Back in 2023, Cuffe and Taylor pulled off an amazing coup when they persuaded US supergroup Hollywood Vampires to bring their brand of bar room rock to Scarborough’s Open Air Theatre.
To do it once was remarkable; to bring them back three years later shows how much of a draw the East Coast venue has become on the UK’s summer music scene since its reopening.
While the Hollywood Vampires name may not register with everyone (its origin is from a celebrity drinking club at LA’s Rainbow Bar), most will surely recognise the names of Alice Cooper, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry, and actor Johnny Depp.
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Joining them on stage were Alice Cooper band regulars Glen Sobel (drums) and Tommy Henriksen (guitar), Chris Wyse (bass), and Buck Johnson (keyboards).
Wyse, Johnson, and Sobel held the show together rhythmically, allowing Perry, Depp, and Henriksen space to regularly move around the stage, tearing riffs from their guitars while Cooper used a mini-stage that allowed him out into the audience.
The Vampires threw in a few of their own songs early in the set, including I Want My Now, Raise the Dead, My Dead Drunk Friends, and The Boogieman Surprise, but when they turned their attention to songs like Cooper’s I’m Eighteen, The Who’s Baba O’Riley, and Aerosmith’s Livin’ on the Edge, the atmosphere became more charged.
Depp handled vocals on a cover of the Velvet Underground’s Venus in Furs, David Bowie’s Heroes, and People Who Died.
The show’s second half gathered pace like a runaway train, with the band turning their attentions to The Doors’ Roadhouse Blues and AC/DC’s Highway to Hell with Henriksen on vocals.
Joe Perry’s memorable guitar riff during Walk This Way paved the way for an enjoyable blast through School’s Out/Another Brick in the Wall with Cooper’s final wardrobe change into his trademark white tailcoat and top hat.
There were a couple of tributes to Jeff Beck, most notably with the band performing the instrumental Beck’s Bolero to a backdrop of images of the late guitarist.
As you might expect, the Vampires’ show was a rage of light, colour, and action.
It may not have been subtle, but it was definitely fun and having The Damned open was a real bonus.
In 1976, The Damned released New Rose, the first ‘punk’ single that helped usher in a seismic change to the UK music scene.
Over the years, they have evolved through various phases, particularly Goth Rock.
Original members Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible, and Rat Scabies are currently in the line-up and it was great to hear the band perform tracks like New Rose, Love Song, Smash It Up, Neat Neat Neat, and Eloise.
Watching Vanian get an audience member in full Depp/Pirates of the Caribbean costume to sing along during his pit walkabout during Ignite was amusing.
“You know, I’m not sure that is Johnny Depp,” he commented afterward.
Sadly, the current season of shows finishes next Saturday with the return of Nile Rodgers and Chic.
A few tickets remain, so if you fancy listening to some of the most popular tunes of the last fifty years played by the man who wrote or produced them, get yourself along for an unforgettable night.
Review and photos: Dave Lawrence
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