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Heaven and Hell, Alice Cooper, & Queensryche
Sleep train Pavilion, Concord, CA
September 30, 2007
By Dan Wall
Heaven and Hell Set List: E5150 (intro), The Mob
Rules, Children of the Sea, I, The Sign of the Southern Cross, Voodoo,
Computer God, Falling Off the Edge of the World, Die Young, Heaven and
Hell. Encore: Neon Knights. 1 hour, 30 minutes.
Alice Cooper Set List: It’s Hot Tonight, No More Mr. Nice Guy, Under My
Wheels, 18, Is It My Body, Woman of Mass Distraction, Halo of Flies,
Welcome to My Nightmare, Only Women Bleed, Steven, Dead Babies, Ballad
of Dwight Fry, Devil’s Food, I Love the Dead, School’s Out. Encore:
Billion Dollar Babies, Poison, Elected. 75 minutes.
Queensryche Set List: The Whisper, Damages, Speak, I’m American, Jet
City Woman, The Needle Lies, Empire, Welcome to the Machine, Eyes of a
Stranger. 40 minutes.
When Heaven and Hell hit the Bay Area on the first leg of its tour back
in April, the band used Megadeth and Machine Head as its opening acts,
giving the show a decided metal feel and bringing the headbangers out in
mass.
This time around, the group used Alice Cooper and Queensryche as
openers, and even though that grouping is as good as it gets as far as
I’m concerned, the band had trouble drawing on its second trip through
the area.
As a matter of fact, discount ticket vouchers were issued the week
before the show, but only 6000 or so hearty souls showed up for one of
the best hard rock bills of the year. Once again, there are only so many
fans and so much money to be divided among all of the shows that turn up
in a market like this, and most of the serious fans probably saw the
show back in April in San Jose.
The performance was so similar, in fact, that I am going to point you
towards reviews (go to articles, then Heaven and Hell reviews) that A.
Lee Graham and I wrote back in April for this site to give you an idea
of how powerful the band was onstage (I have included the current set
list here).
As far as the band goes, diminutive vocalist Ronnie James Dio still has
the pipes of a man half his age, doom master Tony Iommi played his
gloomy, doomy riffs like no one else can, bassist Geezer Butler was his
solid self and drummer Vinny Appice pounded like Fred Flintstone down at
the rock quarry. It proved once again that this version of the band is
one of the best in metal history and can stand on its own against the
giants of the genre.
It’s a daunting task-just try convincing rock fans that Alice Cooper
isn’t some washed up, tragic old school rocker who is out touring just
to make a buck. Cooper’s performance on this bill proved that not only
is Alice still at the top of his game, but he still puts on one of the
best shows in the business.
A great set list, a wonderful band that features drummer Eric Singer (an
absolute rock), and the venerable Alice, still the template for
theatrical rock despite the limited stage time. Cooper was in fine
voice, his band aced every single song, and the crowd, sensing something
special, was much more receptive than it probably should have been for
an opening act.
Highlights were plentiful, including “Billion Dollar Babies,” still one
of my favorite rock songs of all time, the rarely heard “Halo of Flies”
and the rousing finale of “Elected,” with a dancing Hillary and George,
which actually sounded great and bodes well for Cooper’s future-but not
ours.
Queensryche opened, and that’s a miracle in itself. Along with Alice and
Mr. Dio, this band has actually headlined at this venue many times, thus
proving once again what a quality bill this was. Still led by vocalist
Geoff Tate and his spectacular five-octave voice, the band played a
short set of mostly classics and some obscure stuff that still sounds
great after all these years.
Both Michael Wilton and Mike Stone starred on guitar, often playing
tandem leads that added body to the songs. Bassist Eddie Jackson is the
quiet, unassuming one who keeps the beat solidly with drummer Scott
Rockenfield, a monster player who helps hold the sound together onstage.
The big surprise was the inclusion of Pink Floyd’s “Welcome to the
Machine,” which will be featured on the band’s cover album that’s due in
November.
Despite the small crowd, this turned out to be one of the best metal
bills to come through the Bay Area in quite some time. |
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