Rob Zombie / Alice Cooper
The Halloween Hootenanny
Yaamava Theater – Highland, CA
Wednesday, October 25th, 2023
Review/Pictures: Diane Lynn
The Greusome Twosome made a stop in Highland, Ca on Wednesday night and what a spooktacular show it was! As the twosome called it, The Greatest Blood Show on Earth!
Just in time for Halloween festivities Rob Zombie & Alice Cooper put on one helluva Killer show!
Arriving early, as I always do, to an already long line outside of the theater. Fans were dressed in full Halloween fashion, everything from naughty witches to some amazing Night of the Living Dead costumes. The ghouls and gals were ready for a night of rock and horror!
I couldn’t help but notice the line for the merch table was just as long as the line was to get in, fans grabbing up tee-shirts, posters, hoodies and more before heading to their seats. From what I could tell this was pretty much a sold-out show, which isn’t surprising when you have two rock-terror legends touring together.
Starting off the night was the original shock rocker, Alice Cooper. The stage was set completely different than last year’s go-round on his solo tour, so it was nice to see something new and fresh. Also, a new addition, or I should say a return of a fan favorite, top rated guitarist Nita Strauss. It was very welcoming news when Alice announced the return of the shredding beauty earlier in the year.
As the lights went out two figures appeared all dressed in black with crow masks on, they crossed the stage ringing brass bells as a town crier and they disappeared behind the black curtain a loud announcement was heard “Order In The Court”. The black curtain dropped, and a large banner appeared as a front-page news headline reading: Banned In California, Alice Cooper! Trial date set: For Deeds Against Humanity!
Stepping out on stage first was the Cooper band, on Bass-Chuck Garric, Guitar-Ryan Roxie, Lead and Rhythm Guitar-Nita Strauss, Rhythm and Lead Guitar-Tommy Henriksen and on Drums–Glen Sobel who was already banging out the beat of the intro along with the rest of the group.
Out popped Alice to the roaring delight of the fans! Decked out in his black leather pants, white ruffled shirt and red velvet long coat, and let me not forget his top hat. They started us out with the short version of “Lock Me Up” and then straight into “Welcome to the Show” a song off of his newly released (August 2023) album – simply titled “Road”. The set was then filled with nostalgia as the list included Cooper classics such as “No More Mister Nice Guy”, “Billion Doller Babies”, and “Hey Stoopid”.
Following the classic hit “Poison” Nita took the spotlight with a sizzling solo and intro into “Black Widow”. Watching her light those guitar strings on fire was definitely a highlight! One by one the rest of the guys came out to enjoy some spotlight time ending the Black Widow jam to a standing crowd!
Of course, the set wouldn’t be complete without the famous guillotine. Mrs. Cooper gliding out on stage in her Marie Antoinette costume, complete with eye patch, she leads her victim to his untimely dead.
Ending their show with an encore of confetti and streamers they saved “Schools Out” as always entwined with a touch of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” for the very end. The night was complete for Alice Cooper fans.
Next up was the multi-talented Rob Zombie! Zombie checked off another bucket list shoot for me, being able to cover one of my favorite rock stars!
The stage was flowing in blood red lights as the band came out and began playing. It took me a second to find Rob as he had come out at the top of a high-rise platform with a giant stone looking name plate that was stamped with ZOMBIE! Boxed LCD screens were stacked from the floor to the rafters. Scenes from various Rob Zombie flicks and videos flashed across each one.
With Bassist Piggy D at stage right and Guitarist Mike Riggs set up at stage left, Zombie positioned himself front and center, but he didn’t stay there for long. After the first song up on the platform Rob was down front and moving and groovin’ all over the stage. The man never stops moving! Long time Zombie Drummer Ginger Fish had the best seat in the house, sitting high up on a center stage riser.
Starting off the set list was “Triumph of King Freak” and “Dead City Radio” leading into “Feel So Numb”.
This was my first-time seeing Zombie live and it was sort of overwhelming at first. Visually there was so much happening on stage, all of the different videos almost took away from the actual rock show happening. But with that being said, it was a killer show! They sounded freaking awesome, and hearing my favorite Zombie songs played live for the first time was definitely a bucket item checked off.
As the set went on and more of the classic hits were played like “Living Dead Girl” and “House of a 1000 Corpses” the fans rose to their feet and sang along with every lyric. Rob joked about not being allowed pyrotechnics for this show, but he still included a bit of theatrics with the giant Creatures/Devil Monsters and Robots that occasionally joined the band on stage. Part way through the set Rob requested that the crowd turn off their phones for one song, the theatre seating quickly went dark and then they kicked it into overdrive. Finishing the set out with “More Human than Human”, “Thunder Kiss ’65” and ending the night with “Dragula”.
The Halloween Hootenanny Jaunt was an extension of the Summer “Freaks On Parade” tour and was only meant to last for 3 dates. Ironically none of them actually landing on Halloween. Unfortunately for the Vegas crowd, Rob had to cancel at the last minute due to a bout with laryngitis. At time of posting, there was no scheduled make up date planned.
Related Links:
Rob Zombie
Alice Cooper
