The terrifying moment Alice Cooper was nearly killed by a snake on stage
In the world of shock rock, Alice Cooper seems to be the most in touch with the movement as a concept. When it comes to making good music and putting on a show that turns heads and leaves a lasting impression, striking a balance between something entertaining and something deadly can be tricky, as Cooper himself has found out.
There was a time when rock music alone was enough to be considered outrageous. The introduction of upbeat rhythm, distorted guitars and head-banging was enough for conservative parents and lovers of the traditional to turn their noses up at it. However, eventually, just making this kind of music ran its course, and bands had to do a lot more than just play rock to be considered rock stars.
When John Lennon and The Beatles first went to America, Lennon admitted that he believed they had to alter who they were to be accepted into the mainstream. Before the band left Liverpool, they had to make sure they were wearing suits and had cut their hair, and even then, many people believed their suits were too tight and their hair was too long.
If only those people could gaze 20 years or so into the future, they would have an idea of the future that awaited the music industry. Long hair and tight suits were one thing, but have a look at Alice Cooper, with the mascara, long, bushy black hair, leather, and stage theatrics.
When Kiss supported Black Sabbath on tour, it was the first time that a band that put effort into its on-stage look and overall performance was projected to the masses. People everywhere were shocked at the performance, where the music was good but completely overshadowed by what was happening in front of them. Pyrotechnics and makeup combined to elevate the art of the rock show.
With that, the stage was set, and acts like Alice Cooper came forward to give the crowd something more than just music. His intention was to stun, entertain and even horrify, which he did with fireworks, dancers and staged executions. There was nowhere on Earth more outrageous than an Alice Cooper gig, and people loved it. However, there were some instances when he took it a bit too far.
It’s hard to imagine a time when Alice Cooper didn’t have a snake within at least six feet of him; however, in some of his earlier shows, the reptiles were nowhere to be seen. He wasn’t overly fond of them and found that having them on stage helped him overcome his fear. After that, snakes were involved in nearly every show that he did. He became intrinsically linked with them, to the point that he took them on TV show appearances with him and were used on album covers.
There was one instance when he was nearly killed by the animal that he loves so dearly. You couldn’t bring your own snakes into Brazil, which is where Cooper had gigs, so the organisers promised they would find him a snake. Rather than getting a tamed one, they grabbed a random boa from the jungle, which was ready to kill him.
“I don’t think it was poisonous with the fangs,” said Gary Graff, a rock ‘n’ roll journalist, “The boas kill you but with the squeeze,” which is what this particular snake started to do to Cooper. The crew had to run out and remove the snake, which the crowd thought was a great part of the act, but Cooper briefly saw his life flash before his eyes.
Cooper said that when it came to using snakes on stage, he took inspiration from people like Pete Townsend and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown in a bid to push the boundaries of what people thought could occur in a performance.
