PHOTO BY SPENSER HASAK
Alice Cooper performs with a live boa constrictor wrapped around his neck during the “Spend the Night with Alice Cooper” tour at the Lynn City Hall Auditorium on Saturday.
BY LEAH DEARBORN
LYNN — Fans lost their heads over the musical theatrics of Alice Cooper at the Lynn Memorial Auditorium on Saturday.
“He played a great show in 2013,” said Lee Litif of Cooper’s last appearance in Lynn. “It was one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen.”
The 68-year-old rocker drew applause instantly as he stepped onto the stage wearing his signature thick, black eye makeup and a cape that he quickly tossed aside.
His band started the night with “Long Way To Go” and worked their way through classics like “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” “Poison” and “I’m Eighteen.”
The dramatic elements of the show began during “Under My Wheels” when a pair of hands reached out of a box onstage to drape a live snake around Cooper’s neck like a scarf.
The serpent was returned to the box when the song ended. But it was only the first of a number of increasingly wild props employed by the band throughout the show.
No one familiar with Cooper’s music could have been too surprised by the giant balloons released into the crowd, or the 10-foot-tall monster puppet that traipsed the stage during “Feed My Frankenstein.”
Born in Detroit as Vincent Damon Furnier, Cooper is known as the godfather of shock rock, a genre characterized by the use of eye-opening, often horror-related imagery and effects to induce a reaction from listeners.
To coincide with the lyrics of “Billion Dollar Babies,” Cooper waved a sword speared with cash over the audience, throwing bills to lucky fans in the front rows.
Other antics included a guillotine that was used to “decapitate” Cooper, whose head was then tossed between gleeful band members.
For the iconic “Ballad of Dwight Fry,” he was hurriedly pinned into a straight jacket and tormented by a dancer dressed as a nurse.
He did lead vocals and played the ringleader while directing the actions of the other musicians.
Guitarist Nita Strauss, formerly of Iron Maiden tribute band The Iron Maidens, and drummer Glen Sobel each took the spotlight to solo.
As the end of the night neared, the band played several cover songs to remember some deceased rockers including Keith Moon, the English drummer for the Who, legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie, the British rocker who died earlier this year.
Cooper closed with 1972 hit “Elected” in celebration of the controversial presidential campaign. Two people dressed as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump rushed onto the stage in tattered clothes and threw punches at each other.