In a last-minute plot twist, Gilby Clarke has been confirmed as touring guitarist in Alice Cooper’s band, and will be replacing Oranthi for a string of dates starting January 31.
The Godfather of Shock will be forgiven for placing Clarke under a shelter-in-place notice until the tour bus is fueled up and ready to go because finding someone to play electric guitar in Cooper’s touring band has been a cursed endeavor in recent months.
Clarke will be replacing the Australian guitar phenom Orianthi, after she was booked to return to Cooper’s touring band to sit in for current touring guitarist, Nita Strauss, who had a scheduling snafu. How has all this come to pass?
Well, the official release says “unforeseen circumstances” have forestalled Orianthi’s return to the Cooper camp, but it looks like she is in no fit shape to tour right now after revealing on Instagram that she has sustained an injury.
“Unfortunately I have a torn hamstring and damage to my hip after last tour,” she wrote. “Not sure exactly when it happened but the pain I feel/felt is bad… getting it fixed up now.”
Orianthi said then she would be able to make PRS Guitars’ 40th Anniversary Show but warned ticket holders she would have to perform seated before resting up. A few days later she posted a picture from the physio’s treatment room.
This is a real bummer for Orianthi, who is all systems go right now, finishing up her forthcoming studio album, Some Kind of Feeling, under the watching eye of Kevin ‘The Caveman’ Shirley, and tracking with her new supergroup alongside Cindy Blackman Santana and Rhonda Smith – with Jimi Hendrix producer Eddie Kramer in the control room.
Orianthi played with Alice Cooper from 2011 to 2014, and she told Guitar World that he is “like family.” When Cooper reached out to her for these dates, there was only going to be one answer.
“Working with him was such a blast, and it's such an honor. Alice is a legend,” she said. “I know the shows are going to be really fun. It's going to be just a whole different dynamic and sort of a change from Nita.”
Speaking about the differences between her style and Strauss’, Orianthi said Hurricane Nita was an “incredible player” but she would play Cooper’s tunes the way she always would.
“I play more classic blues rock, so it’s a different dynamic,” she said. “I’m pretty much going to do it my way. I’m just going to play the songs the way I played them before, and then, obviously, Alice adds the new stuff he wants me to add. Because I’m an artist, I don’t copy anything.”
Orianthi even had to play some Jenga with her schedule to make the tour. Alas, it was for nought, and now Clarke will be in her place, and will play Cooper’s shows from January 31 through to February 16. Touch wood.
You can find full dates and ticket details at Alice Cooper.
