Alice Cooper at the AO Arena, Manchester with The Meffs and Primal Scream.

A bit of an unusual line-up on the night with the supports being supplied by Essex punk outfit The Meffs alongside vintage alt-rockers Primal Scream. While fully intending to review the entire show that was made impossible by the security measures put in place for photographers who had to wait OUTSIDE the venue to be escorted into the pit for photographs then escorted back outside again! With no facility whatsoever on site for the storage of camera gear and not being allowed into the main hall WITH the camera gear it meant that after the photography was done . . . so was I. I had nowhere to go except back outside and leave the venue. So, this review will be limited to the first few songs of each band but hopefully the image galleries will, to some degree, make up for the lack of words.

The night opens with Lily Hopkins and Lewis Copsey, better known as Essex-based band The Meffs. This pair play old fashioned punk with Lily on guitar and main vocals, Lewis on drums and backing vocals and they make a decent noise for a two-piece. Lily races around the stage like someone possessed and delivers good 1970’s punk rock. The band have a newish release, What a Life, out now and the songs played were taken from that album, the previous EP, Broken Britain Part 1 and a couple of covers; they opened with I Wanna be Your Dog by The Stooges.

Lily is a bit chatty, encouraging the assembling audience to participate where they can although, and I have to say it, The Meffs were a bit of an odd band to choose to support Alice Cooper. They were, to this tour, what Creeper were to the previous tour. Three songs in and the photographers are out, quite literally.

Setlist:

I Wanna be Your Dog (The Stooges cover)

Stamp it Out

Broken Britain, Broken Brain

Stand Up, Speak Out

Breathe (Prodigy cover)

Wasted on Women

Clowns

What?

Next on the card were Scottish alt-rockers Primal Scream fronted by the indefatigable Bobby Gillespie who doesn’t seem to have changed much in the past 40+ years. Tonight’s line-up included Bobby Gillespie front & centre on vocals, Andrew Innes on guitar, Darrin Mooney on drums, Simone Butler on bass and this foursome accompanied by a group of backing singers.

The band have a new album, Come Ahead, released just a few days ago and from which the band took several songs. It’s been over 8 years since the previous album release so fans were keen to hear what’s new. Bobby strutted around the stage in a signature white suit and snakeskin boots and rendered the first few songs in his also signature laconic fashion. With songs on the setlist being taken from across the band’s discography, there was seemingly something for all ages!

Setlist:

Love Insurrection

Jailbird

Ready to go Home

Deep Dark Waters

I’m Losing More Than I’ll Ever Have

Loaded

Movin’ on Up

Country Girl

Rocks

Time for the headline act, the irrepressible Alice Cooper. The line-up was the same as the last time I saw the band, with Nita Strauss returning as guitarist alongside Ryan Roxie and Tommy Henriksen, Glenn Sobel on drums and Chuck Garric on bass. Coop enters the stage slicing his way through a curtain showing a newspaper aticle about him and the cheer as he slipped through the open ‘wound’ was quite deafening. Us lucky photographers once again get four tunes to get out pics and the intro of Lock Me Up was followed by Welcome to the Show. Coop swaps the sword he used to cut his way onto the stage for a cane and then for a crutch as he goes into No More Mr. Nice Guy followed by I’m Eighteen, the latter having been released in the UK almost exacly 53 years ago to the day on the band’s first major-label album, Love it to Death. I remember buying that album from my local record shop in Liverpool! Although I wasn’t there to see the rest of the set it clearly involved Coop losing his head, as usual, and finishing with School’s Out.