This story appeared in 'Meeting Minutes & More,' a weekly, six-page special section in the print editions of Friday's News-Gazette reported and written by Editor Jeff D'Alessio and designed by Managing Editor Niko Dugan. Click here to read an electronic version of this week's section. Click here to subscribe to The News-Gazette.
For those expecting to read about dancing skeletons, giant snakes and live chickens in ALICE COOPER’s rider, we’re sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
No, the raspy-voiced godfather of shock rock hasn’t mellowed much at 75; he just brings the most ghastly stage props — like the guillotine used for his mock beheading — with him from show to show.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer — whose four-bus, three-semi, two-trailer caravan pulled into State Farm Center for a 25-song Champaign show last month — is the focus of Part 30 of our ongoing series digging into the details of entertainers’ tour riders.
Here’s what we learned from Cooper’s, obtained via an open-records request from the University of Illinois.
— Consider yourselves warned, janitorial staffs at the 27 remaining venues booked for shows on the “Too Close for Comfort” tour: “An Alice Cooper show may involve confetti-filled balloons and/or streamers being tossed out into the audience, and/or the use of ‘stage blood’ in some of the theatrics, some of which may drip onto the stage or splatter into the audience,” the rider states. “No additional charges for cleanup will be allowed.”
— Part of the band’s dressing-room drink order depends on the day of the show. If it’s a Monday, Thursday or Saturday, they’ll have one bottle of Grey Goose, Ketel One or Belvedere Vodka (“NO Stolli, Tito’s or Absolut”). If it’s a Wednesday or Sunday, make it a bottle of Kahlua, Baileys Irish Cream, Malibu Rum or Havana Club Dark Rum.
— No matter the day, the band shall also have six bottles of Corona Light, six bottles of Stella Artois, one bottle of Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon (with an opener and four wine glasses) and munchies galore, including Sweet Chili Doritos, Chef’s Cut turkey jerky, Purely Elizabeth granola, Skinny Pop popcorn and Newman’s Own salsa.
— Cooper’s dressing room must-haves include two “easy-to-read” magazines and/or newspapers (“NO Wall Street Journal”); “BRIGHT” lighting; a four-pack of black crew socks (Sundays and Thursdays only); one bunch of bananas (“no spots please”); a box of Tic Tacs (either wintergreen or regular suffice); six assorted-flavor Vitamin Waters (“NO orange”); a large bag of SunChips (“HARVEST CHEDDAR flavor ONLY”); a small platter of sliced hard cheeses (“This is more like a charcuterie cheese platter, not sandwich cheese”); one package of crackers (“unopened”); and a bottle of chardonnay.
— What do Brandon Peters, Mikey Dudek and Alice Cooper share in common? They all wanted to wear No. 18 on campus — the first two while playing Big Ten football, Cooper as part of point No. 38 in his rider, which states: “Promoter to provide an official team jersey, size Large, from a local or national sports team, subject to advance consultation with and approval of Alice Cooper Production or Tour Manager. If possible, the jersey shall be customized with ‘ALICE’ or ‘COOPER’ and the number ’18’ on the back.”
— No-nos in Cooper’s rider: “sugary colorful cereals” for breakfast; pre-made salads for lunch; meat in the marinara sauce for dinner; mushrooms, onions or pecans in any prepared food; Styrofoam; Aquafina, Dasani “or similar reverse-osmosis water”; and professional photographers without written consent from the tour. (Fans are welcome to take pictures all night long, so long as they don’t use flash).
Yes, as the tour poster indicates, Alice Cooper brought a giant boa constrictor to last month's Champaign show.
— Also strictly prohibited: armed security guards (“including guns, clubs or knives”); unpaid local help; setting dressing-room thermostats below 68 or above 72 degrees; folding chairs in the dressing rooms (“furniture must be comfortable and cushioned or upholstered”); and washcloth-sized towels to wipe away sweat on stage. (Team Cooper requires 72 towels — 60 freshly laundered, large shower towels and 12 black smaller ones to be used during the show).
— The star’s a septuagenarian, so “Alice Cooper must have direct, secure access to the stage door for arrival and departure. His vehicle must be able to park directly at the stage door, in the closest position to the stage door, for the purposes of his arrival and departure.”
— The tour requires ample “able-bodied, easily identifiable and uniformly dressed security personnel” — four minimum in front of the stage, one each outside Cooper and the band’s dressing-room doors and one at the foot of any stairs leading to the stage, among other spots. But at no point during the 90-minute show are they to ask fans with reserved seating to sit down.