Faster Pussycat - Saturday 29th October 2011, Camden Underworld

I recently read a magazine review of a Faster Pussycat concert in USA where the journalist suggested that "it was time for this cat to be put down". Now it might have been something to do with him not liking their 2009 album - "The Power and the Glory Hole" being drastically different to their self titled album of 1987. However unlike their peers at least they have updated their sound and so try not to live on past glories (unlike some bands I could mention). For the record Faster Pussycat are my favourite band of all time. They never really toured the UK in their heyday (although they toured here in 1987 with Gun's N Roses - which I missed). However they have certainly made up for it recently. To give them their dues, in the last 9 years they have toured the UK 6 times and on each occasion I have seen them (and not just in London). As a point to note Taime Downe's is the only original member of Faster Pussycat left. (Anyone remember Brent Muscat & Eric Stacey's version that toured the UK in 2007?) However saying that I've always left each gig slightly disappointed due to them either playing a short set or not playing enough of their old songs. So what was I going to expect tonight? Well the omens didn't look good from the start with a virtually empty Underworld. I guess all the glam fans were at Alexandra Palace to see Alice Cooper. However by 9.15pm there were approximately 100 fans to witness 70 minutes of the best Faster Pussycat gig I have seen. As the intro played ('Bye Bye Bianca'), Danny Nordahl (bass), Xristian Simon (guitar) and new boy Ace Von Johnson (guitar - replacing Michael Thomas) were centre stage horns aloft. They then went straight into 'Jack the Bastard' off Whipped album. Out came Taime, standing there in his rock star pose looking the epitome of cool with his (un lit) cigarette. He never did smoke that cigarette (I think he has given up smoking!)
Anyway you know already that this was an awesome performance so rather than trying to add more superlatives to describe how good this concert was, I'll just give you a run down of the songs they played (certainly a mixture of old & new):
Jack the Bastard, Cathouse, Slip of the Tongue, No1 with a Bullet, Sex Drugs & Rock N Roll, House of Pain, Nonstop to Nowhere, In Denial (a Newlydeads song), Don't Change That Song, Porn Star, Bathroom Wall, Pretty Fucked Up (a Supersuckers cover sung by Danny Nordahl), Shut Up & Fuck and Babylon. *Note* - they might have played Where there's a Whip....I can't remember.
I cannot finish the review without mentioning the ever reliable Chad Stewart on drums and the excellent musicianship of the others. On a final note this is the first time I've seen Taime really happy (smiling a lot and taking the piss out of our English accents!!) Normally he can be aloof but when he sat on the monitors at the front of the stage (during House of Pain) it appeared to me he was genuinely enjoying himself. He also thanked the crowd a couple of times for coming out, which was appreciated by me.
Best concert of 2011 so far.

 











Alice Cooper & New York Dolls - Thursday 27 October 2011 - Birmingham NIA

For those observant amongst you this review takes place in Birmingham and not London. This is because the London date is the same day as Faster Pussycat play in London and as they are my all time favourite band I cannot miss them. So with this dilemma I decided to make my way up to Birmingham to experience 'Alice Cooper's Halloween Night of Fear'. Having seen Alice twice before in the last 18 months (Sonisphere Festival 2010 & Download 2011) and been impressed by the show he put on, I decided to go and see him again. It is only recently I have rediscovered his great music again. Having bought the Alice Cooper Fan Pack and suitable impressed by "Welcome 2 My Nightmare", I was looking forward to another entertaining show.
Before that however we had 50 minutes of New York Dolls. Now those who read my blog where I saw them in Toronto, know that I enjoyed them and would like to see them again. Not realising at the time that 4 months later I would get that opportunity to see them in England. This time I was much closer to the stage and thoroughly enjoyed their 'Special Guests' slot. Highlights for me were 'Cause I Sez So', 'Dance Like a Monkey', 'Pills' and 'Personality Crisis'. Both David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain took turns to introduce the songs and seem to be enjoying their time on stage. As a side point, what was with Johansen's lyric book stand? All he did was randomly flick through the pages and not read them!
Before Alice came on the crowd got to choose the best fancy dress from a line up of individuals. Needless to say someone dressed up as the Devil won the cash prize. Who said Heavy Metal fans are fickle?
Finally Alice took to the stage. Apart from the entertaining stage show the other reason on going to the concert was to see him indoors rather than at a festival and to get up close to the stage. I got fairly near to the stage which was good however the stage show was an exact copy of the Download festival earlier in the summer! For me that was a bit disappointing as I was expecting something a bit different song wise or stage show. Of course we couldn't have an Alice show without the props such as the guillotine, Frankenstein's monster, confetti, dollars and batons. And of course we couldn't have an Alice show without the songs; 'I'm Eighteen', 'Billion Dollar Babies', 'No More Mr Nice Guy', 'Poison' 'School's Out' and 'Elected'. He played 1 song from the new album, 'I'll Bite Your Face Off' and my favourite Alice song 'Hey Stoopid'. Alice has got a great band behind him these days; Steve Hunter (who played on the original Welcome To My Nightmare), Tommy Henriksen and Orianthi on guitars, Chuck Garric on bass and Glen Sobel on drums. Incidentally the drum solo was brilliant - but I would say that being a drummer! After set closers 'School's Out' and 'Elected' the show was over. A good concert but it was all too similar to his Download performance 5 months prior. Here's hoping that he will change the order of his set list in time for Bloodstock 2012!
Setlist: Vincent Price intro, The Black Widow, Brutal Planet, I'm Eighteen, Under My Wheels, Billion Dollar Babies, No More Mr Nice Guy, Hey Stoopid, Is It My Body, Halo of Flies, I'll Bite Your Face Off, Muscle of Love, Only Women Bleed, Cold Ethyl, Feed My Frankenstein, Clones (We're All), Poison, Wicked Young Man, Killer, I Love the Dead, School's Out (including Another Brick in the Wall) and Elected.

Alice Cooper - Halloween Night of Fear - UK Tour 2011

Alice Cooper - Birmingham October 2011



Alice Cooper Band on stage - Birmingham 2011