On Saturday, August 31st, I went to the “Freaks on Parade” tour with Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie. It started at 6 pm at Ruoff Music Center. This was my fourth concert of the summer, so I believe that I am qualified to claim that this was a very good experience and concert.
The first band to come out was Filter, a rock band from Cleveland that formed in 1993. I personally only knew one of their songs and did not recognize the band by name. Despite this, they sounded great. They had a good sound and the guitar player had some really cool riffs.
The second opening band was Ministry, an industrial metal band from Illinois that began in 1981. I had never heard of them or heard any of their music before. They were not my particular cup of tea as their music was a little too screamy, but they sounded good and put on a show. It was easy to tell that the lead singer, Al Jourgensen, was an experienced showman, dancing around the stage like crazy throughout their set.
Right before the sun set, Alice Cooper came out to begin his set. He sang most of his most popular songs such as “Feed My Frankenstein,” “Poison” and “School’s Out.” Though Alice Cooper is pushing eighty, he put on a show just like he did in his youth according to my dad who had seen him three times. He had a giant Frankenstein’s Monster walk across the stage during “Feed My Frankenstein.” He also brought out a person dressed as Jason Voorhees from the “Friday the 13th” series during the song “He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask).”
My personal favorite moment during his set was when Cooper came out dressed in a straight jacket. A man came out from backstage and cut him out of the jacket only to be fake stabbed by Cooper. This was followed by Cooper’s wife, Sheryl Goddard, coming out dressed as Marie Antionette and running around the stage dancing and doing high kicks. They then used a fake guillotine and pretended to behead Cooper. This part of the show included a fake replica of Cooper’s head that Goddard grabbed and showed to the audience. Overall, Cooper’s show was as amazing as always and incredibly entertaining.
After a lengthy stage change, it was Rob Zombie’s time to shine. I am a very well-rounded fan of Rob Zombie; I love his solo music, his music with his former band White Zombie and I love all the movies he has directed. Zombie built up the excitement for his set with a black and white projection that spelled out Z-O-M-B-I-E until the crew dropped the curtain and there was the man himself.
Zombie played many of his popular songs including “More Human Than A Human,” from his White Zombie days. I was excited as he played my two favorite songs, “Living Dead Girl” and “Feel So Numb” pretty early in his set.
Though a little less of a stageman than Cooper, Zombie still put on a very exciting show. He had flying sparks, fire, and giant people in costumes walking around the stage for the songs about each creature they dressed as. Many people joke that Zombie is like the energizer bunny and never stands still. I now completely understand the nature of this joke as Zombie jumped, spun and kicked throughout the entire almost two hour long set. He ended the show playing his most popular song “Dragula” to roaring applause.
Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie, the fearsome twosome, have been on my bucket list for years and I was not let down by their show. My only hope is that I can see one, if not both, of them again. I recommend that anyone who loves rock music or just a good fun concert to see the “Freaks on Parade” tour when it comes to their area.
