While the skies were lit up with fireworks on a stormy Guy Fawkes' night, rock legend Alice Cooper provided the fire as he kicked off the British leg of his new tour at the Brighton Centre.

The rock demon-turned-radio show host took us through the highlights of a musical career that has influenced everyone from Iggy Pop (who is now Alice's golfing partner) to The Sex Pistols and Marilyn Manson.

Backed by a band that were as tight as Alice's leather trousers and as loud as the purple lining of his coffin, some of the stand-out tracks on the night were a rip-roaring I'm Eighteen and Lost In America.

The latest Alice Cooper band - Damon Johnson and Ryan Roxie on guitars, Chuck Garric on drums and the excellent Eric Singer on bass - are a thumping garage rock band in the mould of Guitar Wolf or MC5 and suit his no-nonsense style of rock to a tee.

The only complaint is that although his songs have been written over the course of a 35-year career, most of them could sit side by side on the same album and that, coupled with the stripped-down sound, meant there was not much variation in the music.

But Alice's masterly stage craft and delicious sense of humour kept the evening bouncing along with satanic glee.

And from the sound of his latest album, Dirty Diamonds, Alice might be trying something new in the form of a country song in Saga Of Jesse Jane.

On this kind of form, perhaps Alice should consider running for US president again.