Jump to content

Hollywood Vampires Announce first U.S. Date, plan to get back into the studio

KeyserSoze

By KeyserSoze
in MY WORLD

 Share

Recommended Posts

Powerage5 LEGEND

Powerage5

Posted
Posted

Setlist:

1. Raise The Dead

2. I Got A Line On You

3. 20th Century Boy

4. Pinball Wizard

5. My Generation

6. Manic Depression

7. Cold Turkey

8. Come Together

9. 7 And 7 Is

10. Whole Lotta Love

11. Five To One

12. Break On Through

13. Rebel Rebel

14. Suffragette City

15. Bad As I Am

16. Stop Messin' Around (Joe Perry on vocals)

17. My Dead Drunk Friends

18. Ace Of Spades (Matt Sorum on vocals)

19. I'm Eighteen

20. Sweet Emotion

---

21. Train Kept A Rollin'

22. Schools Out

 

Full review tomorrow!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Powerage5 LEGEND

Powerage5

Posted
Posted

So the show was pretty good - a few small gripes, but for the most part I enjoyed it. It was really interesting going to their first ever real show, outside of a warmup show and a festival - going into a show and not really know what to expect at all is sort of an unusual experience. 

 

The crowd was the strangest mix I've ever seen at a show - there were certainly some people there to see a specific musician in the group (Mostly Alice, but I saw the occasional Aerosmith, GN'R, or STP shirt also), but a vast majority of the crowd seemed to only be there to see Johnny Depp. Out in the lobby I overheard someone talking about the after-party, and I mentioned that Joey Belladonna's local band was playing at it, and they do all 70's and 80's rock covers - the woman literally said "Ugh, I hate that kind of music!", it's like, what the fuck are you doing going to see the Hollywood Vampires then? :lol: The gig started with a short intro video, introducing the original Hollywood Vampires, the drinking gang in the 70's that the band honors. Nothing particularly amazing, but fitting. The band opened with Raise The Dead, off the album. To say the stage show was bare-bones would be an understatement; there was virtually no stage production at all; there was a video screen onstage that just had their logo up for the entire gig, and there were only very small and subtle moments of Alice's stage persona (i.e. he used a cane and a riding crop a few times during the set, that's it).Sort of nice though, because it made it much easier to focus on the music. I Got A Line On You was the first of the (many) covers of the evening, and it was a great one-two punch to open the show. I'd actually have liked it as the opener, but doing an original to start off is probably a wise move. 20th Century Boy was the first non-album song of the set, and was admittedly not one of the highlights of the evening for me. 

 

One of the most noticeable things about the Vampires is the difference in Alice's performance; Alice doesn't perform with the Vampires as the Alice character. He still wears makeup and sort of dresses like Alice, but that's about it. His entire stage presence is different - I wouldn't say it's taxing exactly, but he's not nearly as engaging of a frontman when he's not in character (And I say that with Alice as one of my favorite performers of all time). He sort of acts like he doesn't know how to act onstage when he's not portraying the Alice character. He even talked a lot during the show (Which, if you're unfamiliar with his shows he doesn't do at all; in the 34 times I've seen Alice I've only seen him break character and talk once). That bit was actually cool, he talked a bit about who the Vampires were, and before they did each musician's segment of the show, he usually told some short anecdote about that musician. The band gelled really well, much better than I'd have expected given how different they all are stylistically. Depp is a decent guitarist - he's no virtuoso, but he can hold his own in this type of band. Joe Perry was actually the weak link of the band - he looked like shit, sounded like shit when talking, and his playing was uninspired; he's clearly only up there to rake in the money. Tommy Henriksen actually played the best out of the three guitarists, and as a fan of Alice first and foremost it hurt to see how under-utilized he was (In all honesty, there is actually no reason for him to be on stage with how little he's given to do - I think he had one solo). And as much as I love Duff, based on the recordings I've heard with Duff, I think Rob DeLeo is actually a better fit. A lot of the songs they play have very nuanced grooves on bass, and that's just more Rob's style than Duff's. 

 

Going on with the music, The Who songs were great. My Generation was the better of the pair, though Pinball Wizard was good also (Though, I'm more than a little disappointed Alice is currently playing this at his solo shows and with the Vampires). Joe smashing his guitar at the end of My Generation was one of the highlights of the show; he really went all out with it, and then threw pieces of his guitar into the crowd. Manic Depression was fine, but there are at least a dozen Hendrix songs I'd have preferred in it's place. Likewise, I'm indifferent about Cold Turkey, but the band plays it well. Come Together was great, and it was the first song that really got the crowd excited. The crowd was a strange mix as I mentioned early on, but once the show got going it was even weirder. Basically none of the crowd seemed to know any of the songs, further pushing my point that most people were only there to see Johnny Depp. There were so many people going in and out constantly. The crowd was deader than dead during most of the songs (Come Together and School's Out were literally the only songs that the crowd seemed to collectively know), but when Johnny Depp said anything in between songs (Which was entirely inaudible due to either mumbling or his mic being too low in the mix) you'd think the crowd was at a South American football match. 

