Rudolf-Weber Arena, Oberhausen, Germany6th October 2024
Alice Cooper - “Too Close For Comfort” - Special Guest: Doro
It was an evening with living legends in Oberhausen. ALICE COOPER can now look back on a 60-year career, while support DORO has been in the business for over 40 years. Together, the icons of Rock and Metal drew over 6,000 fans to the Rudolf Weber Arena in Oberhausen, which is not bad considering the hefty ticket prices.
Doro
She is known as the “Queen Of Metal”, and DORO rightly bears this title. With her enthusiastic band, the first 45 minutes of the evening belonged to her. And DORO delivered an outstanding performance in her incomparable style, relying for the most part on time-tested material from past WARLOCK times, but also including some solo material, for example performing three songs from her latest studio album ‘Conqueress - Forever Strong and Proud’. Their setlist offered a colourful mix of Rock songs and Metal tracks that encouraged headbanging. And of course THE ballad from their repertoire was not to be missed: ‘Für Immer’. How could it be otherwise, the set ended with the anthem ‘All We Are’, a worthy highlight during which DORO once again had the whole hall behind her. Impressive!
Setlist
01. I Rule the Ruins
02. Burning the Witches
03. Fight for Rock
04. Time for Justice
05. Raise Your Fist in the Air
06. Für immer
07. Hellbound
08. Children of the Dawn
09. Fire in the Sky
10. All We Are
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 10
Light: 7
Sound: 9
Total: 8.5 / 10
Alice Cooper
His band was already on stage, with banisters to the left and right of the stage allowing access to a higher level. The view of ALICE COOPER was still hidden, as he was standing behind a large screen on which the fictitious daily newspaper “The German Chronicle” with the headline “BANNED IN GERMANY! ALICE COOPER” was depicted. Armed with a sword, the shock rocker finally cut through the canvas and made his way into the light. The following 90 minutes were dominated by his greatest hits. And he had quite a few of them in his program: ‘No More Mr. Nice Guy’, ‘I’m Eighteen’, ‘He’s Back’, ‘Poison’, ‘Feed My Frankenstein’ and of course ‘School’s Out’ as a closing song (together with DORO) are a must.
The little theatrical interludes that have always spiced up every ALICE COOPER concert were also a must. For example, there was the photographing fake fan who made his way onto the stage and was cleared off by Freddy Krüger. There was the beheading of ALICE COOPER towards the end of the set. And there was an oversized Frankenstein joining the stage. These were all elements that might have been shocking 50 years ago, but in 2024 people are used to something worse. Accordingly, the audience acknowledged the interludes sympathetically, because it’s part of the ALICE COOPER concert experience and a piece of pop culture, but there was no more than an unexcited shrug of the shoulders because of the shock factor.
The band that forms ALICE COOPER has been a solid unit for years. Guitarist Nita Strauss in particular is an eye-catcher. Of all the very committed musicians in the band, she covered the most meters on stage, never missed a pose and was simply everywhere. But as I said, the whole band was very agile and very committed to their work. And ALICE COOPER? The iconic rock star may be 76 years old on paper, but on stage he is a fountain of youth and consistently pulls off his show. You simply have to love him.
Setlist
01. Lock Me Up
02. Welcome to the Show
03. No More Mr. Nice Guy
04. I’m Eighteen
05. Under My Wheels
06. Bed of Nails
07. Billion Dollar Babies
08. Be My Lover
09. Lost in America
10. He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask)
11. Hey Stoopid
12. Drum Solo
13. Welcome to My Nightmare
14. Cold Ethyl
15. Go to Hell
16. Poison
17. Feed My Frankenstein
18. Guitar Solo
19. Black Widow Jam
20. Ballad of Dwight Fry
21. Killer
22. I Love the Dead
23. Elected
24. School’s Out
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Light: 9
Sound: 9
Total: 9 / 10
All Pictures by André Wilms
