The two biggest shock rockers in the history of the genre will pay a visit to the AVA Amphitheater Friday night in Tucson. Local legend Alice Cooper has teamed up with none other than Marilyn Manson for the "Masters of Reality" tour.
While on paper the two have a ton in common--they've both spent most of their careers scaring parents and the Christian church--they really couldn't be more different today. Cooper is very in tune with the church, does a ton of charity work, and knows when to "turn Alice off." Manson on the other hand is Manson 24/7, and that switch is never turned off. This isn't a bad thing--it just means that when you ask questions like "Is Marilyn Manson really like that offstage?" the answer is usually yes.
We caught up with Alice this week; he dished on Manson, his Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame induction, and all kinds of other good stuff.
Up on the Sun: I spoke to Marilyn Manson a couple of weeks ago... I asked him how he was doing and then he gave me an opening monologue and spoke to himself for the first 10 minutes.
Alice: Yeah he came into my dressing room the other day and was talking in a southern accent because he had been hanging out with some rapper who went to jail.
Oh--Gucci Mane! That was what he was talking to me about.
You know I remember when I was younger and still drinking I really felt that I had to be "Alice." Every time I left the house I had to put on the make-up and act the way that people expected me to. I saw Jim Morrison die trying to act like Jim Morrison. I was much better off when I learned how to separate the stage persona from the real person.
I hear that there was a fan who climbed Mt. Everest with a signed Alice Cooper guitar.
Yeah I just heard about that, it's truly amazing that someone would hike it in the first place and put there own life in danger in the first place . I was told that nine people died while he was on his way up. People say that rock stars are heroes, but I think guys like him are the real heroes.
Who was he?
He's a firefighter from Phoenix and he did it to raise money for leukemia . He's going to come to the Tucson show and I'm going to get a picture with him and sign it again.
It's been a couple of years since Welcome 2 My Nightmare came out. What drives you to keep touring?
I can't imagine sitting at home for 12 months. I'm happiest when I'm singing onstage or on my first green on the golf course.
This tour goes until December, but these shows I'm doing with Manson are different. We both play 70 minute sets and it's more of a greatest hits show. I try to keep it fresh, and that's why I brought in Orianthi on guitar, to keep it more musical.
I expect Manson will be on his best behavior on this tour, because he has so much respect for you.
You know, Manson recently called Johnny Depp, who is one of his best friends, and last year I got him a set of golf clubs. I told Manson that I have a very big imagination, and that we could all go golfing at 9:30 in the morning. I have to explain to him that the big yellow thing in the sky is called the sun.
How often do you visit Alice Cooperstown in downtown Phoenix?
About once a week, I was there just the week before this tour started. They have to make sure the ribs are always great because I just pop in sometimes, whether its 11 in the morning or 8 at night. I'll walk around to the tables and ask people what they're eating and then ill ask them to try some. I'm pretty hands on.
Do you follow any of the local sports teams downtown like the Arizona Diamondbacks?
Oh yeah, when I grew up in Detroit we didn't have a National League team, and if I weren't a Tigers fan they would have thrown me out of the house.
How much did it mean to you be be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
It wasn't so much about being inducted, but it was the people who inducted us. It's the Jaggers, the Jeff Becks, the McCartneys. Just being inducted by the guys who taught me blew me away.
Do you have any tricks up your sleeve for Tucson?
Alice: We decided to pay tribute to some of my old drinking buddies who I saw die like Jim Morrison, Keith Moon...
Are you still doing your radio show, Nights With Alice Cooper?
Yes, I'm actually going on nine years now, and the show is a five-hour show that's syndicated all around the world . I still love doing it; it's five hours of me telling stories and playing my favorite music.
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