The Hollywood Vampires headlined Lower Castle Park on Friday night to thousands of excited fans.
The group, formed in 2012, is led by iconic rocker Alice Cooper who has been dazzling crowds since the early 1970s onwards, thanks to huge hits such as School’s Out, Love It to Death, Poison, and Feed My Frankenstein.
It also consists of A-list actor Johnny Depp, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry and musician Tommy Henriksen, and the name comes from Cooper’s celebrity drinking club.
Following a support slot from goth-punk group, The Damned, the vampires took to the stage shortly after 8pm.
Right from the start there was drama: smoke on stage whilst skeletons on a screen opened a cemetery gate which led to four coffins being unsealed.
With plenty of ghoulish imagery on screen, the band walked on stage, opening with their 2019 song, I Want My Now.
As a group, they were sonically tight from the very start of the performance and dressed in gothic and classic rock attire – the whole production was polished.
It wasn’t until three songs in that frontman Cooper finally spoke to the audience, he said: “We are The Hollywood Vampires, we are here to honour our dead drunk friends, their souls will never die.”
Throughout the 21-track setlist, there was a mix of original material and a range of covers.
There were many touching tributes from Cooper throughout.
Before launching into The Who’s Baba O’Riley, the frontman said: “This goes out to one of my best friends who is no longer here, the court jester of rock and roll, Keith Moon.”
They also performed songs by The Velvet Underground, Johnny Thunders, Jeff Beck, AC/DC, and a rendition of David Bowie’s Heroes with Depp on lead vocals for it.
Undoubtedly, one of the best parts of the concert came when the Hollywood Vampires delved into the biggest hits associated with their own members, alongside the original material.
Joe Perry stepped into the spotlight to shred through Aerosmith’s Walk This Way, while the band also delivered Livin’ on the Edge.
From Alice Cooper’s back catalogue came I’m Eighteen and, shortly before the encore, School’s Out.
The band concluded the set with a Tiny Bradshaw cover of The Train Kept A-Rollin’ and a final Jeff Beck cover of Hi Ho Silver Lining.
During a final bow on stage, Perry said: “Thank you all for coming out tonight.”
For being one of the biggest names on the line-up, Depp said very little to the audience apart from a small “good evening, are you alright?” early on in the set.
Understandably, he let the music do most of the talking and did perform lead vocals on several songs.
He seemed to enjoy performing with his group of friends on stage.
Some could say the performance was a little lacklustre or perhaps the crowd’s energy was lacking.
But it seems that the crowd were taking in the presence of such rock pedigree on stage.
Cooper, Depp and co may never return to Colchester for another Hollywood Vampires show, so to witness these incredible musicians in our city was truly amazing.
It also made you appreciate the remarkable feat that these veterans do it night after night, including Cooper who is now 78.
Yes, the band did not really acknowledge where they were, and I don’t blame them, they get on a tour bus, travel the world, and then get off and perform.
But even a ‘Hello Colchester or a hello Essex’ would have been appreciated.
Regardless, to have such megastars put on a stellar performance in Colchester was a rare and brilliant opportunity.
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