Christmas Puddin' - a review

[plankspanker13]

Alice Cooper has done a special Christmas rock & roll variety/comedy show in his native Phoenix for nearly a decade now, and I was fortunate enough to score some ducats to this year's edition of Alice Cooper's Christmas Pudding. Here's my thoughts, while they are still fresh, having just gotten home from the gig.

The River of Life Choir opened with some grounding in the gospel tradition that grooved. Alice and Sheryl Cooper (1st cougar babe of the night) came out to do a benediction and start things off properly. The Solid Rock Dancers then delivered a high-energy performance that built some tension, and looked to be loosely based upon the Nutcracker.

MC Murray Sawchuck (is he related to the famed Red Wings goalie of yore, Terry Sawchuck?) then came out and did his thing, which is the occasional magic trick to buy time for the road crew to set up the next act, for the rest of the evening. He introduced a series of winners in Alice's "Proof is in the Pudding" competition. Acoustic guitar soloist Micah Beverly really showed what a good looper pedal can do, layering in 4 guitar tracks and singing as he did so, soloing over this musical bed, and then ending it tightly with a flourish; great stuff. I now want a looper pedal, already envisioning being able to do "L.A. Woman" in a guitar trio, looping the bass track, and hammering on the keyboard notes high up the neck.

Young band, Buskin Cuffs were entertaining, mixing in a bit of swing/rockabilly revival with a Jonas-like look and presence. They were fun to watch, and don't tell their bassist about the limits of the mighty Fender Precision; he played it like it was a Jazz, through a GK head into an Ampeg 8x10 cab. This was the standard bass rig for the whole show, whereas there were multiple Marshall half-stacks for the 6-stringers.

Runaway Phoenix was another unsigned band that got perhaps one number too many; Dash Cooper, Alice's son, is the lead singer, and sounds just like his old man did in his prime. They need to write better songs, in this musician's opinion.

Ronn Lucas, a ventriloquist, was impressive, dismembering his dummy, then using an audience volunteer to be his replacement dummy; very funny.

Sight-impaired pianist/vocalist Scott MacIntyre took the music into a Bruce Hornsby & Billy Joel meets Dave Matthews direction, and his bassist was the night's only 5-stringer.

Gary Mule Deer brought out his schtick, which is like a cross between Keith Richards, Johnny Cash, and Robin Williams. Enough said there; he was funny.

Local favorites and reknowned headliners, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers brought the first half's music to a close with a strong mini-set that included the Refreshments' "Bandidos," which Clyne had written while in that band. I thought to myself, "Hopkins, if only you had not blown your brains out, then it would be you and the original Gin Blossoms doing this." Clyne & company were clearly the most seasoned showmen up to that point, and it was very evident.

The second half of the night brought out the heavy-hitters; folks from the hard rock spectrum of yesteryear; Alice Cooper's peeps. Alice himself sang some of his classics, then kept his band onstage to back Lita Ford. She looks fabulous in her mid-50's...until she bares her arms; the ink seems incongruous with the loveliness that's still there. Her son, Rocco, acted as her roadie/assistant, and I will compliment her guitar skills and stop there. *CAUTION, RANT COMING* With scads of floor monitors, even a 3rd one turned from the other guitarrist towards Lita, there is absolutely NO EXCUSE for her being consistently a half-pitch flat vocally. I have not heard so poor a hard rock vocal performance since Kevin Dubrow of Quiet Riot, who was notoriously a product of the studio. Hell, I have been in situations with NO floor monitor, only the mains, and I can sing more on pitch more consistently than what I heard from Lita's pipes. Even when she took the guitar off and strictly sang, the pitches just were not there. She should have stayed home, but does get honorable mention as the 2nd cougar babe of the night. I yelled "cougars rock!" during a quiet point between songs, and the gal in front of me promptly high-fived me. For an instant, we exchanged that glance that said "we should exchange our dates for the evening."

Warrant then came out, punching out a small handfull of their late 80's metallurgy, including my fave, "Down Boys," and the obligatory "Cherry Pie." I had heard that lead singer Jani Lane had left the group, but the cat they had looked and sounded just like him; maybe I had heard wrong, or Jani is back in the fold. They sounded good. I had not seen them since c. 1985 at the Troubadour. (EDIT: I wiki'd and learnd that Robert Mason is Warrant's voice.)

Next up was Dee Snyder, again with Alice's band backing him. Technically, Snyder was the headliner, and he lived up to it, with great energy and a powerful, commanding-yet-engaging stage presence. He seemed larger than life, and I suddenly flashed that I was watching life imitating art imitating life. Dee Snyder is the Tubes' infamous Quay Lewd character brought to life (hell, they look a lot alike), but with a NYC vibe, and not a British one (The Tubes' Fee Waybill always did Quay a la Ozzy; stoned and cockney). I almost found myself wanting to shout out a request for "White Punks on Dope, " but remembered that it was merely Dee Snyder. Let's just say that I never cared for Twisted Sister's material that much, but I really respect Snyder's sense of showmanship; he owned the night, prowling the stage like a caged tiger.

The Grand Finale featured Lita, Dee, Warrant's vocalist, and the guitarrists all out there, with the rest of the cast flanking the musicians as the whole ensemble became covered in fake snowfall, and they ripped out a rockin' "O Come All Ye Faithful," which Snyder admitted he ripped the opening musical phrase from to start the chorus of "We're Not Gonna Take It." Go ahead; listen to both songs and hear for yourself (the Bing Crosby version of "O Come All Ye Faithful" might be the best one to compare, since it is in the key of F, like the Twisted Sister tune).

More bass info (for my fellow bottom-enders at TB): Fender dominated the night, with only Warrant and Coop's bassists not playing something that come from the mind of Leo the Great. This comes as no surprise, since Fender were a sponsor of the event, having donated a pair of red Mexican Strats to be signed by the cast and auctioned. Each one got $7500 at auction, but without the signatures, they are mere $300 axes. I like the bass that Warrant's guy played, and need to learn more about it. It had a Tele-style body, but was not a G&L ASAT (which I covet in semi-hollow form), and sported a "jazzman" pickup grouping similar to my Warwick, or some of the early high-end Laklands. The neck had a 2-per-side headstock that looked like a Modulus graphite to me. I did subsequently find a YouTube vid of Dixon performing, and he is using a G&L ASAT solidbody in it.

There was pudding served, but it did not get too far beyond the first few rows, and I was a bit further back; no biggie. A good time was had, at a point in time when I needed the cheering up, and I'll close with a big thanks to Bickley & MJ (actualy, Bauer, their producer), who hooked me up with the tickets. KGME may be a sports talk concern, but, as a Clear Channel holding, is in bed with other entertainment entities, and can sometimes venture into the non-sports side of entertainment. I would have loved to have won Steely Dan tix for last month's show, but ended up having a gig of my own that night anyway, so it kinda all worked out.