Johnny Depp, Alice Cooper and Co. Raise Dead at Hollywood Vampires’ Debut
Much has been made of the Sunset Strip’s demise. Pay-to-play has ruined legendary venues, and the House of Blues is no more. It took a bunch of old, death-obsessed Hollywood Vampires at the Roxy Theatre Wednesday night to prove that live rock’s traditional epicenter is still as vital as ever.
The Vampires are to supergroup what Roman is to empire, the players so storied that band member Johnny Depp is just another face onstage. Ditto for surprise guest vocalists Kesha and Perry Farrell, and for Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Zak Starkey (the Who, Oasis), both of whom sat in last night. There were 11 people onstage, including Farrell’s wife, Etty Lau Farrell, at one point in the Vampires’ hourlong set to celebrate this month’s covers-heavy self-titled debut album. There was actually discernible disappointment that the likes of Vampires collaborators Dave Grohl, Sir Paul McCartney, Joe Walsh and Slash didn’t appear on the two-foot high stage. Yeah, seeing Johnny Depp, in a black vest and eyeliner, push his ax into descending madness for a solo on “Raise the Dead,” was just ho-hum for an industry-heavy audience of leather-skinned folks with expense accounts.
But when the Vampires tore into the Who’s “My Generation” the sold-out audience was there, simmering to a pounding bass line that communicated urgency, strength and youth. Lead vocalist Alice Cooper is the God-voice of rock, with a deep, paternal sound that says, “Oh, yes, you will come along for this ride.” One black glove squeezed a mic, the other chopped at his mates behind him as he orchestrated bridges and breakdowns.
The fashion of the affair could suggest a rock & roll wake, and Cooper dedicated a song, “My Dead Drunk Friends,” to all his “brothers who drank until they died.”
Indeed, respect for Sunset Strip’s fallen heroes is the morbid theme of the Vampires, a rebirth of Cooper’s Seventies-era drinking clique called, yes, the Hollywood Vampires. As darkly impressive as that sounds, the Lair of the Hollywood Vampires next door at industry haunt the Rainbow Bar and Grill is really just a cubbyhole of a space. Cooper’s original Vampires included John Lennon, Harry Nilsson and Keith Moon, and they stalked the night in an era when you could still proudly party yourself to death.
Hollywood Vampires, the band, was formed three years ago by Alice and Depp. Joe Perry, Aerosmith’s lead guitarist, completed the triumvirate. Adding to the scrum Wednesday were Guns N’ Roses’ old rhythm section — Matt Sorum on skins, Duff McKagan on bass — plus Tommy Henriksen on guitar, and Bruce Witkin on keys and guitar.