Alice Cooper’s Christmas Pudding
The Celebrity Theatre, Phoenix, AZ, USA, December 8, 2018
by Mary Andrews
This was the 17th year for the annual Alice Cooper’s Christmas Pudding and each year seems like the best. Alice and his wife Sheryl Cooper have always had a soft spot for teenagers. That is why they created this charity fundraiser to raise money to fund a neighborhood teen center to teach teens the arts.
The Solid Rock Teen Center has been a work in progress and now they teach teens how to play instruments, dance, sing, and visual arts. This service is free for the teen. Many of the teens will continue to perform professionally as they get older.
In addition to selling tickets to the show, there are auctions throughout the evening of memorabilia usually autographed art, show clothes or photos of the entertainers performing for the night. The items garnered anywhere from $5000 to $31,000 each. The $31,000 item was a guitar autographed by Johnny Depp. AXS lost count of the tally for the evening.
Attached to the teen center is Alice Cooper’s ‘the Proof is in the Pudding’ talent contest each year. One of the Prizes is to be able to perform at the Christmas Pudding as special guests. The very first winner was Jordin Sparks before she appeared on American Idol. This year’s winning solo artist was Conrad Varela and the winning band was Undecided Youth. Both gave stellar performances to get things started for the evening.
Varela shredded like a seasoned pro as he moved across the stage. He played a Christmas medley of “Adeste Fideles” and “Winter Wonderland.” The youth was born to play guitar and he had standing ovations from the crowd.
The band, ‘Undecided Youth,’ was fronted by 16-year old, Summer Welch. She had the attitude and stage presence of Florence Welch. The band rocked hard with a powerful lead guitarist as well. They already have an EP released, Undecided Youth. Both artists were a great way to kick things off and will have a great future in rock.
Sebastian Bach was the super showman of the night. Skid Row has not been the same since the former frontman left the band. He is constantly animated. His set was adorned with songs taken from Skid Row’s self-titled album.
Vocally, Bach is still able to hit the high notes of his youth. Visually, he is still very appealing and somewhat youthful at the age of 50. He has taken off a few pounds since we saw him three years ago. This was a fun, exciting set for all.
Gretchen Wilson does her best Ann Wilson. The “Redneck Woman” superstar has added to the lineup just a few weeks ago. In 2017, she released the album Ready to Get Rowdy. Even though she has not seen the success of her first two releases, she has maintained her fiery stage presence.
She opened her set with a spirited “Here for the Party.” She, then asked, “Do we have any rednecks in the house tonight?” She followed with her biggest hit. However, she served up her best at the end of the set with her cover of Heart’s “Barracuda.”
Larry the Cable Guy was present throughout the show who not only had his own set but officiated the changeovers between sets and assisted during the auctions. His jokes throughout the night were well received. An example was when he said about performing, “I imagine everyone naked. I’m not nervous. I’m just a pervert.”
Beasto Blanco with Calico Cooper was a rock performance depicting a werewolf gone wild on stage. Calico seemed to be following in the footsteps of her famous father. Chuck Garric was the front man for the raucous band. The fun set ended with Cooper spraying the crowd with a smoke gun.
Blue Oyster Cult’s Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma gave a great performance of “Burnin’ For You,” “Godzilla” and an extended version of “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper.” The jam was epic.
The Hollywood Vampires were the headliners and consists of Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp, and Aerosmith’s Joe Perry. However, two days before show time, it was announced that Perry could not attend due to doctors’ orders. There was always a chance of that happening after Perry’s backstage collapse at Madison Square Garden in November.
The show went on without a hitch. All eyes were on Depp as he played guitar and moved around the circular stage. The guitar he played happened to be the guitar ‘auctioned off’ before the set. He moved and looked much like a rock star. Depp sang lead on David Bowie’s “Heroes” and did an admirable job.
There is no doubt that this is Cooper’s band though. He gave the fans the swagger and attitude that we have come to expect throughout the years. There was a blend of new music and cover songs. The set was a raucous and rocking starting out with “I Want My Now,” “Raise the Dead,” and “As Bad As I Am.”
New music included “The Boogieman Surprise,” “My Dead Drunk Friends,” and “Welcome to Bushwhackers.”
Cooper even played harmonica on AC/DC’s “The Jack.” They closed with “School’s Out.”
The finale of the night was an all-star rendition of Chuck Berry’s “Run, Rudolph, Run” that is a ‘Pudding’ tradition. Two surprise guests came out. Many fans were disappointed that Nita Strauss had a show that same night in Scottsdale. However, after her band finished their gig, she headed for the Celebrity Theatre to make an appearance.
Orianthi, Cooper’s former band guitarist, showed up for the finale. Both women are major guitar shredders and put the five-hour extravaganza over the top.
https://www.facebook.com/acsolidrock/
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https://www.alicecoopersolidrock.com via @acsolidrock
Hollywood Vampires’ Setlist: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/hollywood-vampires/2018/celebrity-theatre-phoenix-az-4394afcb.html
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