The Spirit of 1986 in the Sky by Sonia Scott

As I walked home from school my heart raced in anticipation of the night ahead. I was going to see Alice Cooper at The Playhouse, which was exciting enough in itself but unbelievably Doctor and the Medics were supporting and I couldn’t wait! Once home I went straight to my record player and placed the needle above my favourite track. I then set about escaping from my drab uniform, and as I released myself of the striped noose that strangled my neck I finally felt free. As Alice screamed out, ‘no more pencils, no more books, no more teachers, dirty looks’ I plugged in my Crimpers and set about singeing my hair. 

Now, ‘what to wear?’ I had already decided on my jeans, having bought a new purple/ black paisley pair for the occasion. I searched through my cavern of black tops and selected a suitable bat wing number. I then got out my make-up and prepared my face with a pale foundation before drawing around my eyes with a thick black pencil. Then in honour of both Alice Cooper and The Anadin Brothers I continued down my cheeks with a few black streaks. Carefully with a finer pencil I drew around my lips and applied a deep purple lipstick. Now all that was needed to complete my guise was my studded belt and a couple of psychedelic scarves. Finally, I stepped into my pointed pixie boots and my black leather bike jacket. Hair backcombed and sprayed. I was ready! 

Feeling relatively pleased with my transformation I ventured into the kitchen to see my mum. She looked a mixture of amused and confused when she saw me. With what seemed like a slight shake of her head she nevertheless smiled and uttered a reluctant, ‘err, you look....nice’. She had already agreed that I could get chips with Angie before the concert so I didn’t need to hang around for dinner. Having said our, ‘goodbyes’, I headed off to the bus stop.

I got off the bus (ignoring the stares from the other passengers), at the top of Leith Walk and crossed the road to the chip shop where Angie and I had agreed to meet. It didn’t take me long to spot her with her pillar-box red hair and her Egyptian painted black eyes and black lips. When she saw me her face broke in to a delighted grin and we immediately launched into our predictions for the night ahead. Having bought our spring roll and chips, saturated with ‘salt and sauce’, and a can of Red Cola, we crossed the road and found a suitable spot on The Playhouse steps to enjoy our banquet. Once consumed and our sticky fingers licked clean, it was time to venture inside.                                              

As we entered the crimson auditorium we were surrounded by the opulence of days gone by, providing the perfect backdrop for all the elaborately adorned individuals who filled its grand interior. We took our seats and after what seemed like a life-time but was probably around 10 minutes, the music stopped and the lights went down. Suddenly from the left side of the stage there swished a very tall, slim man, wearing gold bellbottoms and a red, dragon winged cape. The back of his long backcombed hair reached past his shoulders, whereas the top section pointed straight to the sky. He was closely followed by the rest of the band, which included The Anadin Brother; the bands two female backing singers/ dancers. The girls looked amazing in their long white medieval gowns, Kubuki style make-up and long black hair flowing down to their ankles. 

They started their set with ‘Silver Machine’, then after a couple of tracks from ‘Happy but Twisted’, they launched into their cover of Abba’s ‘Waterloo’. The highlight of this being the girls carefully choreographed tribute to Agnetha and Frida. Fantastic! The rest of their set flew passed in a moment. As the first few cords of ‘Spirit in the Sky’ reached the audience, it was greeted by a tremendous roar and most of the stalls, including ourselves surged forward towards the stage. Both Doctor and the girls were now climbing their imaginary ladders in perfect synchronisation. As I danced and sang along with the rest of the crowd, I felt like I was in heaven. It was with a mixture of euphoria and sadness that I watched them eventually leave the stage.

We decided to go for a wander during the interval, in order to investigate who was there and wearing what. Having said, ‘hello’ to a few familiar faces we were about to head back to our seats when we spotted Steve McGuire, the Medics guitarist. ‘Oh, my god, should we go and talk to him?  We couldn’t let such an opportunity pass, so plucked up the courage to ask for his autograph. He turned out to be very friendly and after a bit of a chat, asked if we would like to watch Alice Cooper with him and his band? This couldn’t really be happening, it was unbelievable! It turned out they had there very own private box and the rest of the band were in residence by the time we arrived. Steve offered a brief introduction and we muttered a shy but delighted, ‘Hello’ and sat down. 

We not only had a perfect view of the stage, but also of the audience and them of us! It was quite a daunting privilege to remain in this elevated position for the remainder of the night, but I wouldn’t have changed it for the world. Alice Cooper was mind blowing with his dramatic stage show, in his various outfits and terrifying props which included a guillotine, hangman and a live snake. He had introduced his night with ‘Welcome to my Nightmare’, but for me it had been a perfect dream come true. 

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