Concert Recap: The "Freaks on Parade" Tour w/ Rob Zombie + Alice Cooper in Raleigh, NC (August 29, 2023)

In the realm of shock rock and theatrical live concerts, there's no better tour than the Freaks on Parade Tour, featuring co-headliners Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper — the 2nd annual roadshow made a stop at the Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek in Raleigh, NC on Tuesday, August 29 during its opening week, bringing an epic night of hard rock and horror to the Carolinas.

The first of the two support bands on the bill was the alt-rock outfit Filter, whose brief set primarily consisted of selections from their new album, The Algorithm, released August 25. After seeing the band back in June for their headliner in Jacksonville, it was cool to see them on a larger stage and to see them open a tour of this magnitude. As short as their allotted time on stage was, their set was not without its memorable moments, from the crowd participation during the band's hits "Take a Picture" and "Hey Man Nice Shot," guitarist Jonny Radtke's great guitar solos, bassist Bobby Miller's endless onstage enthusiasm, and Richard Patrick's strong vocals and Crypt-Keeper impressions (and of course, drummer Elias Mallin keeping things under rhythmic control on the drums). In some way, they were the aesthetic outlier of the tour due to their stripped back stage show, but they held their own musically and were a great choice to kick things off.

Filter Setlist:

1. The Drowning
2. For the Beaten
3. Obliteration
4. Take a Picture
5. Welcome to the Fold
6. Hey Man Nice Shot

Ministry was the next band to take the stage, with their sonic blend of industrial and thrash metal. The sextet's stage setup was an interesting one, with drummer Ray Mayorga and keyboardist John Bechdel positioned next to each other at the back of the stage and vocalist Al Jourgensen's mic stand looking like a grungy news podium with a large illuminated cross at the front of it. The large video monitors at the sides of the stage featured the quasi-psychedelic visuals of their music and lyric videos/visualizers, and their musical performance was on point. The setlist featured an array of selections, from the synthy "Revenge," from their debut album With Sympathy, to the industrial rager "Goddamn White Trash" from the upcoming full-length Hopiumforthemasses. While there was minimal stage banter between songs, the music did the talking for Ministry as the crowd was engaged and excited throughout their entire performance, successfully getting them ready for the co-headliners.

Ministry Setlist:

1. Thieves
2. The Missing 
3. Deity
4. Stigmata
5. Burning Inside
6. N.W.O.
7. Just One Fix
8. Revenge
9. Goddamn White Trash

While Rob Zombie was the last to hit the stage, I have to admit that Alice Cooper was the main event for myself personally — in the interest of full disclosure, I've been a hardcore fan of Alice Cooper for over half my lifetime, and while I've watched all his concert films over the years, I've never had the chance to see him live until this tour. After the fact, I have to say that there truly is nothing like actually witnessing his show in person — you can watch all the YouTube videos you want, but actually being in the presence of Cooper and his band in the flesh is a whole other level of experience.

At 75 years old, Alice Cooper has never shown any sign of slowing down, and his live show has never been better — from the backing band to the setlist to the theatrics, the "Too Close For Comfort" show is one of the best in recent memory. Of course, all the mandatory boxes are checked both musically and theatrically with Alice performing with a crutch in "I'm Eighteen," strutting with a riding crop for "Poison," twirling a cane during "No More Mr. Nice Guy," having a cannon blasting confetti and dollar bills with his face on them during "Billion Dollar Babies," a ten-foot Frankenstein monster roaming the stage during "Feed My Frankenstein," the traditional decapitation via guillotine at the end of "Ballad of Dwight Fry," and the ending celebration that is "School's Out."

Now let's talk about deep cuts, because that's where Alice and the band truly get to shine — for starters, the show began with the first verse and chorus of "Lock Me Up," the second track of the 1987 album Raise Your Fist and Yell and one that has NEVER been played live until this year! Admittedly, I would've loved to have heard the post-chorus (my favorite part of the song) as well, however it's an absolute treat that a song like this was even added to the setlist. Another highlight, and my personal favorite part of the show, was the addition of "Snakebite," the ultra-catchy third track from one of my favorite Alice Cooper albums, 1991's Hey Stoopid — not only does this stage cycle mark the first time the song has been played live since its release in 1991, but it's ALSO the first time Alice has performed with a snake on stage since the Raise the Dead Tour in the early 2010s. As a lifelong fan who's adored that song since the first listen many moons ago, to call that part of the set a highlight would be an understatement.

