Hear Alice Cooper’s Nightmare Live
A long-time bootlegged KBFH broadcast gets an official release for RSDBF
Vincent Furnier, who took on the Alice Cooper moniker after the titular group had disbanded, triumphed by releasing his first and arguably best solo album, Welcome to My Nightmare. As if going solo was entering the big unknown enough, supporting the album on the road became a huge risk. Cooper and manager Shep Gordon invested over half a million dollars of their own money into the production, making it a win-big-or-lose-everything scenario.
Welcome to My Nightmare choreographed by David Winters compared to the improvised nature of previous Alice Cooper stage shows, had the scale of an elaborate Broadway production. Still rooted in horror imagery, the extra violent antics, such as the guillotine and butchered baby dolls, were swapped for dancers, film projections, and costumes. Toning down confrontational extremes allowed the Alice character to transform from the poster boy for controversy to a mainstream phenomenon that wove into the consciousness of mid-’70s Americana. Cooper’s choice of backing band members, consisting of members from Lou Reed’s live band heard on the Rock 'n' Roll Animal live album, was a virtuosic leap from the original group’s street-wise heavy-handedness. Out of all the rock/theatre crossovers that occurred in the 1970s, the Welcome to My Nightmare tour became one of the most over-the-top productions of its time.
All but one track on the Welcome to My Nightmare form the nucleus of the show. The album’s title track ominously begins the performance, leading into a serving of familiar fan favorites (“No More Mr. Nice Guy,” “Billion Dollar Babies,” and “I’m Eighteen”). Verses of “Years Ago” are sprinkled in between, almost like musical-esque interludes. The second quarter of the show interprets the scope of Alice’s eccentric and demented artistry, emulating Fred Astaire on the vaudeville-inspired “Some Folks,” necrophiliac imagery on “Cold Ethyl,” and tender abuse of “Only Women Bleed"; the latter became a Top 20 hit. The backing band vamps on “Devil’s Food,” building up to Vincent Price's commanding monologue into the seductive “Black Widow” and the traumatic melodrama of “Steven,” before wrapping the main set with the title track. “Escape” kicks the encore off in a lively fashion and goes into the anthemic “School’s Out” and “Department of Youth.”
One of the tour’s high points was a run of sold-out shows at the Los Angeles Forum in June 1975. The performance from the 17th was recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio program. Its staggering audio quality, presumably from a pre-FM reel that circulates, makes it the definitive audio document from the tour. Apart from being bootlegged since the ‘70s and a few dodgy grey market releases, Welcome to My Nightmare’s 50th anniversary makes it a prime occasion to present this show as an official release for Record Store Day Black Friday 2025.
Drew Struzan’s original Welcome to My Nightmare artwork is reimagined with alternate color schemes and a live shot of Alice sporting a white tuxedo and top hat. All artwork elements feature a deluxe spot varnish finish against a matte background. Some of the photos in the inner gatefold offer some glimpses into the show’s spectacle. Limited to 3500 copies on black vinyl, each record features a re-colorized rendering of the mid-’70s Atlantic center label.
Exclaiming ecstatically to every theatrical thrill, clapping along to every song, and creating an electrifying ambiance by setting off firecrackers, this recording places the listener right in the crowd. Alice’s vocals are up front in the mix, as they should be. His persona truly comes to life on the live stage, where his vocals have more grit and excitement compared to the tame studio counterparts of the repertoire. Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner’s guitars are panned on opposite ends of the speakers, creating a wide soundstage for Whitey Glan’s drums to bounce across. Pre-Nightmare favorite “I’m Eighteen” exemplifies the versatility of Cooper’s backing band. Prakash John’s heavy-handed bass work gave them an edge, but Jozef Chirowski’s dueling synths gave them technical flair. They further prove their means of being an asset by executing an instrumental medley of motifs, consisting of “Halo of Flies” from Killer, “The Black Widow,” and what became “Didn’t We Meet” on Alice Cooper Goes to Hell.
As great as Welcome to My Nightmare: Live at the Forum is, there’s a reason why Alice Cooper isn’t considered part of the pantheon of other hard rock artists, like Peter Frampton and Cheap Trick, that released sensational live albums during their prime. Heavily relying on visuals, though not too detracting from the musical performances, makes live recordings like this mere souvenir-like footnotes for people who were there or curiosities for analytical listeners to observe. Listen to this and close your eyes: imagining the dancing skeletons in front of the stage, women in spider outfits climbing a web made of rope, and Alice beheading a nine-foot cycloptic monster; I suppose you had to be there.
