Hollywood Vampires sets the stakes high for Manchester ‘Blood Suckers’

Caitlin Gray | 4th July 2018

 

The Hollywood Vampires recently came to Manchester Arena as part of their UK tour, and put on a night of classic rock and ghoulish antics that Mancunian fans will most definitely not forget.

The supergroup fronts a number of major rock legends; Alice Cooper, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry and Golden Globe actor Johnny Depp. The name derives from an exclusive drinking club in which Cooper created in the 1970s, and boasted members from bands such as The Beatles, The Monkees and the Who.

The strict Gothic theme of the band was present before the act had even approached the stage. A brief monologue discussing the ‘children of the night’ was backed by the classic organ, which could be considered as the main score for any vampire tale. This created an ambience that the night was going to be more than just a rock show- and the intention of telling a story and giving each of the band members a fictional vamp persona worked perfectly.

It was extremely obvious as soon as the band sauntered onstage that they were calm, collected and professional- and an arena gig was nothing out of the ordinary to them. Cooper adorned his classic top hat and coat tails, complete with baton and painted vampire punctures on his neck- whilst Depp suavely strolled from side to side- winking and waving at a clearly adoring audience.

Opening with ‘Raise the Dead’, the crowd was jumping and joining in within the first verse- with completely flawless vocals from a theatrical Cooper, who proved that he was more than capable of putting on a show arguably even better than those he performed 30 years ago.

Although the band was clearly led by Cooper, Joe Perry stole the show at certain moments, with a sensational guitar solo on the classic ‘I Got a Line on You Babe’ that was effortlessly performed with a suave and ever so professional attitude. Perry additionally fronted most of the vocals on Aerosmith classic ‘Sweet Emotion’.

The laid back attitude of the band was proved halfway through the show, when Perry shouted out to the crowd if they had any preferences on what they would perform, whilst Depp repeatedly puffed away on cigarettes whilst effortlessly performing. A definite sense of friendly banter was also present between the performers, Cooper playfully teasing Depp during certain performances.

There were multiple references throughout the show of deceased musicians, potentially a nod to the Vampires’ song ‘My Dead Drunk Friends’. The Doors’ classic ‘Five to One’ with a compilation of lead Jim Morrison images as the backdrop, as well as Motorhead’s ‘Ace of Spades’ with the same tribute to Lemmy Kilmister. A particularly heartfelt performance vocalised by Depp was ‘Heroes’, with iconic images of Bowie throughout. An image of River Phoenix was shown during one of Depp’s vocals- who famously died at The Viper Room club part owned by Depp himself.

The show, performed on Fathers Day debuted Depp’s song written about his late stepfather, ‘As Bad as I Am’, which told the tale of a man who although was an inspiration to Depp, was also a criminal who spent the vast majority of his life in prison. Cooper fondly praised Depp before the performance for his lyrical skills, telling the inspiration behind the song.

A peak of Cooper’s theatricality was a cover of ACDC’s ‘She’s got the Jack’, where he repeatedly pulled jack cards from his coat, strolling back and forth before throwing them out to his shrieking audience who scrambled for the memento frantically. He played up to the vampire theme with complete dedication, referring to the fans as ‘British Bloodsuckers’ as well as stating that the band ‘loved British blood’.

The show was rounded off with the band’s newest single ‘The Boogieman Surprise’, which was received exceptionally by the crowd. The encore consisting of anthems ‘Schools out for Summer’ and Pink Floyd’s ‘Another Brick in the Wall’, with huge red and white balloons adorned with the band’s logo released into the audience.

It goes without saying that every member of the band put on a faultless performance, performing songs not only from their own album but countless huge musicians that the crowd could not only join in with, but allowed each cover to pay tribute to the Hollywood Vampires’ deceased friends.

Check out the Hollywood Vampires’ Twitter, Instagram and Official Site.

Listen to the Vampire’s album on Spotify below.