Hollywood Vampires, Nothing to Fear at Casino Rama

Friday evening, The Hollywood Vampires brought their show to Casino Rama in Orillia. When my editor messaged me some time ago and asked, “Do you want to shoot The Hollywood Vampires?”, I could hardly type my answer fast enough! After all, I have been a life-long fan of Alice Cooper’s and when you add in Joe Perry from Aerosmith and Johnny Depp, it only gets more interesting.

The Vampires were originally a drinking club and Alice was a founding member. They hung out at The Rainbow room in Los Angeles many years ago, with famous members like Keith Moon, Jim Morrison, Harry Nillsen, John Lennon and Micky Dolenz to name a few. The band was put together to pay homage to the memories of way too many of these people who left us prematurely. They play mostly cover songs made famous by some of the people who patronized the drinking club.

The atmosphere there was electric in anticipation of the show. As I walked around the venue, I was hearing talk of Alice as usual, but it was interesting to overhear the conversations about Johnny Depp. We know him as an actor and until quite recently, most of us never knew of his love for music. Alice said in an interview that “Johnny is actually a musician who accidentally became an actor”.

When the lights went down, we could hear the recorded monologue by Christopher Lee, then you see Joe Perry emerge from behind the wall of speakers, cigarillo in his mouth, playing the opening chords of “I want my Now”, a Vampires original, followed by “Raise The Dead”. “Got a Line On You” was the first cover in tribute to Randy California and Spirit.

The fifth song is another Vampires original called “Dead Drunk Friends” which came from a favorite line of Alice’s when talking of his friends from the old days. He says they would love it, that was their sense of humour. Next up we heard The Vampires pay tribute to Jim Morrison and The Doors with “5 To 1/Break On Through”. Being a Doors fan, I especially liked this part of the show. Before going into “The Jack”, Alice stated, “We just lost Malcom”, referring to the death of Ac/Dc guitar player, Malcolm Young.

The next song was Motorhead’s “Ace Of Spades”, in tribute to “Lemme” Kilmister who also passed away recently. I have to say, this one wasn’t my favorite, but I’m not a metal-head at all. I was more enthused with The Who’s “Baba O’Riley” which was next up. I was pleased that there were a couple of Alice songs in the lineup, and how could one of them not be “Eighteen”, an Alice staple?  The highlight of the whole show for many people was at a point when Johnny Depp moved to the front and sang a very convincing version of David Bowie’s “Heroes”. If there was ever a question of Johnny being an actual musician, the answer is Yes, he is!

The concert was finished off with a huge version of Tiny Bradshaw’s “Train Kept A Rollin”, another song also covered by Aerosmith early in their career. As if that weren’t enough, the band returned for their encore and you heard a bell ring, the crowd immediately erupted as they knew what was coming; “School’s Out”! After the show, the band came together at the front of the stage for a curtain call and were rewarded by a very enthusiastic crowd.  Would I return to Casino Rama for another show? You bet! For more information on the Vampires visit  www.hollywoodvampires.com.

Casino Rama has entertainment for all tastes lined over the coming months for a full list of what’s coming up visit  www.casinorama.com/live/

 

Set List

I Want My Now

Raise The Dead

Got A Line on You (Spirit cover)

7 and 7 Is (Love cover)

Dead Drunk Friends

5 to 1/  Break On Through (Doors cover)

The Jack (AC/DC cover)

Ace Of Spades (Motorhead Cover)

Baba O’Riley (The Who cover)

Bad As I Am

The Boogieman Surprise

Eighteen (Alice Cooper cover)

Combination (Aerosmith cover)

People Who Died (Jim Carroll Band cover)

Sweet Emotion (Aerosmith cover)

Bushwackers

Heroes (David Bowie cover)

Train Kept A Rolling (Tiny Bradshaw cover)

School’s Out (Alice Cooper cover)