Rocktober in Vegas is a busy month for rock fans in Vegas, and this month is no exception as we got a full four days of Alice Cooper from October 22 through October 26, 2009. Day one was an intimate invite only show at the John Varvatos clothing store inside the Hard Rock Hotel. Alice played the next three nights inside the Orleans Hotel. The touring onslaught doesnt seem to slow the 61 year old Cooper down one bit. I got to the Hard Rock at about 5:30 pm and the line to get in was already long. I was informed that there was more invites than people who would be allowed into the store. Since there would only be about 250+ people allowed inside, I knew there would be a lot of people that would be disappointed if they weren’t let in. I decided to go to the red carpet area for some photos opportunities of Alices entrance right before the show started. After about 2 hours, there were some people that were dressed in John Varvatos clothes that came out onto the red carpet and the designer himself, but no Alice. We were informed that he wasn’t coming out so I decided to make my way into the store. I trudged through the crowd to find my roommate Don who secured a spot for me in front of the stage. The place was packed with people and everyone was holding their Cooper masks that the store handed out earlier, and I just crammed myself right in with them. Alice came through the crazy crowd and jumped onstage with his band that now consists of guitarist Keri Kelli, bassist Chuck Garrick, Drummer Jimmy De Grasso and guitarist Damon Johnson. They slammed into “No More Mr Nice Guy”. The crowd went into a frenzy of excitement! I thought to myself that this was a once in a lifetime event and I was grateful to be there. Then they rocked the small store with “Billion Dollar Babies” then the riff for “Be My Lover” started and the crowd really went nuts! My favorite Cooper song from the 80’s, “Poison” came next which really got me going! Then the band rolled us over with “Under My Wheels” and they finished the short but intense set with his huge hit, “School’s Out.” The rock n roll school was indeed out and our teacher Alice showed us a thing or two how to rock. What a great time!!
I want to thank Ryan Tino the Asst. Manager from the John Varvatos store for his help and for Mr. Varvatos Himself for hosting this amazing show!
Set List:
No More Mr. Nice Guy
Billion Dollar Babies
Be My Lover
18
Is It My Body
Poison
Under My Wheels
Schools Out
Here is a video of “Poison” from the performance:
For more information on the store and Johns amazing clothing line, you can go to: http://www.hardrockhotel.com/las-vegas/shopping/john-varvatos/
