Alice Cooper: Too Close for Comfort Tour — Ruth Eckerd Hall

Alice Cooper didn’t just play shock rock, he invented it — the guillotine finale, the live boa constrictor draped around his neck, the fake blood and mock executions that are now standard-issue across arena rock, metal, and even pop staging, all trace back to what Cooper built onstage starting in the late ’60s. He’s still touring the same theatrics at 78, with the hits (“School’s Out,” “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” “I’m Eighteen”) built around the same stagecraft that got him banned from venues decades ago.

This is genuinely not a kids’ show — the mock violence, fake blood, and horror-movie staging are the whole point, and while nothing is real, it’s built to unsettle. Fine for teens and up; skip it for younger children. Tickets for this date were already down to the last few percent available as of this writing — not a show to put off deciding on.

Good to know: Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen Booth Rd., Clearwater, FL 33759. Tuesday, Oct. 27, 8pm (doors 7pm). Tickets through Ruth Eckerd Hall’s own box office, not Ticketmaster. Outside Pasco County — a worth-the-drive pick.

See tickets at Ruth Eckerd Hall

More info: Worth the Drive — Jimmy Eat World, UB40, and Alice Cooper Play Tampa Bay This Fall