Shock rocker Alice Cooper returns to Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on March 10
From a press release:
It was announced today that Scranton classic rock radio station Rock 107 will present shock rocker Alice Cooper’s return to the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday, March 10, 2018 at 8 p.m. as part of the Kirby Center’s PNC Celebrity Series. Dubbed “A Paranormal Evening with Alice Cooper,” the show will support his new album, “Paranormal.”
Tickets, which are $54.50, $64.50, $84.50, and $94.50, plus fees, go on sale this Friday, Oct. 13 at 10 a.m. and will be available at the Kirby Center box office (71 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre), online at kirbycenter.org, and by phone at 570-826-1100. A Kirby Member pre-sale begins on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at 10 a.m.
Alice Cooper pioneered a grandly theatrical brand of hard rock that was designed to shock. Drawing equally from horror movies, vaudeville, and garage rock, the group created a stage show that featured electric chairs, guillotines, fake blood, and boa constrictors. He continues to tour regularly, performing shows worldwide with the dark and horror-themed theatrics that he’s best known for.
With a schedule that includes six months each year on the road, Cooper brings his own brand of rock psycho-drama to fans both old and new, enjoying it as much as the audience does. Known as the architect of shock rock, Cooper (in both the original Alice Cooper band and as a solo artist) has rattled the cages and undermined the authority of generations of guardians of the status quo, continuing to surprise fans and exude danger at every turn, like a great horror movie, even in an era where the news can present real-life shocking images.
The Alice Cooper band formed while they were all in high school in Phoenix and was discovered in 1969 by Frank Zappa in Los Angeles, where he signed them to his record label. Their collaboration with young record producer Bob Ezrin led to the breakthrough third album “Love It to Death,” which hit the charts in 1971, followed by “Killer,” “School’s Out,” “Billion Dollar Babies,” and “Muscle of Love.”
1974 saw the release of a “Greatest Hits” album, and then Cooper released his first solo album, “Welcome to My Nightmare,” in 1975, accompanied by the legendary groundbreaking theatrical “Welcome to My Nightmare” concert tour. Associated with that album and tour was the groundbreaking network TV special “Alice Cooper: The Nightmare.”
His solo career skyrocketed in the late 1970s with a succession of hit singles, including “You & Me,” and classic albums, including “Lace and Whiskey” and “From the Inside,” with bigger and even more elaborate concert tours.
In the ‘80s, Cooper explored different sounds, highlighted by the new wavish album “Flush The Fashion,” the heavy metal “Constrictor” and “Raise Your Fist and Yell,” and then 1989’s melodic hard rock album “Trash,” which featured the massive hit single “Poison” and became his biggest-selling album and single worldwide. During this period, he also appeared in the horror films “Monster Dog” and “John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness” and recorded songs for the soundtracks to “Roadie,” “Class of 1984,” “Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives,” and “Wes Craven’s Shocker.”
Cooper’s most memorable movie appearance was as himself in “Wayne’s World” in 1991. He also played (fittingly) Freddy Krueger’s wicked stepfather in “Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare” and appeared on Gene Wilder’s TV series “Something Wilder” as well as “That ‘70’s Show.” The ’90s also saw the release of the albums “Hey Stoopid,” “The Last Temptation,” and “A Fistful of Alice,” a live album.
In the new millennium, Cooper has been very productive and busy, writing, recording, and releasing the albums “Brutal Planet,” “Dragon Town,” “The Eyes of Alice Cooper,” “Dirty Diamonds,” “Along Came a Spider,” and 2011’s “Welcome 2 My Nightmare,” plus “Old School 1964-1974,” a box set celebrating the original band.
Cooper, guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway, drummer Neal Smith, and guitarist Glen Buxton (posthumously) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March of 2011.
Cooper’s newest album, “Paranormal,” was produced by longtime collaborator Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, Deep Purple) and features guests like ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons, U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr., Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover, and a highly anticipated mini-reunion of the original Alice Cooper band members.
See NEPA Scene’s photos from Alice Cooper’s 2016 concert at the Kirby Center here and his performance later that year at the Rock Carnival in New Jersey here.
