A week in the UK

Shows:

Lost Angels, Ipswich Railway, 21 jan 2013
Lost Angels, London Underworld, 24 jan 2013
Blue Coupe, Hessle Town Hall, 25 jan 2013

Here I was, off on the road again. It was simply too tempting going to see some great shows and meet my friends again. I may have no social life the rest of the year but when I do I sure go all the way.

The two bands I went to see have ties to Alice Cooper once more. The Lost Angels are four friends among which Ryan Roxie and Eric Dover who used to both play for Alice.
And  Blue Coupe a “super group” composed of the two Bouchard brothers from Blue Öyster Cult and Dennis Dunaway, the original bass player for the Alice Cooper Group, back when Alice wasn’t a solo artist but the singer of a band.  One of the best bands that ever existed according to me.

The Lost Angels gig in Ipswich was fun, the place isn't ideal for a concert, a corner in the bar, and not many people can actually see anything. Not that there were that many people there to begin with. The set list was still a WIP which is fun. I missed a few of the songs they did on the Scandinavian leg of the tour. Like "Jailbreak" but I was glad that "No More Mr Nice Guy" was replaced (?) by "Man Of The Year" as it's from my favourite album of this 'period'.  Wonderful to see Ryan And Eric play off each other once again, quite a treat.

It’s really funny how both band (obviously) had a few songs in common in their setlists. Both had dropped “No More Mr Nice Guy” by the time I saw them though. And both did “I’m Eighteen”

Way too much fun was had to take any more photos, in London I didn't take any

Lost Angels in London was great; I met most of the usual gang and hung around. The venue is pretty cool, although I would have decorated it in Steampunk fashion (no surprise here). The setlist had changed a little with "Under Pressure" back in it, that was a big favourite with this Queen fan here, plus it goes so well with Eric's voice. It’s a bit sad they didn’t do any of their solo material but I suppose it was to accommodate everyone best. In any case it was great to hear “Beggars and Hangers On” from the Slash’s Snakepit days. Seriously Alice and Slash have exchanged guitar players/vocalists like others exchange sock, or whatever. Not that I am complaining.

And last but not least the Blue Coupe gig in Hull, or rather Hessle town Hall, the taxi driver had a hard time believing us that they had rock concerts there. Sadly we had a shorter setlist, I am afraid it had to do with the lack of crowd response. And this plus the total lack of light show made it hard to get in the mood, but of course the sheer idea of seeing some of my favourite musicians on the Planet helped to get in the mood. I think I did ok given their reaction afterwards, hem.

I am not a fan as such of Blue Öyster Cult, in the sense that I don’t know their entire catalogue, but I know my classics, so I was a bit sad that they had dropped “Astronomy” from the setlist. For me this could have been only a mix of the two band’s catalogue and I would have been happy.

As far as Coop songs goes, we had “Be My Lover” which wasn’t played elsewhere and is one of my favourites, though I see that the next day they played “Caught in a Dream” and “Desperado” which makes me wish I could have followed them around the whole week.

Now I have finally met and talked to my two absolute favourite bass players in the world. (I met John Paul Jones in 1999) Dennis had that crazy intro before to "Under My Wheels" which reminded me of the rat story I once sent to Alice, I actually got the confirmation of the "Pancake the Cat" story from Dennis. Listen to it all here from Alice’s mouth:

Again it all ties in as Lost Angels did a rendition of “Felix the Cat” too the other day. In all three shows I was a bit disappointed by crowd response. In Ipswich there were only about 20 people, and not enough response. But what can you expect from a pub audience. More surprising was the lack of response in London, there is the 'glamour' part of being in a club in London, something that has a legendary ring to it. But when people in the 'balcony' (the space right next to the stage) are in fact texting during the gig and looking bored it makes you wonder a bit. If you don't care about the music why even get there and take up space, there are people who came from far to see this. I was even more surprised by the lack of response in Hull. Here you are, privileged to watch three of the best musicians in the world, and everyone stays seated? I'm not saying everyone should be as enthusiastic as me, but at least stand up and come closer? It’s not like all of the audience had back problems or other health troubles? There were remarks about embalming fluid at one point, I felt really bad for the band.

What I missed too was a bit of a lightshow, at least a more subdued mood, all the lights were bright on, not really what you expect during any kind of concert.

It was fabulous to see this; I wish I could have seen them more than once. I loved the moment when Dennis did his little solo routine during 'Godzilla' very funny for one thing. But also incredibly impressive, when you see anyone live you get the full impact, much more than one recording of course. Made me think once more what an incredible band the Alice Cooper Group was, it must have been something to see them! Such a pleasure to finally hear the real thing, the original sound, at least a fifth of it. Funny how the Lost Angels also did '18', both versions are cool, but there is a little extra magic when part of it is the 'real deal'. For me seeing the ACG would be ever bigger than seeing Led Zeppelin in 2007. Another fun thing was that they finished the set with 'Kick Out The jams' and last year I got to see Wayne Kramer do it during the amazing jam session at “Guitar en scène” (look for it on YouTube also). I sure wouldn't know which was my favourite version, though in this case the 'original magic' factor also applies and to see Wayne Kramer play it was just incredible. I'm so lucky I get to see these moments, they are so precious.