not really.

I am talking of course about the "outrageous" ticket prices for The Rolling Stones gigs. First, let's get things straight. They are The Rolling Stones and, yes, a logical person would have expected the ticket prices to be as high as they are. I mean, come on, did you really think you can watch the Stones for free? Have you heard about a thing called money? You know, the most important thing in the world, the moving force? No? Then take some socio-economical lessons, or simply look around you.

I don't understand how would anyone think the Stones are above money; why would they be? Sure, you paid for their food in the last 50 years [and their Bentley, their villas, their drugs etc] but didn't you get something in return? Records, cassettes, CDs, gig experiences. This is a two-way process, they offer a "service" for your money. It is an exchange; you pay, you get. You did not "make them a favour" as I heard many say. The only favour you make, is to yourself; passing through life with a good taste in music.

Now that I cleared things in that front, I'll move to the angry part. Of course, I am angry. But as I said not with the band or the ticket prices. And here I mean the prices as set by the Stones management and not the re-sell ones. As a logical person would do [and I do not praise myself here], I set a limit on how much I was willing to pay to see them live. I said, given my current circumstances, I'd pay a maximum of £250, the approximate price for a festival ticket. 'Cause lets face it, the Stones are worth 100 bands together. Yet I wouldn't pay significantly more than I paid for the legend that it is Bob Dylan, or Black Sabbath, or even Dio.

BUT! As it happened with the Zeppelin tickets, the posh "disagreeable persons" (that is the kindest version of the word assholes) and the ticket touts got them all. As a fan, I made sure I got access to the pre-sale by hunting down my O2 friends for their "priority" benefits. Priority my ass! It shouldn't surprise me that my "connection is down", or that their "server is down", or that I "have been placed in a queue", or even that my "request is being processed" while all the touts with their tricks, fiber-optic broadband, and hundreds of staff, where already purchasing all the lower priced tickets and re-selling them for 4 times their face value.

Unsurprisingly, same thing happened on the general sale day. And I ask! Why do we, the fans, allow this to happen? These people put a £106 ticket for £19,000!!! Seriously, instead of boycotting the gig, why not boycott these websites? You are part of the problem, so stop complaining about the prices when you would happily pay these websites your money on other occasions. If the price is right [and I mean face value] go for it. But stop being hypocritical... It's all about the money after all, be it selling or buying.

The best solution for me is The Rolling Stones playing a three-day festival-like gig somewhere in a big empty space where 400,000 people could attend each day; not the O2 "arena". Do the maths: nearly a million proper fans [cause the posh disagreeable persons would not go into the muddy fields even for a Stones gig] each paying £100, and the Stones having a cash in of more millions they can ever spend in their remaining years! And that's just in UK. But hey, what do I know, right?

In the meantime, I take control of my rage, wish The Rolling Stones good luck with their gig and with having Paris Hilton and all the other "disagreeables" in the front row (!), and head off to buy my Alice Cooper Halloween tickets for no more than £44 per head!

See you on the next Pirates of the Caribbean Keef!
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Image credits:
http://www.billboard.com
http://noisey.vice.com

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Rhetorical Thoughts: The Umbrella Distribution

You are out with your better half or a good friend on a seemingly lovely day. And then it rains... And you realise that once again- like an idiot who should know better by now since you live in London for a good few years- you forgot the one useful thing you should always carry with you: the umbrella.

Then your companion pulls out that typical black umbrella, probably bought from one of those strategically positioned men around Oxford street on another rainy day when they were as forgetful and stupid as you. And then it happens! The attempt to share the umbrella.

You first try to figure out who's best to hold it (probably the tallest one). Then you try to get as close to each other as possible without depriving each other precious oxygen. Then you try to position yourself in a way that you won't have the accidental bum-to-bum slap when you walk. But it doesn't work; mathematically it DOES NOT work. And it will NEVER work [unless you carry a tent].

Umbrella sharing is a useless negotiation process and, quite frankly, annoying. You always end up with two half-wet people. It's better to have one perfectly dry, comfortable, and probably evolutionary fittest person. I rest my case.
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Image credit:
Painting by Gordon Bruce at http://gordonbruce.deviantart.com/ 

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