Alice Cooper: The Devil On My Shoulder tour

Alice Cooper: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex

Alice Cooper: Devil on My Shoulder – A night with the Godfather of Shock Rock

Alice Cooper, Arthur Brown – The Brighton Dome 14 October 2026

Hello, Hooray!

The make-up may be legendary, the guillotine infamous and the snakes still a star attraction, but what happens when the master of rock’s dark arts puts down the props and tells his own story? There are rock stars, there are rock legends, and then there’s Alice Cooper — a man who turned theatrical horror into rock ’n’ roll gold and made parents question whether their children’s record collections were portals to the underworld, mine included! I had to hide my version of Killer as my Mother hated snakes! Alice clearly stated that the group never did anything Satanic, it was pure theatre!

Now, with his autobiography Devil on My Shoulder, Cooper invites us behind the greasepaint, beyond the blood-soaked theatrics and into the extraordinary life of the man who helped redefine what a rock concert could be.

I arrived at the venue to be greeted by a massive tour bus reversing into the dome car park, a few people had gathered. Inside the merch desk was busy, and the auditorium was running a huge Alice slideshow with some Alice tunes and sound bytes and was filling up nicely.

It’s Showtime… Welcome to the show!

The book co-author, Daniel Richler, stepped onto the stage. He asked us to cast our minds back to our first vivid recollection of Alice Cooper was. He said his first was on the Billion Dollar Babies tour when the guillotine was used! Mine, well I think it was seeing Alice perform on Top of The Pops doing Schools out!

I Bring You…

Alice Cooper/Arthur Brown: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex

Daniel introduced the guest for the evening, Arthur Brown as the opening lines truly blasted out “I am the god of hell fire and I bring you…”. Arthur Brown took to the stage waving his cane at the crowd in salute. Then “Please welcome Alice Cooper”, a huge cheer went up for Alice. There is a delicious prospect of these two veterans of rock sharing the stage. If anyone understands the importance of making an entrance, it’s these two!  Alice quickly followed him onto the stage, dropping his first line of dialogue, “Really? Yes, this is all my own hair, it might not be the right colour!”.

Daniel asked the first question to Alice “Can you remember the first time your heard fire?”, to which Alice replied “yes, Glen Buxton arrived with a radio and played it”. Alice remarked he had not heard anything like it, and noted the same makeup! Arthur piped in saying he thought Alice may have been copying his grandfather! Alice went on to detail how the makeup came about after watching some ballet, the squiggly lines which he said looked like spiders coming from his eyes. The makeup changed over time to the more familiar look.

Alice – The early years.

Alice Cooper: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex

Alice said he invented Alice to look like his favourite rock star, what would he want him to look like? Black leather – Emma Peel!  Mix it with the Bette Davis film, the caked on make up, seen in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, he noted the cracked porcelain skin and face and smeared eyes. Arthur took us back to his first experience and trial with make-up, he and his brother applying it to his sleeping grandfathers face. Arthur went to great lengths to then describe his back story. He covered the time he found a crown of thorns, put it on and then he set fire to it.

Alice went on to mention his first hearing of The Beatles, “She Loves you yeah yeah yeah” and “Please Please me” Those two records made the impact on Alice which led to the formation of The Earwigs with his high school best friends. So tracks were performed in tracksuits and Beatle wigs, and girls were hired to dance, scream and shout! They then became The Spiders. They were hugely influenced in the early days by the Yardbirds and The Who. Alice recalled an early gig were his band played a set of songs by The Yardbirds, who were the main act that night!

Alice Cooper: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex

There are no guitars to turn up to eleven, no theatrical executions to endure and, presumably, no need to check underneath your seat for a severed head. Instead, the audience gets something arguably more intriguing: the man himself, talking about the life behind the legend. A fascinating memory surrounding Salvador Dali and a hologram and a brain artwork. Then some fabulous banter between Arthur and Alice relating to footwear! Which led on to those leopard skin, thigh high, seven inch boots. The guillotine, the hangings paled as Alice explained the terror of wearing those boots!

Dwight Fry, The Crutch and 18!

Alice looked back at some of the earlier songs. He told us that from almost the first time they played he spotted an old crutch on the side of the stage and used it. The prop is still used today for the song Eighteen. They expanded on the crutch after spotting a long string mop “like a female replacement with the hair, we could do anything with it”, this was later replaced by a mannequin for Cold Ethyl. Eighteen? Alice, stopped and seemed to think about something, then that wicked smile returned “Eighteen! I am nearly 80, I think I should record an updated version, calling it Eighty, but I may need a real crutch!”.