It's hard to do justice to how great of an experience it was to finally see Alice Cooper live for the first time, and truly not enough credit can be given to his current backing band — Hollywood Vampires bassist Chris Wyse filled in for Chuck Garric and did a fantastic job holding things down on the low end, and it's easy to see the chemistry between each member of the band. Drummer Glen Sobel is all smiles as he keeps everyone in time, and the three-guitar attack of Ryan Roxie, Tommy Henriksen, and Nita Strauss is an incredible force to be reckoned with. While they're all stellar players with impeccable musical execution, it's also great to see how much fun they have on stage, both with each other and with the audience. They were throwing guitar picks into the crowd throughout the entire duration of their set, and they were constantly moving around and interacting with people in the crowd from every side of the stage. To sum things up, my first of hopefully many Alice Cooper shows couldn't have been better, and I can't wait until the next one.

Alice Cooper Setlist:

1. Lock Me Up (partial)
2. No More Mr. Nice Guy
3. I'm Eighteen
4. Under My Wheels
5. Billion Dollar Babies
6. Hey Stoopid
7. Lost in America
8. Snakebite
9. Feed My Frankenstein
10. Poison
11. The Black Widow (jam session w/ solos from each guitarist, preceded with a solo by Nita Strauss)
12. Ballad of Dwight Fry
13. Killer (band only, Alice goes through the guillotine)
14. I Love the Dead (chorus only with band, guillotine is wheeled away)
15. Elected
16. School's Out

Rob Zombie triumphantly took the stage to finish the night off and immediately had the crowd in the palm of his hand. Emphatically starting with "The Triumph of King Freak" from a gigantic platform resembling a mechanical skull, it was off to the races as Zombie and the band ripped through classics like "Dead City Radio and the New Gods of Supertown," and "Feel So Numb." From the pit, the crowd could feel the heat each time the pyrotechnics went off, adding to the already immersive experience that is a Rob Zombie show.

With this year marking the 25th anniversary of Rob Zombie's epic debut album Hellbilly Deluxe, several tracks were featured on the setlist, from the expected "Dragula" and "Living Dead Girl" to the more hardcore cuts "Demonoid Phenomenon" and "What Lurks on Channel X?" Musically, every song sounded fantastic and the band was extremely tight sonically. Vocally, Zombie sounded fantastic — I've seen a lot of unfair criticism of Zombie's live vocal performances over the years, with people claiming he's phoning in performances and not trying hard enough with his voice, but having witnessed his show up close for the first time earlier this week, I'm here to dispell all of those notions. What I saw from Rob Zombie on stage was one of the most energetic performances I've ever seen from a frontman, absolutely refusing to give anything less than 110% during every second on stage. Vocally, his grit and aggression was there the entire time as well, not once sounding out of place.

Aesthetically, Rob Zombie's stage show is an entire production in and of itself that needs to be experienced at least once in a lifetime. Along with the pyro and giant platforms, there were video screens on just about every inch of the stage showing clips of Zombie's music videos and other visuals, several giant puppets akin to the AliceStein seen during Alice Cooper's set, from an alien resembling the one from the 1953 sci-fi horror film Robot Monster to the devil himself, and even showers of soap falling from the top of the stage made to resemble snow. It was one of the greatest examples of making the most of the stage space that I've ever had the pleasure to witness, and it's impossible not to be impressed at the sheer size of how grandiose his production is. To say the least, I'm glad this was my first Rob Zombie show, and I'm almost certain it won't be my last.

Rob Zombie Setlist:

1. The Triumph of King Freak (A Crypt of Preservation and Superstition)
2. Dead City Radio and the New Gods of Supertown
3. Feel So Numb 
4. Well, Everybody's Fucking in a U.F.O.
5. What Lurks on Channel X?
6. Superbeast
7. Demonoid Phenomenon 
8. The Lords of Salem
9. House of 1000 Corpses
10. Living Dead Girl
11. More Human Than Human (White Zombie song)
12. Thunder Kiss '65 (White Zombie song)

Encore

13. Dragula

All in all, it was an amazing night of live music and shock rock. It's a steal to have two of the biggest and baddest stage shows known to man on one tour, and it can't be recommended enough to go to a show if they land in an area near you.

To see the remaining tour dates and buy tickets, click here.

Support the bands at the following links:

- Filter: https://linktr.ee/officialfilter

- Ministry: https://linktr.ee/MinistryBand

- Alice Cooper: https://withkoji.com/@alicecooper

- Rob Zombie: https://linktr.ee/robzombie

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