The first day back at work after two weeks off ended with a trip to the Hydro to see the hard rock supergroup Hollywood Vampires whose concept/gimmick is similar to that of Belfast postman The King whose albums were made up of covers of songs by deceased rocks stars. The key difference being his twist was that he sang them all in the style of Elvis, while the group of undead from Tinseltown mixed their set of covers with songs released by two of its core members, Alice Cooper and Aerosmith’s Joe Perry along with a smattering of original songs.
I’d enjoyed Hollywood Vampires before on one of their previous visits to Glasgow and as such I may not have bought a ticket this time around, but having seen who was announced as support I couldn’t resist it.
The Jesus and Mary Chain are most definitely in my top five favourite bands of all time, so it was with a mixed sense of excitement and dread I arrived at the Hydro in a torrent of rain given previously soulless experiences in the venue with sound being lost in the cavernous surroundings. I needn’t have worried though as the darkly ominous bass heavy throb of the band filled the room with the thunder of drums and the twangy rumble of William’s signature wall of sound guitar lines. This was a well thought out and perfectly formed set aimed at an audience that I imagine included many who would potentially be witnessing the band for the first time, while including songs for the hardcore Mary Chain fans.
The carefully curated setlist was culled from across their back catalogue delighting long term fans with a mid set appearance from a personal favourite of mine, In a Hole, from their ground breaking debut album Psychocandy Opening with Jamcod, their signature tune from latest long player, Glasgow Eyes they quickly followed it with their biggest hit, the peerless April Skies before going on to play a blistering set taking on album tracks and hit singles from every era of the Mary Chain such as a pile driving Head On and the hypnotic slow burn of Some Candy Talking. There was an indirect, and probably a tad tenuous, link back to the early days of the band with sometime Primal Scream bass slinger Simone Marie Butler joining the band for three songs firstly taking on Fay Fife’s part on Venal Joy, before returning later in the set singing Hope Sandoval’s part on Sometimes Always and on Just Like Honey for Karen Parker contribution to the Psychocandy song. This is was their penultimate song before they finished with a pummelling full on aural assault in the form of the epic Reverence from their Honey’s Dead era. This was the Mary Chain at their powerful best, a band at the top of their game and clearly enjoying themselves given the audience interaction from the man of few words Jim Reid. That’s how you open up a show.
Full Setlist:
Jamcod
April Skies
Head On
All Things Pass
Some Candy Talking
Venal Joy – Simone Marie Butler
Blues from a Gun
In a Hole
Cracking up
Between Planets
Sometimes Always – Simone Marie Butler
Just Like Honey – Simone Marie Butler
Reverence
The undead rock n roll pantomime had come to town in full effect led by the iconic Alice Cooper, with the three guitar attack from Joe Perry, Johnny Depp and Tommy Henriksen, who all took their share of guitar and vocal duties, alongside a full supporting band. The quartet clearly know what the majority of the audience are there for, with the set heavily weighted towards the aforementioned covers of songs from dead rock stars alongside some of their own classics and a smattering of original songs for good measure, two of which they kicked off the set with, I Want My Now and Raise the Dead before the first big crowd pleaser of the night appeared in Cooper’s classic I’m Eighteen, an age which is a distant memory for many in attendance so any reminders were a welcome inclusion.
Cooper then sang of the evils of drink on Dead Drunk Friends before Depp moved front and centre for a duo of the four covers he took lead on. The first was an appropriate choice, given the way in which they choose the songs they cover, in the shape of People Who Died from The Jim Carroll band. Up until the night of the gig, this was probably my favourite of the covers by the band, but that was about to change. Before I move onto what my new favourite cover is, I should probably warn you that what I’m about to say will no doubt have die hard Alice Cooper fans tutting in disbelief, or perhaps turning in their graves, but here goes… the songs that Johnny Depp took lead vocals on in the Hydro were the ones that I felt were most effective and had a lasting impression on me. There I’ve said it now. And before there is a pile on, I’m absolutely not knocking Cooper (well I will slightly in a moment) it’s perhaps that the choice of songs were personal favourites and a good match to his vocal style, with the addition of some effects in one case.
I also imagine that many diehard Velvet Underground fans who attended the recent tribute gig in Glasgow perhaps wouldn’t have the same appreciation of the cover of Femme Fatale as did, making it perhaps one of my new favourite Vampires covers, they turned it into an darkly intense driving rocker, harder and heavier than the original and with an effects laden vocal from Depp. Another highlight with Depp in vocals was a tribute to Youth with the pulsating bass boom of Killing Joke’s The Death & Resurrection Show before his surprisingly effective vocal on the Bowie classic Heroes.
I’ve just realised I’m probably going to offend every classic rock fan in this review but Joe Perry shouldn’t be allowed near a microphone. Yeah, I know Johnny Thunders didn’t have a classically trained vocal, but he had an instantly recognisable effective Noo Yawk drawl, and my initial joy on hearing the intro to You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory changes to despair when Perry killed it with a bland instantly forgettable vocal… Ok let’s get it all out at once, the other disappointing vocal was from Cooper himself. Clearly the man has personality in bucketloads as demonstrated by his list of classic tracks and albums, but his vocal for Aerosmith’s Living on the Edge felt more living behind a safety barrier, falling flat and lacking the energy of Steven Tyler, particularly in the chorus.
Their mid set tribute to Keith Moon with a superb take on Baba O’Riley was one of the highlights of the night, including a mesmerising drum solo which had me wondering how Glen Sobel managed all the drumstick spins without dropping one. The end of show party started with Henriksen taking the lead with a powerful vocal for an enthusiastically received Highway to Hell, and shared the vocal for a high octane run through Walk This Way. There could only be one end to the show with the Alice Cooper standard Schools Out, ironically the week after Scottish schools returned after their summer break, with huge balloons launched into the crowd mid song, and then ceremoniously popped by Cooper with his cane when they returned stageward as the song segued into Another Brick in the Wall. Things weren’t quite over yet as they took on a cover of The Yardbirds version of the 1951 Tiny Bradshaw single before instigating a singalong as the closed the night with a light hearted take on wedding and football chant standard, Hi Ho Silver Lining sending everyone home with a smile on their face
