“We can’t be everywhere on Halloween Night, so we are counting it down..” said Rob Zombie to the Binghamton New York crowd at the Halloween Hootenanny Tour, featuring Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper and the Murderdolls.

Spirits were high among the crowd who we’re anxiously awaiting for the arena doors to open and in the Halloween Spirit, there were several people dressed in costumes. Some were Zombies with awesome scar faces, horror movie favorite villains to even a small toddler dressed in a skeleton suit that even Rob Zombie himself couldn’t refuse to point out, it was all just part of the fun. Plus the fantastic “Alice Coopers” in the crowd; there were several die-hard fans wearing awesome Alice costumes, it was hard to tell which one was the real Alice. A Halloween Hootenanny was the theme and the crowd was ready to dance, jump and have a great night.

Opening the night was the Murderdolls. While these guys took an eight year break between albums, they preformed seamlessly. The lights went down and the intro song “The World According To Revenge” pumped through the PA. It reminded me of the first Marilyn Manson album, “Portrait Of An American Family” and how Manson’s sets used to begin similar, back in the day (1994’ish). The Murderdolls took the stage and went straight into “Chapel Of Blood” and the crowd went nuts. Their set was full of energy and vocalist Wednesday 13 had the crowd in the palm of his hand. It’s amazing that guitarist, Joey Jordison was able to pull a double duty every night (he also plays drums for Rob Zombie). Joining Joey and Wednesday 13 on stage was guitarist Roman Surman (Gunfire 76, Bourbon Crow), drummer Racci Shay Hart (Wednesday 13, Dope, Genitortures) and bassist Jack Tankersley (Bullets and Octane). Check out Murderdoll’s latest album, “Women and Children Last,” on Roadrunner records. They will be headlining a Halloween show at The Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, CA. In Feb/March 2011, they will be heading over to Australia to perform at several festival shows. (See Dates Bellow)

One of the pioneer of Shock Rockers himself, Alice Cooper was next to take the stage. The lights turned off in the arena, a spotlight illuminated the giant “Theater of Death Tour” curtain on the stage. Sirens were going off and then the school bell rang. The curtain dropped and “School’s Out” filled the arena. It’s always an amazing time to see the legendary Alice Cooper perform. He sticks to his old school shock-rocker charm, engaging his audience on a mad crazy adventure of death, rebirth and death again and again. Whether Alice is doing the killing or he is the one to have his head chopped off by the guillotine, hung in the gallows, poisonously injected with an enormous hypodermic needle or impaled with an iron maiden, the entire show from start to finish is entertaining as a great shock-rocker show should be. Not to go without mention, Alice has a very charismatic team of musicians as part of his live crew: Keri Kelli and Damon Johnson on guitars, Chuck Garric on bass and Jimmy DeGrasso on drums who keep the music spot on. And don’t forget the lovely Ms. Tiffany Lowe who

plays the role of Alice’s nurse; she loves him and loves to hurt him. She gives an excellent performance. Alice will be releasing a limited edition 7″ single of Alice’s song, “Keepin’ Halloween Alive!” on a special Glow In The Dark Vinyl! They go on sale October 21, 2010 and will only be sold in the US, sold directly from AliceCooper.com. There will be 2,300 units pressed, but only 1,450 will be up for sale. So order yours asap. Alice will be also releasing a new DVD, “Theatre Of Death” while he’s also working on “Welcome 2 My Nightmare” album (it’s a part 2). Alice is scheduled for a Halloween show in London England. They will continue to tour Europe at least to the end of November. (See Dates Bellow)

Last to take the stage was the one and only Rob Zombie. He had a black curtain covering the stage, when you hear the “Call of the Zombie.” The curtain drops and they jump right into “Jesus Frankenstein.” A large robot is center stage with blue glowing eyes and large pyro flames behind it. The stage is illuminated with blue lights that cut through a fog haze, setting an eerie ambiance. Joey Jordison takes his place behind the drum kit which is on a very high drum riser. John 5 and Piggy D are next to enter the stage one from stage right and the other stage left. There are doors in the base of the large robot that open and Rob Zombie make his grand entrance. The whole band is dressed with skull zombie faces and Rob has a creepy giant claw hand. The stage remains covered in fog and the masks add to the atmosphere. When the song ends, the mask come off and they kick in with “Superbeast”. The show is packed with monsters and robots, brilliant pyros, large and small screens that played all kinds of creepy fun scenes and at times re-enforced the lyrics to the songs. All these things add

to their impressive set, sending the show over the top. Musically, they were dead on as they played all the classic Zombie songs as well as several off the new album “Hellbilly Deluxe 2” (Roadrunner Records). Visually, the shows are very stimulating as there is always something to look at. Everyone in the band has an equally powerful stage presence, which allows them to takes command of their audience. This makes for a top notch shock rocker shows. A Rob Zombie show is one that everyone should experience at least once; but be forewarned, the shows are addictive and you will find yourself wanting more. Rob Zombie recently released a deluxe version of ‘Hellbilly Deluxe 2″ with three new songs that were recorded before they went out on the Mayhem festival this past summer. Zombie will be heading to the UK in February 2011. (See Dates Bellow)

The Halloween Hootenanny was an excellent show. All three bands held their own and complimented each other. With jack-o-lanters lit on the stage and the bands throwing candy into the crowd, they should make it an annual October Festival.  What a wonderful way to count down the days to Halloween!

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– PHOTO GALLERY :: MURDERDOLLS

– PHOTO GALLERY :: ALICE COOPER

– PHOTO GALLERY :: ROB ZOMBIE

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– VIDEO INTERVIEW : WEDNESDAY 13 – MURDERDOLLS
(coming soon)

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TOUR DATES:

MURDERDOLLS:
10/31/2010 West Hollywood, CA US (The Roxy)
02/26/2011 Brisbane, AU (RNA Showgrounds)
02/27/2011 Sydney, AU (Eastern Creek Raceway)
03/04/2011 Melbourne, AU (Showgrounds)
03/05/2011 Adelaide, AU (Bonython Park)
03/07/2011 Perth, AU (Steel Blue Oval)

ALICE COOPER:
10/31/2010 London, UK (London Roundhouse)
11/01/2010 London, UK (London Roundhouse)
11/04/2010 Stuttgart, (Porsche Arena)
11/05/2010 Kempten (Bigbox)
11/06/2010 Munich (München Zenith)
11/08/2010 Berlin (Max Schmeling Halle)
11/09/2010 Leipzig (Leipzig Arena)
11/11/2010 Frankfurt (Jahrhunderthalle)
11/12/2010 Dortmund (Westfalenhalle)
11/13/2010 Braunschweig (VW Halle)
11/18/2010 Milan (Alcatraz)
11/20/2010 Marseille (Le Dôme)
11/23/2010 Barcelona (Sant Jordi Club)
11/24/2010 Madrid (PALACIO VISTA ALEGRE)
11/26/2010 Valladolid (Pabellón Polideportivo Pisuerga)
11/27/2010 Santiago de Compostela (Multiusos Fontes do Sar)

ROB ZOMBIE:
2/16/2011 London UK – Brixton Academy
2/17/2011 Manchester UK – Academy
2/18/2011 Newcastle UK – O2 Academy
2/20/2011 Glasgow UK – Academy
2/21/2011 Leeds UK – 02 Academy
2/22/2011 Birmingham UK – O2 Academy

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FOR MORE INFORMATION ON:

MURDERDOLLS : murderdollsband.com

ALICE COOPER : www.alicecooper.com

ROB ZOMBIE :

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