The Hollywood Vampires provide a Rock “n” Roll history lesson, at the AO Arena Manchester
- Michael Bond
- 13 hours ago
- 5 min read
AO Arena, Manchester - 18th August 2026
WORDS / IMAGES MICHAEL BOND
There is something wonderfully absurd about the Hollywood Vampires. On paper, the line-up reads like a fever dream assembled by somebody rifling through the greatest rock’n’roll guest list of all time: Alice Cooper, Joe Perry (Aerosmith), Johnny Depp (Hollywood Legend) and Tommy Henriksen (Alice Cooper Band & Crossbone Skully), together on one stage, resurrecting the songs of the musicians who shaped them. Yet at the AO Arena in Manchester, the concept feels less like celebrity karaoke and much more like a celebration of rock music’s unruly, hedonistic past.
The Vampires arrive in Manchester as part of their first UK and European tour in almost three years. What follows, is over two hours driving through classic rock, punk, glam and hard rock, with Cooper and company treating the history of their influences as a living, breathing songbook.
The Jesus and Mary Chain are an interesting choice of support for an evening dominated by classic rock, but their dark, distorted noise-rock sound provides a good contrast to what follows. Jim and William Reid's band arrive with decades of history behind them, as they bring their abrasive guitars and cool, detached delivery full of the tension that made them such an important force in alternative rock.
Their presence gives the evening a useful edge, where the Vampires celebrate rock's past in technicolour, The Jesus and Mary Chain remind the crowd that rock music can still sound dangerous, when it strips everything back to feedback, rhythm and attitude.
As the anticipation starts to rise, the house lights drop and smoke fills the stage. We are then treated to an animated film full of haunted houses coffins and four distinctively recognisable vampires, all accompanied by a backdrop of Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor.
The opening chords of I Want My Now and Raise the Dead immediately establishes the evening's purpose. There is no lengthy introduction or interest in easing the audience in gently. The Vampires are here tonight to turn the arena into a giant rock’n’roll celebration.
Alice Cooper remains the natural ringmaster. His age is almost irrelevant by the sheer authority with which he occupies the stage. His voice carries a familiar sneer and theatrical menace, while his stage presence provides the connection between the Vampires' various musical identities. I'm Eighteen is an early highlight, an Alice Cooper classic sounding every bit as dangerous and youthful as it should.
My Dead Drunk Friends sets the theme for the evening. The Vampires' entire purpose is wrapped up in the idea of celebrating musicians who lived hard, played hard and left an unforgettable mark on rock music. There is humour in it, but also genuine affection. The band then tears through The Boogieman Surprise before taking a dark turn with Venus in Furs, the Velvet Underground classic. It is one of the evening's more atmospheric choices, showing that the Vampires are at their most interesting when they move beyond straightforward rock classics.
Then comes People Who Died by the Jim Carroll Band, followed by Johnny Thunders' You Can't Put Your Arms Round a Memory. Together, the songs highlight the show's sense of influence and history, showing the set doesn’t just contain obvious hits, but digs into the underground as well as the arena-filling classics.
This is where Johnny Depp's contribution becomes more powerful. There is inevitably a huge amount of celebrity surrounding his presence on stage, but once the guitars are turned up, the focus soon shifts from actor to musician. Highlighting how comfortable he is sat within the Vampires' rough-edged rock'n'roll set up, trading guitar parts and contributing to the band's swagger.
Who's Laughing Now keeps the momentum high, before Aerosmith's Livin' on the Edge brings Joe Perry firmly into his natural environment. His guitar playing carries an authority of somebody who has spent decades influencing and defining American rock history. The Who's Baba O'Riley provides another communal moment, before the set heads back towards Aerosmith with Bright Light Fright. There is a refreshing lack of rigidity in these performances, while The Vampires clearly adore these songs, they are happy to make them their own.
This attitude becomes particularly effective during Bolero, a nod to the late Jeff Beck, the song carries a different emotional weight in this context, becoming part of the Vampires' continuing mission to honour the musicians who have helped inspire them.
Killing Joke's The Death and Resurrection Show, adds another jolt of darkness before the band shifts gear again into David Bowie's Heroes. this is one of those moments when the AO Arena feels surprisingly intimate. As the song carries an emotional resonance that transcends a cover version.
From here on in, subtlety is largely abandoned. Highway to Hell is built for arenas like this, and the crowd responds accordingly. Then Walk This Way brings another huge Aerosmith moment, before Cooper gets another chance to reclaim his territory with School's Out, the perfect main-set finale: loud, familiar, mischievous and gloriously theatrical. Cooper knows precisely how to play to a crowd, and the audience is more than willing to play along.
The encore continues the historical journey with The Train Kept A-Rollin', before the evening closes with Hi Ho Silver Lining, another affectionate salute to Jeff Beck. The final choice says plenty about the Vampires. For all the famous faces and Hollywood mythology, this is ultimately a band built around musical memory. Their 2026 shows arrive after a lengthy touring absence, making the Manchester performance feel like both a comeback and a reaffirmation of the group's purpose.
The Hollywood Vampires are not pretending to reinvent rock music. They are celebrating the dangerous records, the doomed characters, the outrageous riffs and the songs that refuse to disappear. Tonight, that celebration feels remarkably alive. Cooper supplies the theatre, Perry supplies the pedigree, Depp supplies an element of unpredictability and Henriksen helps provide the muscular musical glue. Together, they create something that is less nostalgia, and more a loud history lesson.
Rock'n'roll, the Vampires remind us, is at its best when it feels slightly dangerous, slightly ridiculous and completely alive. Tonight, Manchester got all three.
SET LIST
I Want My Now
Raise the Dead
I'm Eighteen (Alice Cooper cover)
My Dead Drunk Friends
The Boogieman Surprise
Venus in Furs (The Velvet Underground cover)
People Who Died (The Jim Carroll Band cover)
You Can't Put Your Arms Round a Memory (Johnny Thunders cover)
Who's Laughing Now
Livin' on the Edge (Aerosmith cover)
Baba O'Riley (The Who cover)
Bright Light Fright (Aerosmith cover)
Beck's Bolero (Jeff Beck cover)
The Death and Resurrection Show (Killing Joke cover)
Heroes (David Bowie cover)
Highway to Hell (AC/DC cover)
Walk This Way (Aerosmith cover)
School's Out (Alice Cooper cover)
ENCORE
The Train Kept A-Rollin' (Tiny Bradshaw cover)
Hi Ho Silver Lining (Jeff Beck cover)
FOLLOW THE HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES
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