CONCORD, Calif. — It was a rock and roll show meets a horror film and a Broadway show seen through the lens of an insane fever dream. Friday’s Freaks On Parade Tour stop at Toyota Pavilion was a bombastic spectacle bringing together a bill of legendary hard rockers. The show was co-headlined by trailblazing shock rockers Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper. Both performers lived up to their reputations as both musicians and visual artists, using every inch of the stage to create elaborate sets.

The lights turned a dark red as Rob Zombie prepared to hit the stage. A burning glow with flashing white strobes illuminated through the transparent curtain. A guitar mimicked a an air raid siren. Zombie appeared on a riser lifted well above the stage, his drummer set up even higher behind him. It felt like a hellish podium, Zombie commanding his disciples on opener “The Triumph of King Freak (A Crypt of Preservation and Superstition)” off his 2021 album, The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy.

Suddenly the stage transformed into a massive boombox for “Dead City Radio and the New Gods of Supertown.” Each track had its own personality, visuals and production. Zombie continues to ignite crowds as well as ever. Nimbly bounding from riser to riser, he controlled the energy, writhing with the ebb and flow of the music, his voice delivering a signature growl on driving, heavy tracks like “Feels So Numb.”

With both headliners getting a little over an hour on stage, there was little time to waste between songs. Zombie offered an enthusiastic welcome and praised attendees for their energy. The set also included a barrage of additional characters from a large deer/alien hybrid on “Well, Everybody’s Fucking in a U.F.O.”

“I was once a dashing young man with an ‘x’ carved in my forehand,” Zombie said.

The set included an eclectic array of career-spanning tracks, each introducing new characters into the mix. And yet, at one point the stage completely transformed from fire and brimstone to a Hoth-like snow planet with actual flecks of snow falling from the sky.

The energy in the pit in front of the stage remained high throughout the show.

“People don’t move around enough at shows these days,” Zombie noted. ‘”It’s nice to see a little action.”

Following a rousing but comparatively slower-paced “House of 1000 Corpses,” Zombie concluded with no-nonsense crowd-pleasers “Dragula” and “More Human Than Human.”

“Playing the role of Alice Cooper tonight,” said one Alice Cooper, as he soaked in applause, “me!”

It was one of the few phrases spoken by Cooper, who played just about his entire set before mixing in an end credits section. The 75-year-old’s set was hard-rocking but also heavy on visuals, almost to the point of vaudeville.

Cooper stalked the stage with a mix of hats, canes, swords and a range of costumes, starting with “Lock Me Up” and “No More Mister Nice Guy.” Even as the focal point for his band, Cooper played off his bandmates.

The tour marks the return of lead guitarist Nita Strauss to the fold. Strauss was stellar onstage, both a virtuosic and the heartbeat that fueled the energy of the band. Cooper’s 16-song set veered toward older material, including “Hey Stoopid,” “Lost In America” and “Billion Dollar Babies.” While he just released his latest album, Road, the album didn’t get any love save for a quick mention at the end.

Giant staircases flanked each side of the stage and the overall production offered plenty of versatility to move things around and create different designs. It seemed impossible to slow Cooper down. He stalked the stage from side to side and kept up the energy from the first notes. He hoisted a live snake on “Snakebite” and brought out a giant Frankenstein on “Feed My Frankenstein.”

The end of the set brought extra drama, starting with a solo by Strauss that evolved to a triple guitar attack. Cooper wore a straitjacket for the excellent “Ballad of Dwight Fry” and was then put in a guillotine and “beheaded” before retiring to the stage for “Elected” and “School’s Out.”

Industrial metal band Ministry proceeded the headliners and brought a very different energy to its set. The band strolled on stage, frontman Al Jourgensen announced the song title of the opening track, drummer Roy Mayorga hit the china symbol a few times and the band was off to the races. Without a lot of time available, Jorgensen mostly announced the song titles.

The performance was dynamic, tight and heavy. Ministry churned out punishing drumming and heavy guitar stomp, fusing material like “Deity” with a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Supernaut” before launching into its latest single, “Goddamn White Trash.”

Industrial rockers Filter opened the show with an effective set that merged heaviness with melody. Filter frontman Richard Patrick brought his signature throat-shredding delivery, one of the most powerful and recognizable voices in rock.

Smoked filled the stage, sometimes entirely hiding Patrick, who was quick to get the crowd going, urging fans to stand up.

“We can’t have this be the only show on the tour where everyone stays sitting,” he said.

The 35-minute set included material from the band’s latest work, The Algorithm, with a trio of its biggest hits, such as “The Drowning,” “Welcome to the Fold” and the requisite “Hey Man Nice Shot.”

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald. Follow photographer Nathan McKinley at Instagram.com/memories.by.mckinley.