Josh Bradley Live

Alice Cooper played a sold out show at Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall, 3/24/2018

Alice Cooper played a sold out show at Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall, 3/24/2018

Alice Cooper played a sold out show at Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall, 3/24/2018

Alice Cooper played a sold out show at Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall, 3/24/2018

Alice Cooper, featuring his wife Sharon, played a sold out show at Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall, 3/24/2018

Alice Cooper played a sold out show at Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall, 3/24/2018

Alice Cooper played a sold out show at Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall, 3/24/2018

Alice Cooper played a sold out show at Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall, 3/24/2018

Alice Cooper played a sold out show at Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall, 3/24/2018

Alice Cooper played a sold out show at Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall, 3/24/2018

Alice Cooper played a sold out show at Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall, 3/24/2018

Alice Cooper played a sold out show at Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall, 3/24/2018

If you’re a fan of heavy metal, you can’t say that Alice Cooper isn’t an influence on it, whether you like him or not. Though he has said many a time how he thinks that shock rock is dead, he manages to keep it quite the contrary. With sick (literally) theatrics and costume changes, Alice has been in the business for fifty years now. And with a new album, Paranormal released in July, and his recent 70th birthday celebration, he has no plans to stop anytime soon.

“You have been chosen to spend the night with Alice Cooper. It’s too late now for you. He’s coming.” said a voice over the curtain designed with Alice’s trademark eyes with spiders as the pupils. As the audience of mainly baby boomers and Gen-X’ers began to rise to their feet, (which they remained doing so the entire show, which was pretty shocking if you ask me) it collapsed, and the band, as Alice slowly walked out in an unhooded black cloak, began the 2000 title track to Brutal Planet.

The next four or five songs were wall-to-wall hits. Smash hit No More Mr. Nice Guy, electrifying opener to 1971’s Killer, Under My Wheels, and the groovy title track to Billion Dollar Babies, which turned 45 this year. Alice swung a sword and a number of canes around throughout the night, throwing most of them into the first few rows of the sold out crowd.

Iron Maidens guitarist and as described by my concert buddy, a “mega babe” Nita Strauss and highly acclaimed drummer Glen Sobel both had solos that blew the roof off of the place. Nita had many short ones, including about two minutes of just her onstage while Alice and the group prepared for one of the most anticipated songs of the night, Poison. And Sobel smashed for five minutes in the middle of Killer’s Halo Of Flies.

Now, you’re probably wondering: What theatrics?

During the Wayne’s World cameo’d tune Feed My Frankenstein, with a little help from some masked men, Alice, covered in a blood stained buttoned up lab coat, was strapped to a platform, and was “turned into” a Frankenstein with a two foot head. After a set of songs from Welcome To My Nightmare, and a new song, the all-hands-on-deck Paranoic Personality, he was dragged into a straight jacket due to his insanity, just to rip into the early hit, the Ballad Of Dwight Fry. This part featured his wife Sheryl playing Nurse Rozetta, of whom he tried to strangle to death with his sleeves at the end of the song.

It descended into the guitar solo at the end of Killer’s title track, and out came the guillotine.

Following Alice’s execution, one of the masked men began to prance about the stage for maybe 30 seconds with Alice’s head, while his band paid their respects by blasting the repetitive chorus of I Love The Dead. Alice came out minutes later in a blood drenched white button down to belt out his first hit, I’m Eighteen, following an encore of his trademark School’s Out, which involved a lick of Pink Floyd’s Another Brick In The Wall Part 2.

Alice doesn’t blab or tell stories onstage like most artists do anymore. His shows these days are more of a rock opera than a standard classic rock concert. Think of it as The Who playing Tommy all the way through, just without the whole storyline and such. In fact, he only spoke directly to us near the end when he introduced the band, and thanked us.

But whoever wants to complain can go get their head caught in a guillotine.

Tribute bands normally get a lot of crap from music snobs. Of course, it’s better to go see the real thing live, but sometimes, that’s impossible. Maybe the band split up, or the artist is dead. Maybe it’s too expensive. Or, maybe the tribute band tries too hard to sound like the original thing. But what if there wasn’t a group as such? What if they perfect the original sound of the original band, and even have their accents down?

Enter RAIN.

RAIN: A Tribute To The Beatles has been going since 1975, stopping on Broadway, and going through five or six different lineups in 40 years. Normally, there are two actors to play each Beatle, and offstage, there’s a keyboardist/sound mixer to help make the performance match up to the Beatles’ studio work, only if needed. Most every song performed between Please Please Me and Revolver were only played with the four main instruments: Rhythm guitar, bass, lead guitar, and drums.

The guys stopped at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater recently, and it was apparently a really big deal. Last year’s annual gala was literally centered around their announcement of their stop here. And maybe a little bit of Ringo Starr’s intimate, invitation-only date that had been coming up. RAIN asked for all cameras, cell phones, and electronics to be shut off. Sure, every venue asks that, but this particular night, the venue treated it as if Prince or Bob Dylan was in the building, for there were signs all around the outside of the venue saying how photography was not allowed in any way, shape, or form.

