Alice Cooper

Non stop, jack rabbit virgin sex is the best phrase I can use to describe the pace of Alice Cooper’s (“AC’s”) set. AC’s band, that includes Keri Kelli (“KK”) and Damon Johnson (“DJ”) on guitar, Chuck Garric (“CG”) on bass, and Jimmy DeGrasso (“JD”) on drums, bulldozed through 26 songs in one hour and 25 minutes before the encore break. No pause between songs, not even the ubiquitous utterance of “How ya’ doin’ San Francisco?!” It was like the testosterone laced first sexual experience of a young teenager relying on the sketches in Alex Comfort’s book, “The Joy of Sex” to make sure he gets it right. No chit chatter, no pause, just the frenetic pace of jack rabbits doing the dirty deed. When it is over you are not sure what just hit you, but whatever it was it felt good, albeit a bit strange. In the case of an awkward first sexual experience, what hits you is the “big O.” In the case of what transpired at the hallowed Warfield Theater (“WT”), it was a mix of P. T. Barnum and shock rock and roll.

On October 21, 2009, AC brought his entertaining vaudevillian circus to WT. For those of you who have read my review of the Motorhead show at WT from earlier in the month, I ask for your indulgence in repeating a brief history for this historic venue. WT, where Slayer filmed its classic DVD entitled, War at the Warfield during the God Hates Us All tour (12-07-01), is a 2,500 seat capacity theater built in 1927 and renovated in September 2008. WT’s layout presents a dichotomy. On the one hand, the theater’s beauty is exemplified by intricate frescos of matadors and angels painted on the ceiling atop the stage. Box seats that have long been put out of use adorn each side of the stage and the walls of the seated balcony are a vibrant plum red and gold combination. On the other hand, the standing room only floor has a stark industrial feel with black walls and floor. The walls are carpet padded, serving a safety function for your injury prone writer who trounced around like a whirling dervish at Slayer and Megadeth shows.

AC was supported by Jetboy, a San Francisco based rock band formed in 1983. Jetboy played a 40-minute set from 8:00 to 8:40. Following Jetboy’s set an expansive curtain was raised stage front, featuring a likeness of AC’s head as a skull along with the phrase, “Theater of Death.” After a 35 minute set change the curtain dropped at 9:15. Hanging individually from the ceiling at varying distances from front stage, were five letters that read, “A” “L” “I” “C” “E.” Each red colored letter was made of velvet, ranging from three to 10 feet in height, with a black border encased by a white border. Even though the logo obstructed the view for some fans it added to the carnival like atmosphere depicting the stage as an LSD induced birthday party from the summer of love (1967). [The only thing missing was for a junkie Bozo the Clown to stumble on stage munching on a magic shroom.]

For the benefit of providing a full picture of the freak show, I enumerate all 26 songs AC performed. [The hardcore Cooper fans should appreciate a detailed account, including theatrics, not a skimpy mention of a half dozen songs as if I was doing the 11 o’clock Sunday night sports wrap of the day’s football matches.]

1. School’s Out (School’s Out record, 1972) started the show. Oddly, AC eventually played the same song as the sole encore. AC’s first crack at this song was in partial form. Plenty of audience sing along, particularly from the female contingent. AC wore black leather pants, black cotton jacket, burgundy shirt featuring a large skull print, black leather gloves, and a black top hat featuring a skull held in place by skeleton fingers. His pants and jacket featured metal studs. AC had a silver mike holder on his hip comprised of skeleton fingers. [You get the picture. The theme was skulls and skeleton anatomy. I gather the mike holder is also well suited for storing oversized ice cream cones.]