It was a very hot steamy day and night in Michigan but that wasn’t going to stop the sellout crowd from banging with the “Freaks on Parade” Tuesday night. Speaking of the tour special guests Filter and Ministry got things going early with Filter kicking things off around 6:00 the short six song set definitely brought some high-level energy frontman Richard Patrick was his usual self and clearly was unfazed by the heat and humidity. Shortly after a little extra muscle hit stage as Ministry opened the set with “Thieves” throwing some added fuel to the fire that was already burning, with juices flowing the hill was rocking from end to end. The nine-song set was vintage Ministry with a side of nasty.
The sold-out crowd was pretty much in place for their hometown rocker Alice Cooper who was set to hit the stage any minute now. With a giant newspaper curtain hanging in place out comes Alice Cooper and it was showtime from that point on greeted with a loud and very energized roar from the crowd who was ready to let loose. The stage was packed with vintage Cooper props opening up with “Lock me Up” followed up with classic Alice hits “No more Mr. nice Guy” “I’m Eighteen” and “Under my Wheels” and that was just the first four songs. The 65-minute set was a total ass kicking rock and roll performance only Alice Cooper can do. Talk about kicking some ass let’s talk female guitarist Nita Strauss shredding every guitar put in here hands. This is my first time covering the band and seeing Nita live in person is a total treat one you shouldn’t pass on. Thanks for being a badass Nita!
A tall monster puppet made its usual appearance during “Feed my Frankenstein” speaking of the props i mentioned Cooper invited his friend to chill with him during “Snakebite” the friend being a boa constrictor resting comfortably on the shoulders of the 75-year-old Detroit rocker. The set included more classics like “Billion dollar Baby” “Poison” while not leaving out “Hey Stoopid” Closing out the sweat filled set with his confetti filled iconic hit “Schools Out” with everyone in attendance lending a voice or two sharing the love for their hometown rocker. Before leaving Alice Cooper bowed to the crowd saying, “It’s nice to be home” and the total agreed with that. A much needed 20-minute break from the heat was taking place while the stage was getting set up for Rob Zombie.
The time was getting near, a black curtain hanging in place was ready to drop on the 15,000 plus and at last down goes the curtain Rob Zombie can be seen standing on a very tall platform complete with a sun dial opening with “The Triumph of King Freak” going right into “Dead City Radio and the New Gods of Supertown” holy hell take it easy on us! The stage set up had some very tall high-def screens that probably could land a plane or two on the hill and not to forget the pyros. A pretty cool moment came during “More Human Than Human” when a large-scale puppet kept tossing balloons into the crowd during the White Zombie song and some creepy crawlers running around stage during “Superbeast” and “Demonoid Phenomenon”
Let’s talk about power for a quick second shall we. When someone holds the power, they can pretty much do as is and that’s exactly what Rob Zombie did before playing my favorite White Zombie song “Thunder Kiss ’65” wow you felt like you just came out of a boxing match and got hit with a one-two punch. A clever individual indeed Rob Zombie took the time before the encore to advertise the upcoming 20th anniversary re-release of “House of 1,000 Corpses” before slaying the zombie heads with “Dragula” Zombie ended his set with a salute to Detroit “you are always one of our favorite place” Freaks on Parade tour will be marching into a city near you don’t miss hit. Below is my Rob Zombie gallery.
Rob Zombie Freaks on Parade tour September 5, 2023, at Pine Knob Music Theatre