 

Alice introduced The Doors songs by saying "These are for my big brother, Jim" which was a nice touch. They did Five To One and Break On Through as the medley they did on the album, and it was another of the high points of the evening, Alice does a great job doing Doors songs. The Bowie segment of the show was next which wasn't a surprise to me (Alice has been doing Suffragette City in the covers segment on his current tour), but was entirely welcome. Rebel Rebel was possibly my favorite song of the evening, however it also led to one of the most depressingly amusing moments of the evening; on the video screens on either side, during a crowd participation bit that Alice tried to initiate the camera went along the barrier showing the crowd. Everyone either was 20 years old and busy texting, rolling their eyes, or drinking their Pepsi, or old enough that they looked like their were about to keel over and croak, and neither group knew any of the words when Alice was trying to get them to sing. It was hilarious, but I can't help but feel bad for everyone in the band besides Depp - it has to be degrading to go up there and perform to people that look like they would have more fun at a funeral.

 

The band continued on playing their other two original songs, with Alice introducing As Bad As I Am as "a song Johnny wrote about his dad", and My Dead Drunk Friends as a moment to talk about the Vampires; "We do this to honor some of my old friends. There's this bar in LA called the Rainbow, and we all used to go drinking there every night. I'm the only one who walked out of there". Both were great, but seemed to fall on deaf ears. The band did their rendition of Ace Of Spades next, with Matt handling lead vocals on it. High energy and ballsy, with Rob nailing the bass parts while finger-picking - Lemmy would be proud. They finished the main set with an Alice song and an Aerosmith song, and they did the same in the encore. Eighteen (And School's Out, for that matter) were interesting to see Alice perform out of character - beyond the lack of the regular props (He's been using that crutch on Eighteen for over 40 years...), he actually sang the songs slightly different as well. He gets very set in his ways when he does his shows, little "ad-libs" and inflections that differ from the studio cuts remain in every performance of the songs for decades on end, but when he did those songs with the Vampires he dropped some of those moments; the most obvious being on School's Out he changes the line "We got no innocence" to "We got no intelligence" when performing the song live, but with the Vampires he used the original line. While on the topic of Eighteen, Joe turned in his most uninspired moment of the entire show when he took the solo on that one. He basically played like he'd never heard the song before and was improvising it, there was zero flow to the solo at all. It's a shame Tommy didn't get to take that solo since, y'know, he plays it every fucking night with Alice. Sweet Emotion closed on the main set, and Alice did a fine job on it. Train Kept A Rollin' and School's Out made up the encore and both were excellent, though there's not much worth noting about either. School's Out featured Alice's usual balloon shtick, though instead of him popping them, they were beach balls with the Vampires' logo on them. After the encore Depp said his only audible comment all night; "Tonight was our first time too, thanks for making it amazing". 

 

All in all, I'd recommend going to see them if you get the chance. It's a fun night out celebrating some legendary artists who are no longer with us. The band is tight already, and I imagine they'll only get tighter as they get more gigs under their belt. I wish Joe Perry seemed a bit more...interested in the gigs, but if that's my only real complaint it's not bad. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
dgnr DEMI-GOD

dgnr

Posted
Posted

Here's the full Rock in Rio Lisbon show. I won tickets but as I don't live in Lisbon and I already went there to Axl/DC and Queen and my bank account isn't unlimited,  I cried a little but stayed home :angry: Only Duff could make me risk to declare bankrupt, but he's not there anymore, so... Besides that, Matt druming is glorious and so GN'R. I miss him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BOSSY78 Senior

BOSSY78

Posted
Posted

Thanks @Powerage5 for the review. 

It's interesting that Alice had another sort of persona with them but not unusual. 

Loved the setlist. A lot of great songs there.

Sad about Joe Perry, hope he was just having an off night.

With the other big names there you'd think the crowd would know more then Johnny.

Johnny is one of my favorite actors and sure it's cool he's also in a band with Alice and Joe and even Sorum filling in but sounds pretty harsh on those guys. Poor Alice actually trying to interact with them and they react more to Johnny. All legends in their own rights, but come on its freaking Alice Cooper.

Loved the variety of shirts. Can't wait to actually catch one of these shows. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
coolranchdressing! Full

coolranchdressing!

Posted
Posted (edited)

Well saw the HV last night...show itself was an eye opener for me as never been to a casino/resort show...boring. Everyone sitting basically; like retirement home style. My sis and I managed to sneak closer to the stage (the "ushers" are tight) so that was good. I was rocking out but had to keep it low key due to those ushers. Loved "whole lotta love", "sweet emotions" and Alice songs. I was impressed the most with Rob DeLeo's stage presence.  I was also impressed by Alice more so because of his age (considering the fans were similar in age but using walkers). Must be because he takes care of himself/golfs. Luckily we met and chatted with Matt and Rob, partially in thanks to Mrs. Alice Cooper. Finally got pix with Matt as I never had the chance to years ago when we meet; feel free to view 'em on Instagram (@coolranchdressing)

Edited by coolranchdressing!
Link to comment
Share on other sites
The Real McCoy FRONTMAN

The Real McCoy

Posted
Posted
18 minutes ago, Powerage5 said:

Word is all over social media that Joe Perry collapsed during the show tonight in Brooklyn and was rushed to the hospital. The band continued the show without him, which I think is really tasteless. Not much other info yet.

Nothing can happen to Joe...he's one of my heroes. :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...