The Moon Tower

Hollwood Vampires

Genting Arena, Birmingham 16/06/2018

The Hollywood Vampires - part supergroup, part covers band, comprising Alice Cooper, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry, and some actor called Johnny Depp - make Birmingham the opening night of their first ever UK tour. The Hollywood Vampires started out as a rock star drinking club, formed upstairs at the Rainbow Bar and Grill on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip in the 1970s. The requirement to join? Outdrink everyone else and stay standing. Cooper of course is one of the original and lasting members (although he swapped alcohol for golf many years ago), and tonight is a tribute to those fallen friends. As Cooper announces as the Vampires stroll onto stage "we are the Hollywood Vampires - we sing for our dead, drunk friends".

There’s no doubt Cooper is a great frontman, as he prowls around the stage in his finest costumes and makeup, pointing his cane out to the audience. Joe Perry’s excellent guitar skills of course shine, at one point even playing the instrument behind his head. But even with these two heavyweights, it’s very evident that a high percentage of the audience have come to see the ‘other’ guy, either out of adulation or curiosity (as the constant stream of women trying to bypass security at the front of the stage to take a photo shows. It’s clear who they’re trying to take a photo of).

Yes, Johnny Depp is the one the crowd (female part at least) goes wild for, and probably the one who has the most to prove – considering his ‘day job’ is acting. There had been some concerns for his health the week prior, when he was spotted out in Europe looking what some described as gaunt and ill. And although looking perhaps slightly slimmer, he seems in good form, and plays the part of ‘rock star’ to the extreme tonight.

Dressed in a variety of belts, accessories and jewellery, playing his guitar low and loose, Depp plays, sings backup and even lead vocals on the David Bowie hit Heroes, which turns out to be one of the highlights of the evening. He truly gave a great performance on vocals whilst images of Bowie were projected on the screen behind him. It really was his time to shine and he did so with sincerity and coolness.

The rest of the set was of course in the same vein: covers of various rock classics with the departed band members up on the screen at the back of the stage. From Motörhead’s Ace of Spades (Lemmy Kilmister), AC/DC’s The Jack (Malcolm Young), The Doors Break on Through (Jim Morrison), to The Who’s Keith Moon getting a shout out of “one of the most beloved undead” during Baba O’Riley. There are some original songs thrown in off the Vampires' first album, such as As Bad As I Am – apparently written by Depp about his father, Raise the Dead, and My Dead Drunk Friends, with its singalong chorus about drinking, puking, fighting and dying.

When you have Cooper and Perry on stage, it would be criminal not to include some of their own work, even if it doesn’t quite fit the theme. We get I’m Eighteen and School’s Out from Cooper, plus Fleetwood Mac’s Stop Messin’ Round (which was covered by Aerosmith with Perry on vocals), as well as Train Kept A-Rollin’, although widely covered it has been an Aerosmith staple since the start of their career.

However, one song stands out as a bit of a "leave it alone" moment - Sweet Emotion. Although Cooper tries his best, it falls flat and it’s evident his vocals aren’t able to match Steven Tyler’s distinct delivery. Some Vampires gigs have unannounced rock star friends dropping by for a number, and tonight it’s Ian Hunter from Mott The Hoople to do their hit (and Bowie penned) All The Young Dudes.

As the 90 minute set comes to an end, we’re left with the feeling that ultimately this is a covers band that in places can be a bit hit or miss in the delivery of their choice of covers. If Depp wasn’t part of this line up, it would be interesting to see what size venues they’d actually be playing – as it is, the back of the Genting Arena is curtained off, covering the seats they didn’t manage to shift. But the Vampires leave to rapturous applause from a crowd that’s been on its feet from the opening chord, with the ladies straining their necks to get one last look of Johnny on their way out.

Setlist: I Want My Now / Raise the Dead / I Got a Line on You / 7 and 7 Is / My Dead Drunk Friends / Five to One/Break On Through / The Jack / Ace of Spades / Baba O’Riley / As Bad As I Am / The Boogieman Surprise / I’m Eighteen / Stop Messin’ Around / People Who Died / Sweet Emotion / Bushwackers / Heroes / All The Young Dudes / Train Kept A-Rollin’

Encore: School’s Out/Another Brick in the Wall

Check out Hollywood Vampires on Facebook and their official site.

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