(Live Review) ALICE COOPER - Milwaukee, WI (5/14/25)
- Mark McQueen
- 7 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Good day friends, fans, and followers, it is your reviewing twosome, (The Beard & Little Johnny), and today we will be looking at our yearly pilgrimage to pay homage to the eternal nightmare maker himself Mr. Alice Cooper.
If you are a reader of the Beard & Little Johnny, (and let’s face it if you aren’t then you probably aren’t seeing this anyway), then you know each and every year we go and see Alice Cooper & company do their thing. So, in the interest of brevity, I will not wax on about Cooper's career. Those interested can look at The Mighty Decibel archives and read any of my previous Alice Cooper reviews for more Cooper historical information. For today, I will get right into his set at the Miller High Life Theater in Milwaukee.
For a Wednesday evening, the theater, (capacity just about 4,000), was about two-thirds full. The lower section was packed, the mezzanine (where the Beard was at) was mostly full, but the upper balcony was largely empty. My guess is Alice pulled a couple of thousand this time.
If you have seen Alice’s act in the last few years, you will find almost no surprises. Same band, almost an identical setlist, and largely the same props and show. There were a couple differences which I will get into, but really Alice Cooper is a paint by numbers affair. They have a production that works, and they stick with it.
Coming out with “Lock Me Up” & “Welcome to The Show,” the band was given the warm-up time they needed to get rolling before the string of traditional and expected Cooper hits commenced.
“No More Mr. Nice Guy.,” I’m 18”, and “Under My Wheels” would follow (as would the traditional Cooper props like top-hat, crutch, and sword). “Bed of Nails” was a slightly newer number, but then “Billion Dollar Babies” took us right back to 1973.
Next came “Snakebite,” where Cooper performs adorned with a five-foot live Boa Constrictor around his neck. Although I imagine even a snake can get used to ten minutes under some bright lights and loud noises every evening, it does surprise me that said snake never has an off night and attempts to renegotiate its contract by putting the “squeeze” on Alice.
“Be My Lover” and “Lost in America” continued the hit parade, before breaking into “He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask.)” This time instead of Alice himself, “Jason” came out stalking a female stagehand before catching and slitting her throat in Friday the 13th horror movie style. A happily gory moment in the set.
“Hey Stoopid” was a crowd sing-along before the audience’s attention was directed to Glen Sobel and his drum solo which served the dual purpose of allowing some larger prop changes on stage and a costume change for Alice. As usual, the Cooper stage crew are fast and efficient after hundreds of performances.
When next the full lights came on, there was Alice atop the stairs delivering “Welcome to My Nightmare” while “Ryan Roxie (guitar), Chuck Garric (Bass), Tommy Henrickson (guitar), and her majesty herself Nita Strauss (guitar) wandered and played in front of the steps like a pack of Romero era zombies. It was a nice theatrical touch for this particular song since the rest of the set all these musicians played and ran around the stage like Alice had dumped fire ants into their stage attire. I was truly tired just watching them and applauded that much stage energy.
The necrophobia classic “Cold Ethyl” complete with Alice cuddling, cradling, and abusing a female mannequin would lead into “Go to Hell” and then, (judging by audience pop), crowd favorite “Poison.” Before another brief stage darkening.
Next up was the famous Vincent Price “Black Widow” speech from 1975’s “Spirit of the Nightmare” TV special (which is still creepy.) Price could be campy, but, man, he certainly scared a young Beard back in the day.
“Was that when TV was only in black & white with just three channels Beard?” “Shut up Johnny!”
The Nita Strauss guitar solo section would follow, and Little Johnny just shook his head saying, “Oh Boy…Here we go, the old man’s going to start drooling now.”
Fact is, I remain convinced Nita Strauss is one of the top five female guitarists of all time. For the record, (Katherine Thomas (the Great Kat), Courtney Cox, Wata, and Lita (in her prime) are the others. I could watch Strauss play the entire Dazed & Confused solo or a Metal version of “Wheels on the Bus” and never get tired. That woman is amazing!
I looked over at Johnny and said, “Hey. Remember last time when she threw that guitar pick right to me?” Johnny just shook his head and said, “Beard, she wasn’t even looking your direction that night. When does this delusion of yours end?” “She threw it right to ME John.” “Fine. Whatever Dumblebeard.”
Next up would be the always great “Ballad of Dwight Fry” where a straightjacketed Cooper would perform a song that in its day was so far up the creep you out scale that fifty years later it still does. That of course led into the now infamous and much-loved Alice Cooper gets Guillotined part of the show.
That his own wife Sheryl Cooper gets to do that to her husband every night certainly must save on marriage counseling as the Coopers have now been married for 49 years. “I Love the Dead” complete with Sheryl Cooper, (clad in 18th century French Victorion garb), walking the stage while displaying Alice’s severed head would wrap up the theatrical portion of the performance.
This interlude had also allowed Alice to change costumes yet again, no quick feat for a man in his mid-seventies, but there he was in the white suit and matching top hat for crowd favorite closer “Schools Out.” The confetti flew and giant rubber balloon/balls were released as the crowd happily screamed out the lyrics ending big, (and on cue), with the Pink Floyd lines “All in all it’s just another BRICK IN THE WALL!!!”
Alice would then make the band introduction to loud cheers. Beard says extra points to a great set from Ryan Roxie tonight. He played really well even though Nita Strauss remains my forever favorite. Alice introduced his wife and then finally, (to the loudest sustained pop of the evening), “Playing the part of Alice Cooper………..ME!!!
As always, Cooper was entertaining, he doesn’t seem to show his age, his bandmates are incredibly energetic and certainly know the set stone cold. For context, they opened at 8:03pm and the last note hit at 9:33pm. That’s a “tight” ninety minutes. Although I never seem to give Alice Cooper a score under 90, (and no, I am not going to this time either), he has been so good for so long that I will say this was just 90/100.
For almost any other band, a great Beard score. For Alice Cooper just another day at the office. His greatness has become expected.
So, there you are friends, fans, and followers, another Beard review in the books. Remember to catch the Rock & Metal reviews on The Mighty Decibel, the videos on TikTok thebeard0728, and all the rest of the material, Plays, Movies, Pairings and Alcohol Festival reviews on Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and anywhere else you can follow Mark McQueen. Until next time, this has been the Beard saying, Live Life. Stay heavy & Horns Up.