Halloween arrived early to St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center Sunday night when the double bill of Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie brought two generations of shock rock to a gleeful crowd of about 10,000.

From the early days of the Alice Cooper band to his solo career that began in 1975, the man born Vincent Furnier has enjoyed his position as one of the most-loved musicians in the business, thanks to his hard-driving songs, spirited live performances and comically ghoulish persona that earned him the title of the Godfather of Shock Rock.

Cooper has influenced countless musicians who’ve followed him, including Zombie himself, who inducted the Alice Cooper band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.

Now 76, Cooper has said he’s six years younger than Mick Jagger and that whenever the Rolling Stones frontman retires, Cooper figures he’s got six more years left in him: “I will not let him beat me when it comes to longevity.”

Sunday night, Cooper felt as ageless as ever, from his barking voice to multiple costume changes. He has continued to record new music, including his most recent four albums which he worked on with Bob Ezrin, the mega-producer behind Cooper’s biggest records from the ’70s.

Not that Cooper played any of the new stuff, though. In his tightly paced hour-long set, he focused on his early hitmaking days (“No More Mr. Nice Guy,” “Elected,” “I’m Eighteen”) and his successful second act during the hair metal era (“Poison,” “Hey Stoopid,” “Lock Me Up”).

Of course, he also found time for his famed theatrics. Cinematic serial killer Jason Voorhees showed up on stage during “He’s Back (The Man Behind the Mask),” a giant monster joined him for “Feed My Frankenstein” as did a whip-cracking demon in a bikini during “Go to Hell.” Cooper’s most famous bit took place during “Ballad of Dwight Fry,” which opened with him wearing a straitjacket and wrapped with his head on a guillotine.

The crowd ate it all up and showered love on his terrific band, which includes three guitarists. Fan favorite Nita Strauss even got her own solo.

Zombie, 59, first found fame in the ’90s as the leader of the metal band White Zombie. After a pair of hit major label albums, the band split and Zombie went on to pursue a solo career. He’s also become an accomplished director of horror films inspired by the likes of “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” “The Shining” and “A Clockwork Orange.”

As such, his show offered plenty of visual spectacle with custom graphics, vintage film clips and heavily treated live footage flickering on the numerous screens that decorated the stage. One of the most effective combinations of audio and visual happened during “The Satanic Rites of Blacula,” a track from his most recent album “The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy” that blended footage from the 1972 cult classic with pentagrams and blood red washes of color.

Zombie’s solo songs can get a bit murky, but “Living Dead Girl,” “Superbeast” and “Dragula” helped make the night a blast.

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Salvation Army service centers around the metro are available as “cooling centers” during hot weather, including on Monday when real temperatures and heat index are expected to soar. The National Weather Service has predicted the Twin Cities’ temperature will reach 92 degrees, with a peak heat index of 107 degrees, which could be the summer’s hottest, they wrote on their social media.

St. Paul public library branches and recreation centers will also be open during business hours to provide space to cool down.

The Salvation Army will have the following centers open during normal business hours Monday through Friday, and anyone is welcome who needs to escape the heat.

Salvation Army – Eastside, 1019 Payne Avenue, St. Paul 55130 (651) 776-8169
Salvation Army – Citadel, 401 West 7th Street, St. Paul 55102 (651) 224-4316
Salvation Army – Lakewood, 2080 Woodlynn Avenue, St. Paul 55109 (651) 779-9177
Salvation Army – Temple, 1604 East Lake Street, Minneapolis 554107 (612) 721-1513
Salvation Army – Parkview, 2024 Lyndale Avenue North, Minneapolis 55411 (612) 522-4871
Salvation Army – Noble, 10011 Noble Parkway, Brooklyn Park 55443 (763) 425-0517
Salvation Army – Central, 2727 Central Avenue Northeast, Minneapolis 55418 (612) 789-2858

More information on locations and hours can be found at SalvationArmyNorth.org.

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Saints starter Aaron Rozek took the loss in the Saints’ 5-2 loss to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders on Sunday afternoon at CHS Field, but the 29-year-old Burnsville native was one of few bright spots for the home team on an otherwise gloomy day.

