It's Pudding time again...
by ndconcerts on 12/20/14Comerica Theatre - PhoenixI've been able to see most of the Christmas Pudding benefit shows that Alice Cooper has put on here in Phoenix over the last 15 years. My first time was the second one held, when the show was still mounted in the intimate in-the-round Celebrity Theater. It's since gone on to be held in the much larger Comerica Theater, which seats around eight thousand people. As the show has gotten larger, I feel that it's lost some of its soul--namely, the variety that made the earlier Puddings so much fun. One Pudding in particular featured Cooper alongside Cheech Marin (of comedy duo Cheech & Chong), Glen Campbell, Don Felder of the Eagles, a classical piano duo, and Rob Zombie. Another featured former Traffic member Dave Mason, Marilyn McCoo from The 5th Dimension, local talent Jerry Riopelle, and the lead singer of Sister Sledge (performing "We Are Family"). So yeah, the earlier Puddings had more variety. Lately, the focus has been on hard rock/metal almost exclusively, with a bone tossed in here and there of another kind of music. It's a great cause (the Solid Rock Foundation, founded by Cooper and his wife, which benefits at-risk youth in Phoenix), but I miss the old format. Still, this year's Pudding was entertaining, all the same. It was also the longest, starting promptly at 7 and ending around 1am. There were two intermissions, the first one so brief that it was frankly ridiculous (they probably realized that they were running over time backstage and needed to get going). The performers in order of appearance were: ANDREW JOHNS--a one-man-band performer who imitated the likes of Freddie Mercury and Alice; he was ok but went over his allotted time and had the curtain dropped on him. That had to be embarrassing! THE SOLID ROCK DANCERS--acolytes of Cooper's wife Sheryl, who runs the 'dance' part of the Solid Rock school. Past performances have run the gamut from ballet to breakdancing. This year's offering was strangely monotonous and uninteresting, but the kids involved get a big "A" for effort anyway. Performing in such a large full house can't be easy. Every year the Pudding features local talent who win a contest (called "the Proof In the Pudding") to perform at the event. This year, it was solo artist LAURA WALSH (very good) and band UFN (excellent musicians, but overbearing performance style). Of the two, Walsh had the most promise, opening her two-song set with a soulful, bluesy take on "Blue Christmas". Celebrity painter ROCK DeMARCO, a veteran of several Puddings, was next. Using his unique two-handed style, he created a portrait of Cooper onstage in a matter of minutes. CO-OP were next. A local metal outfit fronted by Alice's son Dash. I had seen them before and I still don't care for them; Dash knows how to work a stage but he can't sing, and the original song they performed made no impression on me whatsoever. Comedian GARY MULE DEER was a major highlight of the evening; he's sort of a George Carlin-esque observational comic who doesn't work blue, and his stonefaced delivery is part of his charm. This was the third Pudding I had seen him at, and he's always great. NILS LOFGREN, currently Bruce Springsteen's lead guitarist (and formerly of Neil Young's band), played a passionate set and was another highlight. An auction followed, during which DeMarco's portrait and various signed musical instruments were sold off. The auction is always fun to watch, but no way could I ever participate in one...until I win the lottery, that is. The second half of the show started with two loud, rowdy metal bands; the first being Toronto act THOUSAND FOOT KRUTCH. I didn't care for them too much, but it was fun watching them work up the younger folks in the crowd. P.O.D. was next. They had a few hits in the late '90s, and their sound is modern metal with rapped vocals. Even though I'm not a fan of the genre, they didn't annoy me. They, like the band before them, performed three songs (including "Alive", the only one of theirs I knew). A supergroup of sorts followed, made up of JONNY LANG, Night Ranger lead singer Jack Blades and Lofgren. The set they performed started off strong but became somewhat monotonous when Lang stretched out his cover of the U2/B.B. King song "When Love Comes To Town". Former Richie Blackmore's Rainbow and Deep Purple vocalist JOE LYNN TURNER joined them for two songs. He still has the pipes but the version of "Smoke On the Water" they performed just draaaaaaaaged. NIGHT RANGER performed a set that went on too long, in my opinion. Six songs may not sound like a big deal, but when the band jams on some of them, and the vocalist of "Sister Christian" (drummer Kelly Keagy) can barely croak out the lyrics, it really seemed to take forever for them to clear the stage. ALICE COOPER closed off the show with a much-expanded setlist (13 songs instead of the five he normally does at a Pudding), and with an abbreviated--but welcome--version of the show he regularly tours with. Cooper usually does the Puddings sans makeup and props; a lot of hype was generated by the fact that he was going to basically do the same opening set that he performed on Motley Crue's supposedly farewell tour this year. Alice added a few nice Christmas touches to the props, some subtle (a bag overflowing with coal marked 'naughty' onstage), some not (the Frankenstein monster dressed as Santa). It was cool to see the snake, straightjacket and guillotine at the very family-friendly Pudding. The show ended with Alice and band leading everyone with a rowdy take on The Beatles' "Revolution" while fake snow fell from the rafters. As I said above, the show was overlong, but it was never boring.