The weather in Halifax was warm when Hollywood Vampires took the stage. It was considerably colder by the time they left it. But in between, The Piece Hall got a reminder that age, experience and a few decades of rock’n’roll wear and tear don’t make you any less capable of firing up a crowd.
Hollywood Vampires aren’t really a band that explodes onto a stage these days. Given their collective vintage, they take their positions with the assurance of rock statesmen.
Joe Perry emerges first through the billowing red smoke, guitar cutting through the crimson haze with that unmistakable Aerosmith sound. Tommy Henrikson and Johnny Depp take their places, before Alice Cooper appears from the back, stalking towards the crowd. He may not move with quite the same spring as he once did, but still there are few that can command a crowd like he can.
From the first note to the last, Alice owns The Piece Hall. Black tailcoat, cane, the walkway stretching out into the crowd. Like a Victorian undertaker, he presides over proceedings with total authority. Opening with I Want My Now, he immediately has the front rows under his control, conducting them with the cane while Perry delivers a guitar solo with an energy that rolls back the years.
For I’m Eighteen, the Cooper sheds the tailcoat to reveal a theatrical blood-stained shirt. The cane gives way to a white crutch, which quickly becomes another conducting baton. Theatre, humour, rock’n’roll and a little menace, all in the same breath. It’s pure Alice Cooper.
Inevitably, there’s another reason plenty of the crowd came out to Halifax and that reason is named Johnny Depp.
Cooper introduces him towards the end as “the man of a thousand faces”, but there’s no acting needed tonight. Depp is the genuine article, and tonight he’s 100% convincing as one. He’s constantly moving between Cooper and Perry, sharing looks, riffs and smiles. There is an obvious chemistry between them.
He takes the lead vocal on several songs too, including Bowie’s Heroes, Venus in Furs and People Who Died. That’s one of the strengths of the band – the spotlight keeps moving. Cooper remains the focal point, but Perry steps forward for You Can’t Put Your Arms Round a Memory and Livin’ on the Edge, while Henrikson tears into AC/DC’s Highway to Hell, the crowd more than happy to provide the backing vocals.
For all the celebrity attached to this band, the important thing to remember is that they can really play.
There are no passengers and no sense that this is a vanity project built around a famous name or two. Perry is still every bit the guitarist you’d expect. Henrikson is fierce. Depp is cool and unflappable in the role. But even his celebrity cannot outshine Alice. It’s undeniable that Cooper remains one of rock’s great frontmen, whether he’s wielding a crutch or a microphone stand.
The main set closes with Walk This Way before School’s Out crashes into Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall. It’s a huge, celebratory finish, with The Piece Hall singing along as one.
Looking around, there’s something quite lovely about it. It’s a crowd that have all been doing this for a long time. So have the band.
Legends all, drawn from the upper echelons of their trades, making a whole much bigger than the sum of its parts. First-class playing, a huge set list and enough rock’n’roll to fill The Piece Hall. Playing covers they may be, but they are surely the best cover band around.
The blood of the Vampires might run cold. The atmosphere in Halifax most certainly did not.
Set list:
I Want My Now
Raise the Dead
I’m Eighteen
Dead Drunk Friends
Boogie Man Surprise
Venus in Furs
People Who Died
You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory
Who’s Laughing Now
Livin On The Edge
Baba O’Riley
Bright Light Fight
Beck’s Bolero
Roadhouse Blues
The Death and Resurrection Show
Heroes
Highway To Hell
Walk This Way
School’s Out / Another Brick in the Wall
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The Train Kept A-Rollin’
Hi Ho Silver Lining
