Alice Cooper to play Wolverhampton Civic Hall
Nov 27 2009 by Andrew Coleman, Birmingham Mail
VINCENT Damon Furnier, better known as veteran rock legend Alice Cooper, is heading for Wolverhampton Civic Hall on Tuesday as part of his Theatre of Death tour.
The 61-year-old singer gained worldwide fame in the 1970s for hits such as School’s Out and I’m Eighteen along with his schlock horror stage act.
Can you give a sneak preview of what the audience should expect on Tuesday?
It’s an amazing stage show. We go through Alice Cooper songs and then at the end of an era, Alice Cooper gets killed off. Then it goes into the next batch of songs. So the fans are confused, they see a guillotine on stage and they’re like ‘Wait that’s not meant to happen until the end’, but then Alice Cooper dies and then the next set is him in hell and then it continues, he keeps on dying and then going on to the next section.
You’ve got Man Raze supporting you. Did you choose them personally?
Yeah, this whole tour is about the bands and music I love, so I was, like, I’ve got to have Man Raze which features Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook and Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen.
What’s the secret to having a long career?
Being professional – turning up to interviews when you say you will, being polite to everyone and not letting your fans down.
Would you still be playing music if you hadn’t given up alcohol?
No way! My doctor said to me ‘You’ve got a month tops – get ready to go and meet your friends Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison, because you aren’t going to last long’. That was a wake-up call.
Is it true that since giving up booze you’ve become obsessed with golf?
I love golf, I’m addicted to it. When I was younger I was addicted to other things like alcohol, now I’m addicted to healthy things. I’m addicted to being sober, I have to be sober. I’m also addicted to my family. I’ve never been unfaithful to my wife, not once. I’m addicted to that. It’s all about replacing the bad addictions with the good ones.
Is it true that other celebrities and bands come to you to talk about their problems with addictions?
When it comes to addictions, if someone has a voice which is saying to them ‘stop’, it’s never going to be stronger than the voice of something like heroin, but what I do say is that if you do have the voice of heroin in you, then you need to drop everything and go and get some help. I get people calling me up all the time who are in trouble – movie stars, musicians.
ALICE COOPER * December 1: Civic Hall, Wolverhampton
* Tickets: £32.50 from 0870 320 7000.
