Gathered in a tent on a scorching day in Hyde Park, the show proved to be Alice's eccentric, if not occasionally grotesque, take on X Factor. The show ranged from a lingerie-clad, Little Shop of Horrors influenced sadistic dentist; Snake Fervor sticking pins in her arm and lighting them on fire, later extinguishing them with her mouth; Britain's Got Talent rejects Girls Roc, breathing fire and stripping to latex; a cringe-inducing contortionist Chris Cross; Sophia Landi and her flaming bullwhip; and Ruby Blues, rocking to Motorhead as she took an angle grinder to her guitar.
As the auditions came to a close, I joined Cooper in the shade for a quick chat about hellacious onstage injuries, his friend Johnny D from Kentucky, and an unusual visit to Brian Wilson's house with Iggy Pop.
AC: This is my kind of thing. I like to look at something and be surprised by it, rather than think "Oh, I've seen that before." There were a couple things tonight that were unique to me. The whip on fire was a great idea. If you take all the lights off and have whips on fire like that, it would look great onstage.
How is it going to tie into your performance?
AC: It decorates the show. The main show is the New York Dolls, then we go on. Our shows are inherently theatrical. We dress our shows so its the main freak show. When you walk it in, its sort of like, this act is over here, this act is over there... It turns into a sideshow. Wherever you look, there's something going on that's totally different. I think that's what these acts do, they round out the show.
Was it a hard decision?
AC: No, we tried to figure out which would work in the context of the show. One girl could blow fire further than anybody. The smallest girl blew the biggest fire! One girl had the whip, that was really interesting to me. One girl was just 1940s burlesque, which was kind of interesting. I was waiting for that one thing, though, that made me go, "Whoa!" It just wasn't there tonight. Just didn't make me go, "Wow!" If Arthur Brown had lit his hair on fire, I would have gone, "OK! I understand that!"
What freaky things have happened to you in your career?
Oh, every night is like that for us. There's always those Spinal Tap moments, where this is supposed to happen, but that happens. I use a sword onstage and I stick it in the stage. Once, I used the sword and it went right through my leg, came out the other end. At the time, I had so much adrenaline onstage, I didn't really feel it. It hurt a little bit, but it wasn't the worst thing ever. I thought, I'm in the moment right now, its in my leg, leave it there! The audience thought it was a trick. The band knew it wasn't! Every time I'd walk, it'd spurt a little. After the show, with the audience gone, I went, "Ow!" I took a bottle of whiskey and poured it there. I thought, "What would Stallone do? He'd take a cigar and cauterise it." Every night something happens. I fell offstage in Vancouver one night and I broke all my ribs on the right side. I got back up and finished the show. I didn't really feel it right then, but I later had twenty eight stitches in my head. I didn't realise I had a concussion until the forth song, when I began seeing double. When the show is going, you don't stop the show. No matter what happens, you keep the show going.
What about the time when you visited Brian Wilson's house with Iggy Pop, and he played you the greatest song of all time?
Iggy and I are sitting there waiting, and this is Brian Wilson, one of the greatest writers of all time. He sits down at the piano in the sandbox and starts playing Mama Little Baby Loves Shortnin' Bread. We laugh and he says, "No, this is the greatest song ever written." He was dead serious. We were like two little kids, we said, "OK! Why is that the best song?" He said, "I don't know. Its just the best song in the world." This is like McCartney telling you that. You say, "OK, I guess you're right!" Iggy and I looked at each other and thought, "Is that really the greatest song in the world?" It was 1978 or something like that.
How was the gig at the 100 Club? [Cooper played an intimate gig at London's legendary venue in June.]
It was more fun than anything, because we were just a bar band. I told the guys in the band, "We're a bar band tonight." When you put a show on sale and there's only 300 tickets, its going to be 300 of your most devoted fans. It ended up being a party for the people who are always in the front row, every time we play Britain. I know the first forty people, and they were all there. I said, "Since I don't have the make-up on tonight, I can talk to you." Alice would never talk to an audience, but last night was without Alice there. It was just us being a rock band. We invited Johnny Depp to come up and play guitar, because he's a really good guitar player. He's not just Johnny Depp, the great actor. He's a musician, we see him as a musician. He came up, plugged in, and I think everybody was surprised at how good he was. The guy is a great guitar player. We looked at the emails and the Twitter, everybody said, "Its going to be Slash and Ronnie Wood, this guy and that guy!" When I introduced Johnny D from Kentucky, the fabulous old blues singer, he comes up with his head down. You could see the light bulbs go on. The girls in the front were going, "That's... Johnny Depp! Johnny Depp!" But he's so cool, because he's just a guitar player. That night he wasn't Johnny Depp, he was just a guitar player. We've become really quick friends now, because we recognise him as a musician, not just an actor. He's a valid guitar player. Any time he wants to come up and play, and we're both in town, feel free. We've always given that priviledge to any really great guitar player. He's in the same place as Brian May, Slash, or any of those guys.
Alice Cooper's Night Of Fear tour kicks off tonight in Sheffield, hitting London's Alexandra Palace on Saturday. Welcome 2 My Nightmare is out now.
