This was a very special occasion for me. It was 1989 when my father took the twelve year old boy to the first live concert of his life. It was the first time Alice Cooper visited Greece, in his “Trash” world tour. I knew all the tracks of the specific album (but only those) by heart, but I couldn’t understand the essence of the legend who was in front of my eyes. Alice played a decisive role in my life as his “Trash” album (which was his biggest ever success in Greece), was one of the albums that introduced me to the rock sound. So I badly wanted to see him once again as a tribute - a “thank you”. But he never visited Greece again.... until now.

So that night I followed the road that leads atop the mountain of western Athens, where the theatre is carved among the rocks. When I entered there I was disappointed. Although there were no tickets available outside, the place was half-full 15 minutes before the beginning of the show.... you see I wasn’t aware that during the last days there was a supporting act added to the whole thing. The Greeks Star Star jumped on stage on 21:30 and... left us with mixed feelings. Their mixture of punk and hard rock was ok, but the voice of the singer was unbearable. They also tried a punk cover of “Break On Through” which was a total desecration of the song. Anyway, the crowd patiently waited for half an hour listening to them.

By 22:30 the place is full (approximately 5.000) and the lights go down. The band appears (Eric Dover, Ryan Roxy - guitars, Chuck Garric - bass, Teddy Andreadis - drums) on stage with the introduction of “Hello Hooray” (!!!!). The Dark Prince appears out of smoke on top of the drum-kit with his top hat and his stick and spits the first lyrics of the song in his unique way. I get the shivers, as this is the best intro to the show I could have imagined. The song is given in an imposing way, the sound is great and the crowd gives a hysteric welcome. In the middle of the song, the guitar riff of “No More Mr. Nice Guy” moves the place to the ground. Without a pause we get “Man Of The Year” from the last album (all songs from the album received a warm welcome - something that is fair, as it was a great CD - check the reviews archive) and “Billion Dollar Babies” and I can hardly define where my head is!!!

Alice’s voice is not in the best shape of his career, but who cares?? The man is the absolute showman, and this is what we got that night: a theatrical show. Depending on the song he presented relevant sketches. He sword-played with an “evil” woman, to finally cut her throat and spill the blood on the first rows, he fought with some guys who hanged tough, he whipped the poor girl who dared to annoy him, in another sketch she managed to put him in a straitjacket etc. The zenith was when in “Sick Things” he appeared on stage with a living python twisted around him.

The crowd is ecstatic - something quite natural, with such a dreamy set list (although our “sick” webmaster complained that he didn’t play some of his 80's classics / however I have to tell you that George (G.K.) as a normal guy was satisfied with the show). “Be my Lover”, “Desperado”, “I'm Eighteen” (panic), “Muscle Of Love”, part from “Black Juju”, “Cold Ethyl”, “What Do You Want From Me?”, “Between High School & Old School”, “Scholl’s Out” (total chaos), “Backyard Brawl”, part from “Hallo of Flies”.... and I know that I forget some songs, because I had a horrible headache. By the way for me the highlight of the show (besides the intro) was the creepy medley of “Only Women Bleed/Ballad Of Dwight Fry”, where we also got some ballet dancing from.... his daughter (yes the girl who has been killed, whipped etc was Alice’s daughter (gorgeous!!!) who was there along with the son who played in some sketches too). As you understand this was not only a gig, rather a theatrical play.

But that wasn’t the end as in the encore I experienced something I wouldn’t expect. The webmaster had warned me (but I didn’t believed him) that “Poison” would be the total panic in that show. Ok the song is among those rock anthems which had the biggest air-time on Greek radio for years.... but I would never believe this paroxysm I experienced: the pit is moshing, people are lighting flares, others are climbing on the speakers. We are talking about a massive anarchy that the band seems to enjoy. Then we get “Novocaine”, “Bed Of Nails” (almost the same paroxysm as in “Poison”) and for the end “Under My Wheels” finishes us!!! I can tell you that after the show all faces (from the 10-year olds to the 60-something ones) where completely happy. It was one of the shows that I enjoyed the most... and in a way I repaid my debt, as this time I could sing all the lyrics in “Billion Dollar Babies”. Thank you Dark Prince...

by Alex Savatianos