Alice Cooper held his 18th annual Christmas Pudding fundraising concert in Phoenix on December 14, and among the many treats of the evening – Rob Halford performing a handful of Priest classics, Nuno Bettencourt shredding through Get the Funk Out – was one particular standout: the surviving members of the Alice Cooper group taking the stage with electric guitar help from Joe Bonamassa and Johnny Depp for a five-song mini-set.
The Alice Cooper band members – guitarist Michael Bruce, drummer Neal Smith and bassist Dennis Dunaway (lead guitarist Glen Buxton died in 1997) – joined their former singer for run-throughs of No More Mr. Nice Guy, Be My Lover, Under My Wheels, I’m Eighteen and School’s Out.
JoBo in particular looked to be having a great time onstage (and with that setlist, how could you not?), adding tasty – and impressively restrained – leads to Under My Wheels and I’m Eighteen. And if you’re more interested in seeing the man you named the world's best blues guitarist tear it up a bit, just scroll to the end of School’s Out for some Les Paul pyrotechnics.
Proceeds from the event directly benefit the free music, dance, arts, and vocational programs for teens 12-20 at Alice Cooper’s Solid Rock Teen Centers.
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