Alice Cooper: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex

Alice chatted chatting about horror and splatter movies and one of his favourite “horror” actors was Dwight Frye. The song is a salute to the classic Hollywood character actor Dwight Frye (best known for playing Renfield in the 1931 horror film Dracula and the hunchbacked assistant in Frankenstein). Rather than being about the real actor going mad, he explained that the song is written from the psychological viewpoint of the manic, unhinged characters Frye portrayed on screen. The band had to drop the E from the title for legal reasons. Alice pointed out the straight jacket on the stage used when performing that song.

Alice Cooper: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex

The Chicken!

But beneath the macabre humour and outrageous mythology lies a more revealing story: one of reinvention, personal struggle and survival. We moved onto the substance and alcohol abuse period, which led on to the famous who killed the white chicken story, “It’s got feathers, it’s got wings and it should fly. Chickens don’t fly, they plummet!” and famously Alice the chicken into the air. Next day in the papers Alice Cooper Kills Chicken”. Alice went on to fill in some extra delightful details about that episode.

This was an extraordinary chance to hear first-hand the stories behind six decades of rock history, outrageous stage antics, excess, survival “how many beers did you drink? Just the one but I had been drinking it for 10 years”, and the creation of one of music’s most recognisable characters.

Alice Cooper: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex

Alice ended session one reading a section from the book The Devil On My Shoulder. Session two started with Alice returning to the lectern to read another section from the book.

Meet The Family!

Alice then introduced us to his wife of 50 years Sheryl, “She’s always in charge” and daughter Calico. These two are now pretty much involved in every show, dancing or dropping the guillotine blade on her husband! “I kill her; she kills me… we never argue!” He is clearly very proud of his family. The microphone was passed to Sheryl and Calico. The leading question was “What was it like growing up in a house of horrors?” It was great to see them and share a few hilarious tales.

The fascinating heart of Cooper’s story lies in the battle between the man and the monster. On stage, Alice is the sinister ringmaster of a theatrical nightmare; away from the spotlight, there’s Vincent Furnier, the man behind the character. The distinction between the two became increasingly blurred during the wild years of rock excess, and the discussion tonight gave us a candid look at how he eventually came through the other side. Alice mentioned writing with his friend Bernie Taupin. That time of Alice’s life is well documented and his shutting himself away in an asylum. The subsequent album was called From The Inside.

Alice Cooper: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex

We then had a white top hat carried on stage for a question and answer session. Alice advised “I do not do any maths questions”. Various questions from the audience had been submitted online. A lively and a wide selection of questions which Alice answered fully with fact and humour. There was a youngster in the crowd, in full Alice regalia with a fake snake. Alice also hinted that some of the earlier 80’s songs from what Alice labelled “Black Out Albums” might just get a remake?

The evening progressed, at times you could have heard a pin drop as everyone listened. Alice can drop names like the best of them. We had stories involving Zappa, Glen Buxton, Keith Moon, Bernie Taupin, Nilsson and more. You are going to have to see this tour to hear those stories in full, no spoilers! The snake story has to be heard to be believed!

Alice Cooper: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex

The Devil On My Shoulder

We had tales of rock ’n’ roll mayhem, encounters with legendary names, strange happenings, outrageous performances and the sort of backstage adventures you could only imagine.

Alice also touched on his faith and religion. Alice related a couple of stories about the early days and he goes to church on Sunday. He then gave us a heart-warming insight into his created Solid Rock, teenager centers, he said “taking kids off the streets”, and there are now three centres in the states. Its changed and saved lives. He is clearly deeply involved and loves working with this outfit.

Alice Cooper: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex

Time was up, Arthur Brown came out onto the stage for an auditorium photo opportunity. It was announced that the book had hit the number 4 slot on The New York Time book charts. Alice reminded us that “the first people in the world who really got Alice Cooper, were the British – so thank you!”. Alice and Arthur were given a rousing round of applause as they waved goodbye to their audience.

Devil on My Shoulder provided a fascinating encounter with one of rock’s great survivors — an evening where the stories are the main attraction and the truth may prove every bit as entertaining and inspiring as the legend.

Alice Cooper: Photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex

Good to see you again Alice Cooper, a fabulous evening.

And Finally…

Thanks to the Coops: Alice, Sheryl and Calico also Arthur Brown and  Daniel Richler.
A big shout of thanks to Mimi and Chris of Outside Organisation and Nick L of Brighton & South East Music. And a hug to the staff of The Brighton Dome x

Words, Videos and Photos for Scene Sussex by Ian “The Lens” Bourn. No AI or filters used, it’s pure and straight down “the lens”!

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