Rozek retired the first 10 batters he faced before a double and a single gave the RailRiders a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning. They proved to be the only batters to reach base in Rozek’s six innings of work.

It was a solid turnaround for left-hander, who was roughed up in his previous two outings. He gave up a career-high 10 hits and five runs in 4 2/3 innings against Indianapolis on August 15 and six runs — five earned — in four innings to open the homestand against the RailRiders.

“It’s always nice to give your team a shot at winning,” Rozek said. “That’s all you can ask for as a starter. Whatever the line is, as long as we’re in the ballgame, I did my job.”

Rozek entered the game with a 0-3 record and an earned-run average of 7.67. But his struggles didn’t lead to any drastic changes on Sunday, he said.

“I was more in the zone than Tuesday,” Rozek said. “A little more confidence, I guess. Pitching to contact is my game, and you can’t really shy away from that.”

But there are a couple of things he has been working on of late.

“Sweepers in the zone have been a difficulty since I’ve been up here, so honing in on that,” Rozek said. “And pitch quality. Not really (throwing to the) heart of the zone, but picking my
spots and throwing to those.”

Rozek, who was signed by the Twins as an undrafted free agent in June of 2021, is in his third stint with the Saints this season after starting the season at Double-A Wichita.

Asked if he felt Sunday was an important game for him, Rozek said, “Every game is important. You try not to fixate and let pass results linger. Every game is Game 1.”

Especially if the goal is to avoid another trip down to Double-A.

“You try to keep it out of the back of your mind,” Rozek said. “It’s always there, but it’s completely out of my hands. I try to control what I can control.”

Sunday’s start is something he can build on.

“There’s always learning points, good bad or ugly,” Rozek said. “So it’s diving deeper — maybe not today, but Monday and Tuesday — leading up to the next one. Seeing what I did well; seeing what I can work on.”

Rozek said he had approximately 10 family members and friends at the game. That’s down from the 50 who showed up when he had his Saints debut in April.

“We’ll always have family here,” Rozek said. “This is their first opportunity to see me pitch professionally. It’s always fun having them in the stands. It’s always fun to see familiar faces in the crowd. I had my high school head coach and high school pitching coach here the other week.”

Rozek pitched at Minnesota State-Mankato before turning to independent baseball following graduation in 2018. The Saints were an independent team at that time, and Rozek’s goal was to play for them.

Now, of course, the goal is to play for the Twins.

“It’s kind of come full circle,” Rozek said.

Briefly

Twins infielder Brooks Lee, on rehab assignment (right biceps tendinitis), had a pair of doubles and a single in four at-bats before leaving the game in the top of the eighth.

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BY: CHADWICK ROY
NEW YORK, NEW YORK: There has been much controversy surrounding Olympic Gold medalist Noah Lyles. Tyreek Hill thinks dusting him in a race will finally keep him quiet.

It started last year when Lyles claimed that the NBA can’t claim to be world champions. When asked about the Nuggets winning the NBA Finals last June, he questioned why the NBA is considered World Champions. What hurts me the most is that I have to watch the NBA Finals and they have ‘World Champion’ on their head,” Lyles said. “World champion of what?”

Lyles’ comment caused a lot of controversy and started much talk. Lyles didn’t stop either, even leveling with the NFL, claiming they should not be considered World Champions either. Recently, NFL wide receiver Tyreek Hill tweeted on X, challenging Lyles to race this past Sunday. This is after Tyreek said that he could beat Lyles in a race; after saying he wasn’t impressed with Lyles’ performance in the Paris Olympics. “I would beat Noah Lyles,” he said. “I’m not going to beat him by a lot, but I would beat Noah Lyles. ”

Lyles called out Hill on Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson’s podcast, “Nightcap”, which led to Hill tweeting on X, officially challenging Lyles to a 50-yard dash. Lyles said we would accept Hill’s challenge, but it would have to be a “legit” race. Although Hill says he would beat Lyles in a 50-yard dash, Lyles wants a legit official 100-meter race.