Of course, I had to sneak a couple of shots on my phone during the encore, and once per costume change. But that’s beside the point.

RAIN had a killer stage setup. Near the beginning of the show, they reenacted The Beatles’ historic debut Ed Sullivan performance. After a Cavern Club/early days reenactment, the stage lights went down for about thirty seconds, and surely, the arrows pointing down onstage were suddenly there. It was like magic. Their screens were also pretty dazzling. They recreated the background to The Beatles’ 1969 rooftop concert, along with an audience from their Shea Stadium show from 1965.

This tour, however, is very different from your normal RAIN show. Because of last year’s 50th anniversary of the legendary Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the band has decided to play the album front to back. It made the setlist total up to about 40 songs, about as long as the real Paul McCartney’s. Speaking of which, obviously, they can’t play every Beatle song ever written, so of course a few will be left out. But it was pretty shocking that The Night Before was played, but not Let It Be, perhaps one of the most recognizable Beatle tunes ever. But of course, if a snob has a problem with that, the door’s right there.

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Many Floridians don’t quite understand how spoiled rotten we are when it comes to Billy Joel. The Rock and Roll Hall Of Famer has stopped in Florida twice a year since 2014. Once for a normal tour show, and once for New Year’s out in Sunrise. So the announcement in October that his first non-MSG show of 2018 would be in Tampa was no surprise.

Just like every Billy show, the sold out crowd was warned to make their way to their seats around 8:20 when the ending credits music from The Natural began to play. Three minutes in, the lights went down, the Generation X crowd went ballistic, and the Piano Man and his band silently came out to begin.

A single blue light shined on Billy as he played the first minute of Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway), which opens with one of the most complex piano riffs of all time.

“This is our last gig in Florida for the year!” Billy pointed out, following an electrifying version of 1982’s Pressure. This may foreshadow that he won’t play in Sunrise on NYE this year, and may return to New York to celebrate.

After poking fun at the people who had seats behind the stage, (“The piano here is set up sideways so, you’re actually better off than the people up here.”) Billy threw out some “fielder’s choices.” Normally, one a deep cut, one a hit. Vienna winning against Just The Way You Are, (“It WAS a hit single!”) and Everybody Loves You Now over Turn Around and Got To Begin Again, all songs from his obscure 1971 debut Cold Spring Harbor. And, needless to say, just like every time, Zanzibar gave the boot to Stiletto.

Some classic riffs opened some songs throughout the night. Ode To Joy (and Billy accepting a banquet of flowers from an audience member, mocking an stereotypical actress) opening My Life and Paul Simon’s Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard for Don’t Ask Me Why just to name a few.

With all the retirement tours coming up, Billy sure had us worried for a few minutes. He told a story about how he was in Italy once, and Frank Sinatra was scheduled to play on the other side of the country. It was an immensely big deal in Italy, but apparently he cancelled because “Frank don’t like bein’ 70.” Billy’s going to be 69 this year. 69. His former touring mate Elton John will be saying goodbye to touring for the next three years, as well as his old friend Paul Simon.

After a promised ride through The River Of Dreams (“We’re gonna do that later!”) Billy’s guitarist Mike DelGuidice took the mic, and belted out an opera classic Nessun dorma. Doing so, he proved that you’d be surprised what some backing members can do.

After the story of Brenda and Eddie in the crowd-pleasing Scenes From An Italian Restaurant, Piano Man began. I think that’s what everybody came to hear. There weren’t many people who came for deep cuts and all that. They wanted hits, especially Piano Man, which had every baby boomer, Gen X-er, and millennial standing and howling out the words. There WAS one deep cut, though. 1973’s Stop In Nevada, off of Piano Man.

After two and a half minutes offstage, Billy returned for an encore of six songs. Shredding (whatever) a guitar during We Didn’t Start The Fire, swaying his hips like Elvis during Uptown Girl, and throwing around the microphone during It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me, no one wanted the night to end. He returned to the piano for his last three songs – – 1978’s Big Shot, Only The Good Die Young, which began with a minute long interlude of Led Zeppelin’s Fool In The Rain, and You May Be Right, which included Zeppelin’s Rock And Roll to close the song, and ultimately close the show.

All that was missing from that ending was Billy’s trademark closing piece of advice: “Don’t take any shit from anybody,” which he tells his crowd at almost every show.

 Last time he was here, it wasn’t a totally different show. However, that was when Billy paid tribute to the then-recently fallen David Bowie, and Glenn Frey of the Eagles.

But right or wrong, if you’ve never seen Billy, do yourself a favor and get a ticket next time he’s in your town, nosebleed or not. Remember, if you buy a seat all the way back, you have a shot at getting in the front row.