'Rock villain' brings horror show here

Whitefish Pilot has a chat with influential rock star Alice Cooper

By DAVID ERICKSON / Whitefish Pilot

Rock 'n' roll legend Alice Cooper has been touring the world for 40 years, but he sounds like he could do it for another 40.

He recently released his 25th studio album, "Along Came a Spider" (SPV Records), a concept album he wrote about a serial killer who imagines himself as a predatory spider, enveloping his victims in silk.

Over the years, Alice Cooper's music and live shows have influenced a whole swath of musical groups, including Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Motley Crue, Slipknot, Rob Zombie, and Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols.

Cooper will bring his newest music and performance art to Montana Raceway Park on Aug. 1. The Whitefish Pilot recently caught up with him on tour in Denmark.

PILOT: What can fans expect at your upcoming show in Montana?

COOPER: It's going to be exciting and fast. There's going to be a lot of theatrics. If anybody thinks we've slowed down, they're wrong.

We're going to play 28 or so songs, and 25 of them will be pure hard rock. I'm in my 60s now, and I have five times the energy I had when I was younger.

It's a psycho-drama show. They'll probably hang me in a straightjacket, among other things. We said, "Hey, as long as we're hanging him, why not do it in a straightjacket?" (laughs) I tell people that if you're in the first 20 rows to not wear your best clothes.

PILOT: What's it like to have been playing concerts for 40 years?

COOPER: I feel weird if I don't tour, you know? We basically go from June to November or December every year, playing five shows a week. We go all out with a lot of energy, like rock and roll is supposed to be.

I pay attention, and I make sure the audience is into it. If they lose interest, then you shouldn't be up there. What helps me is that I never smoked cigarettes, and I did quit drinking.

PILOT: Where did you come up with the concept for your new album?

COOPER: Well, all of my albums are all hard-rock albums, but every once in a while I find a good story. My shows look almost like a strange, psycho opera, and this album is a concept album. The last two albums were just straight rock, but I have written several concept albums like "Welcome to My Nightmare" (1975), "The Last Temptation" (1994) and "Brutal Planet" (2000).

For this one, I had a great idea for an album. A spider is the ultimate predator, and I wrote the story of a serial killer as a spider. All the victims are wrapped in different colored silk. There are eight bodies, but one thing he doesn't see coming is he falls in love with the last victim. He has one moment of doubt, and once he realizes it he gets this moment of clarity.

We have a giant hymn prologue and an epilogue that talks about how he was in an insane asylum talking to a spider the whole time. I was really influenced by the "Twilight Zone" as a kid, and I've written hundreds of stories over the years.

PILOT: Do you write everything that happens on stage?

COOPER: Yes, I write it all. When I was a kid, I was a horror movie show fan. I think rock and horror just go together for some weird reason, like chocolate and coconut.

I would see the Beatles and the Stones, and I thought, "If they're trying to be Peter Pan, you know, where is the rock villain?" So I created Alice to be Captain Hook.

PILOT: Have you ever been to Montana before?

COOPER: Yes, I've been to Billings. It was us and Faster Pussycat, and we had a private chartered plane. I've never seen anybody more terrified of flying than those guys. We were all laughing, but those guys were all white. We had to pull up three times before we landed because of the fog, and they were just scared to death.

I also almost bought a white Ford Mach 1 Mustang in Billings. It was a beautiful car, but it had just a little too much rust.

PILOT: Do you get any downtime here before you have to move on?

COOPER: We get there in the morning, and I'll probably go golfing. I golf almost every day. I have a plus-4 handicap, and I try to get out as often as I can when I'm on tour.

That area up there is spectacular. I live in Arizona, so you're basically my neighbors to the north. I have friends that go fly-fishing out there.

PILOT: Hopefully there won't be any wildfires when you play.

COOPER: Well, if there is, let's make it part of the show! They'll say, "Alice Cooper lit the whole side of the mountain on fire!"