Alice Cooper, The Stranglers, MC50, Brighton Centre review - a triple-headed blast of vintage rock

★★★★ ALICE COOPER, THE STRANGLERS, MC50, BRIGHT CENTRE A triple-headed blast of vintage rock

Alice Cooper holds his own alongside 24 carat support acts

The Ol’ Black Eyes is Back Tour celebrates Alice Cooper’s 50 years using his stage name. He’d been around under other names before 1969 but Alice Cooper – originally the title of the band rather than the man – achieved success as the Seventies began by combining trash-glam drag with stompin’ riffy music. He’s famed for his theatrical shows but needed to be on especially fine form tonight to match support acts who are both riveting.

The Kitchen review – more gangsters' molls taking over the reins

★★★ THE KITCHEN More gangsters' molls taking over the reins

Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elizabeth Moss star in female-led crime thriller

Three women decide to take over their husbands’ criminal activities, proving more than a match for the men who dominate the underworld. If this outline of The Kitchen sounds familiar, it’s because it was just last year that Steve McQueen’s lauded crime thriller Widows had much the same premise.

Reissue CDs Weekly: Caravan

Box set shows that the malleable Canterbury outfit are still valued

Last week in central London, the Covent Garden branch of the book and music chain Fopp was selling CD sets branded as “5 Classic Albums” and “Original Album Series”. Each collected five CDs of the same number of albums. Amongst what could be picked up were collections by Kevin Ayers, Fairport Convention, Steve Hackett and Man. The asking price for each was £10. There were no bonus tracks and each set didn’t include a booklet. Nonetheless, this is a very keen price.

The Shock of the Future review - for the music nerds

THE SHOCK OF THE FUTURE Retro French synth drama focuses on the music over character

Retro French synth drama focuses on the music over character

The Shock of the Future is for anyone who's watched a music biopic and thought "that's not how it works!" Directed and co-written by Marc Collin of Nouvelle Vague fame, it's perhaps the most realisitic film about recording music ever made. But as anyone who's ever been in the studio will tell you, the legends are much more exciting than the reality.

DVD/Blu-ray: Amazing Grace

★★★★★ AMAZING GRACE Is Aretha Franklin's gospel recording the best live music film ever?

With Aretha: the best live music film ever?

Over two days in 1972, the great Aretha Franklin, undoubtedly one of the greatest American voices of the 20th century, performed and recorded gospel classics in Los Angeles, with a predominantly African-American audience, the red-hot Los Angeles Community Gospel Choir and the support of Rev James Cleveland.

Torch Song, Turbine Theatre review - impressive return for Harvey Fierstein's seminal gay drama

★★★★ TORCH SONG, TURBINE THEATRE Impressive return for Harvey Fierstein's seminal gay drama

Matthew Needham in lithe drag queen form opens new London venue

London’s latest theatre opening brings a stirring revival of Harvey Fierstein’s vital gay drama, which premiered as Torch Song Trilogy in New York at the beginning of the 1980s, the playwright himself unforgettable in the lead, before it opened in London in 1985 with Antony Sher.

Reissue CDs Weekly: Slade - Feel The Noize

REISSUE CDS WEEKLY: SLADE - FEEL THE NOIZE The great British popsters' singles in a box

The great British popsters' singles in a box

Original UK pressings of Slade’s Seventies mega-hit singles like “Coz I Luv You”, “Everyday”, “Gudbuy T’Jane” and “Mama Weer all Crazee Now” sell for between £1 and £5 if they’re in decent shape. If a copy is needed to listen to, there’s little need to fork out more than £2. On seven-inch, the real Slade rarities are their pre-hit singles and what they issued earlier as Ambrose Slade and The 'N Betweens.