For nearly five decades Cooper has been pioneering an off-shoot of hard-rockfrequently called shock rock, and has lately taken on a particular fascinationwith death. His latest album, Along Camea Spider, is about a serial killer, so it made sense that his show Tuesdayat the Riverside Theater was part of his Theater of Death tour.
The show began innocentlyenough, as Cooper and his band fired into two of his best known hits, “School’sOut” and “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” which got the packed crowd roaring with cheers.Soon enough, though, things turned more sinister, when a masked character in askeleton costume got in the way of Cooper, who stabbed him with a microphone.
This started a mini-drama throughoutthe set, where Cooper battled several of the skeleton minions and a menacingyet enticing woman. Sometimes Cooper’s character struck first, but often he wasthe one killed. He was imprisoned in a strait jacket, injected by a hugesyringe of poison, hung by a hangman, beheaded by guillotine and sliced anddiced by a dagger-filled box. But every time Cooper came back, intent forrevenge. Sometimes he progressed the story with a related song.
Between his deaths, there were plentyof other antics: Cooper showed an obsession with a chopped-off plastic head; amonster stole his love interest/nemesis during “Feed My Frankenstein,” andlater the singer donned spider arms while on top of a ramp overlooking thestage and the crowd.
Beyond theentertaining stage show, Cooper provided a good mix of older and newer songs,playing songs like the angst-ridden “I’m 18,” the sinister “Poison” and“Vengeance Is Mine,” and others like “Elected.” He ended the set the way hestarted, with an encore of “School’s Out,” which seemed like an odd choicegiven his wealth of material, but maybe he just really wanted to party on aschool night.
Opener Brent James& the Contraband offered a good set of their own hard garage rock.
Photo by CJ Foeckler
