Alice Cooper, of ‘School’s Out for Summer’ and ‘I’m 18’ fame, was told that his show can’t go on in Finland. Cooper and his band were booked to perform at Tampere Areena Oy, an arena in Tampere, Finland Dec. 11. However, the owners of the arena cancelled the event when the supposedly dark nature of Cooper’s ‘Theatre of Death’ show came to light.Harri Wiherkoski, managing director of the arena said that ‘‘artists who express suspicious values from Christianity’s point of view cannot be allowed to perform at the venue.’’ He also told reporters that his venue doesn’t ‘‘arrange concerts where Satanism or non-god-worshipping occurs.’’
"The [Lutheran-based charismatic revivalist] group Nokia Mission and others use Tampere Arena for their events, so the venue's management did not want Alice Cooper appearing in the same hall. The contract which we received from Tampere Arena specifies that no artists may perform there who 'incite evil and the power of darkness'," promoter Kalle Keskinen told YLE.
Concert promoter Kalle Keskinen, said ‘‘We never imagined that a rock veteran who has performed in Finland in four separate decades without any problems and who has spoken in public of his own religious convictions would not be allowed to perform at Tampere Areena in 2009.’’
Cooper, who is a practicing Christian, told Cross Rhythms magazine last year that he reconciles his stage persona with his personal faith without problem. ‘‘As a Christian, I don’t declare myself as a ‘Christian rock star.’ I’m a rock performer who’s a Christian. Alice Cooper is the guy who wants to entertain the audience – it happens that he’s a Christian. Alice (the character I play on stage) began life as a villain and he remains one. There’s a villain and a hero in every Shakespeare play,’’ he said.
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