These include all the normal Cooperesque antics like the nightly baby massacre, a melange of cod violence and destruction, lunatics being straight-jacketed and hauled off to the asylum (bit like a day in the L&SI office). The onstage entertainment culminates with the guillotining of Pop Princess Britney Spears - the ultimate axis of evil in Alice’s dark world - as played by his daughter Calico.
Thornton needed a versatile lighting rig to match the intricate stage set and the manic pace of action onstage. At the aorta of the set is the Rejuvenator chamber, plus an assortment of macabre props and body parts. This was designed by Rob Roth who also choreographed the show, and was constructed by Colorado-based Distortions. For the supply of the rig, Thornton returned to Bandit Lites, who he’d used earlier in the year on the Moody Blues tour.
The rig is a three-truss system, with each truss jauntily hinged in several segments and raked for an anarchic appearance. The fixtures are based around a moving light core of Martin MAC 500s and MAC 300s, which are the workhorses of the show. There’s 24 six lamp bars for some PAR can overkill, featured most specifically in the show’s second half, plus Atomic Strobes, 4-lite Moles, a plethora of single floor PARs, some Source Fours, and four smoke machines to pump up the gothic.
Thornton, who runs the show from an Avolites Diamond 2, utilizes a mix of dramatic beam technology and bold colour washes, lots of stark whites, and the more sinister colours lurking with intent in the spectrum like gassy browns and grimey greens. Although there are ‘down’ moments, the general energy levels remain high from start to finish, very much mirrored by Thornton’s lightshow.
FOH sound engineer Steev Toth has worked with Cooper for six years and also tour manages. He has a sonically eclectic batch of acts under his belt from industrial metallists Nitzer Ebb to the ever so camp Erasure. He approaches Cooper’s sound from an electronic angle rather than a metal one, giving it a refreshing lift. The full Nexo rig, supplied by Thunder Audio of Detroit, has been freighted over from the US. Toth uses a Yamaha PM4000 out front, which he also likes for its hands-on capabilities, and the outboards are primarily Behringer. His favourite toy is a TC2290 delay: "It’s a bit of old school, but I really don’t get bogged down with effects," he explains, preferring to just keep it loud and clear. Four out of the five band are all on IEMs, Cooper uses a wireless Shure mic and monitors are mixed by Kevin McCarthy using a Midas Heritage 3000.
(Ruth Rossington)
