Minutes before support act Bobbie Dazzle hit the stage, the news ripples around the already packed Utilita Arena Cardiff. The ‘togs gathered side stage frantically scroll their phones to confirm the news. It’s true. Ozzy Osbourne, The Prince of Darkness, has died. Despite his frailty, it is an air of disbelief that pervades. But the show must go on, and if you want a show, you turn to one of Ozzy’s peers, a man who in his day was one of the few who could outdo the Double O. Save the day, Alice Cooper.
Alice Cooper – Bobbie Dazzle
Utilita Arena Cardiff – 22 July 2025
Words And Photography: Paul Hutchings
Alice Cooper is well into his seventies, but the Godfather of Shock shows few signs of slowing. Two days ahead of the much-anticipated return of the original Alice Cooper Band in London, Cooper and band roll into the Welsh Capital as one of only three UK dates.
These are sandwiched between a host of European shows where he is been content to play third and second fiddle to Judas Priest and Accept. 
This is his seventh visit to Cardiff, but his first in six years, although Welsh fans had the option to catch him in Swansea three years ago. Alongside Edinburgh, it is a show added no doubt because Cooper always pulls in a good audience here. The arena is packed.
I do not think I have seen him live for almost a decade, the last time being his support slot to the Motley Crue “farewell tour” in 2015. But it is a guaranteed value for money show that Ol’ Black Eyes puts on every time he plays.
Cooper has a band who were in fact all in place ten years ago, and who make sure that the heavy lifting is done with ease. Guitarists Nita Strauss, Tommy Hendrickson and Ryan Roxie bring the riffage, adding muscle to the songs, some that we have known for half a century.
The reliable Glen Sobel and bassist Chuck Garric complete the line-up, adding the solid foundation that provides such a base for a set list of 20+ tracks that are drawn mainly from his earlier output. And who would argue with such absolute classics?
But it’s Cooper who commands every inch of the stage with his presence, and even though he may be slightly less mobile than a decade ago (aren’t we all?), you still follow his every move.
He is the consummate performer, and somehow the theatrics that shocked the world 55 years ago still work well. Of course, it helps that he has a catalogue of bangers, even if it has been some time since anything he wrote could be regarded as that.
Instead, it’s the likes of I’m Eighteen, Under My Wheels and Billion Dollar Babies that are etched into our psyche and which we sing along to with gusto. Apart from Welcome To The Show which appropriately opens the evening, the most recent song is Lost In America from 1994’s Lost in Translation. 
If you want innovative, progressive and modern Metal, then this ain’t the show for you. But, if you want an evening to forget your worries, and immerse yourself in quality from start to finish, and ignore the occasionally dated stage antics (strangling your wife with a whip during Cold Ethyl in particular), then this is the place to be.
Whilst the theatrics may be toned down tonight, they are not packed away. Cooper brandishes crutch, sword and cane, conducting his band and interacting with the crowd with such control that he only speaks to the audience directly twice all evening. 
This is Alice, almost as stripped back as you can get. It is a killer opening which sees the audience go wild. Old heads and fresh young debutants on the barrier and standing across the seated venue are fervent in excitement, and who can argue with a trio of No More Mr Nice Guy, I’m Eighteen and Under My Wheels to get the evening moving?
Unsurprisingly, Poison gets the biggest reception of the evening. For me, it’s an awfully overplayed song and unloved by many of the real Alice hardcore, but when it gives you your biggest hit for decades, it’s a shoo-in, and surprise, surprise, by mid-song I’m singing along with it along with 5,000 other souls. 
There are costume changes, of course, mainly jackets and hats, but it all adds to the spectacle. The pace is relentless, and after an hour which has already seen Sobel and Strauss deliver impressive solos, we are at The Ballad Of Dwight Fry which sees Alice incarcerated in a strait jacket, before his wife, dressed as Bo-Peep brings one of the biggest cheers of the evening as Cooper loses his head to Madame Guillotine before Mrs Cooper prances around the stage with his head.
It is pure theatre and you cannot help but love it. It segues into an Alice-less band-led blast through I Love The Dead before the tried and trusted Schools Out with Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2, concludes the main set. He introduces the band before taking the applause.
It’s only here that the atmosphere changes slightly. A chant of Ozzy rings briefly around the arena, and I am sure many around me are nervously wondering if Alice is going to ignore the news.
The band returns for the encore of Feed My Frankenstein, complete with monster, and closes the song out before lining up on stage one final time.
Finally, and with complete class, Alice says, “On behalf of the band, the cast and the crew, goodnight, and God Bless Ozzy Ozbourne.”
Ever the showman, Alice Cooper leaves the audience, me included, fighting back the tears.
One legend has passed while another demonstrates just why this generation is so precious to us. God Bless Ozzy indeed, and God Bless Alice Cooper too. 
Bobbie Dazzle
You can count on Alice Cooper to bring something good along for his warm-up. The list of supports is impressive, with The Stranglers and The MC5 amongst recent luminaries to get the crowd going.
Tonight, it’s a fresher, younger outfit in Bobbie Dazzle that gets a chance to shine.
Coming on stage ten-minutes after the death of Ozzy is announced, not only do Bobbie Dazzle have to contend with a crowd who are only here for the headliner, but who are understandably dealing with the emotionally charged news.
So, it’s huge kudos to Bobbie Dazzle and her band that they deliver 35 minutes of ’70s-tinged psychedelic-edged rock that gets the crowd up on their feet from the start.
I was unaware of her movements since she left Alunah, but it’s a fit and healthy-looking singer who leads her troops through tracks from last year’s debut Fandabidozi. “Yes, I called my album that,” she laughs.
It is a mix of the glam of T-Rex and the bite of Slade all rolled up in a modern style, but very much reaching back to the roots. 
She can sing and proves this during the cover of Abba’s Watch Out which slips neatly into the middle of the set. She’s also conscious of events and implores everyone to “rock harder in memory of Ozzy,” which earns appreciative applause.
Harder live than on record, Bobbie Dazzle finish with a song that she explains was written with her late father, some 20 years in the making.
It is a difficult but exciting slot. Bobbie Dazzle are afforded the whole stage, and despite their relatively new status. They manage to fill not only the stage, but the arena with their sound.
It’s good to see Bobbie back on stage and smiling. Life is short, and she is grabbing it with both hands. It is job done, and the huge ovation confirms it is a job done well. 
