Review - The Hollywood Vampires @ the Warfield (5/12/19)

Joe Perry & Johnny Depp of The Hollywood Vampires (Photo: Kevin Keating)

It began in the 70s at the famed Rainbow Room on Sunset Boulevard, where a group of rock stars would challenge themselves to see who would be left standing at the end of the night of heavy drinking. Members of that Hollywood Vampires drinking club included John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, Mickey Dolenz, Elton John, and lead instigator, Alice Cooper... But since 2015, Alice Cooper’s shifted gears and pulled together a ‘super-group’ of sorts to honor the memories of those Hollywood elite who have died from their excesses. The Hollywood Vampires descended on the Warfield this past Sunday night and were made up of Alice Cooper, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry, and the multitalented, Johnny Depp, who may be better known for his performances of Captain Jack Sparrow or Edward Scissorhands instead of his chops on a guitar or behind the mic. That threesome of vampires was backed by Buck Johnson on keyboards, Glen Sobel on drums, Tommy Henriksen on rhythm guitar, and Chris Wyse on bass.

Alice Cooper, the original Hollywood Vampire (Photo: Kevin Keating)

The septet hit the stage surprisingly early – at about 8:10pm – and without the need for a show opener to warm-up the well-attended Warfield crowd who were ready to cap-off Mother’s Day with what turned out to be a full frontal assault of classic guitar rock. The 90-minute set featured a relative even mix of cover songs and originals from their 2015 self-titled debut album (iTunes) and their upcoming 2019 summer release, Rise. Of their originals, “Who’s Laughing Now” featured Joe Perry using a talkbox, and Cooper gave us a history lesson on the original Hollywood Vampires before “My Dead Drunk Friends.” That song featured a video montage that rotated through a selection of still photos that presumably included prior club members. The video was heavy on Jimi Hendrix pictures, but also featured a few of Lemmy as well.

Johnny Depp of The Hollywood Vampires (Photo: Kevin Keating)

Although Alice did the majority of the singing throughout the night, Joe Perry took over for a cover of Johnny Thunders’ “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory” after wishing all the mothers in the audience a Happy Mother’s Day. But the surprise of the night was when Johnny Depp stepped behind the mic and sang Bowie’s “Heroes”. Up until that point – which was about mid-way through the show – Depp had already impressed me with his guitar skills. He and Perry had seemingly taken turns with their respective solos on earlier tracks, and I stood there almost shocked at how good Depp was on the axe. But on “Heroes”, his vocals shined and closely matched those of the thin white duke. Depp took the mic again later in the show and dedicated “People Who Died” to his longtime bodyguard and confidant, Jerry Judge. The photo montage during that song featured a who’s who of dead celebrities including Prince and even River Phoenix.

Joe Perry of The Hollywood Vampires (Photo: Kevin Keating)

If forced to pick a favorite moment from the night, I’d probably land on the performance of The Who’s “Baba O’Reily” which just sounded fantastic – and of course included the obligatory drum solo of the night from Glen Sobel... On the other hand, the closing number was Alice Cooper’s classic, “School’s Out”, which not only had the full band just having a blast, the crowd was completely involved as well. Their rendition included a breakdown of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall’ chorus just to make it even more of a school yard anthem.

Joe Perry & Johnny Depp of The Hollywood Vampires (Photo: Kevin Keating)

The band members really didn't do much talking throughout the night, but Alice made an effort to weave some humor into some of the song intros... He mentioned how not every Hollywood Vampire died -- that he's from a much older breed, just before "I'm Eighteen". And after he introduced the band towards the end of the night, he closed with the line "And playing the part of Alice Cooper tonight... me."

Alice Cooper of The Hollywood Vampires (Photo: Kevin Keating)

Overall, it was a fun show, and the covers resonated the most with me simply because I wasn't as familiar with their original material, but I have to say that I'm looking forward to their new album scheduled for release next month! If you get a chance to see these guys the next time they're around, you won't be disappointed by their performance!

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