R.E.M. and Judas Priest? Alice Cooper's Coopstock 2 benefit for Solid Rock Teen Center, featured Rob Halford, Patrick Warburton, Ed Roland and more.
But seeing the guy who played Puddy on"Seinfeld" really lean into the vocals of the Doors song"Roadhouse Blues" on a stage overflowing with vocalists whose livelihood depends on being singers while Larry the Cable Guy shouts into another mic?
Saturday's lineup at Las Sendas Golf Club in Mesa was the usual unusual assortment Cooper tends to gather, from R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills to the singers of Creed, Collective Soul and Judas Priest to the musical comedy of Gary Mule Deer.Solid Rock Teen Centers students also took the stage The idea is to raise funds, after all, which also meant a series of live auctions that pulled in substantial sums of money for the centers.
And it was obvious how they became his go-to band while effortlessly shifting gears from backing Gary Mule Deer's Johnny Cash to breaking out a mandolin when Mills did"Losing My Religion" and rocking with total conviction as the show grew heavier. Creed's Scott Stapp brought all the drama you'd expect to the proceedings as he dusted off a handful of his old band's biggest hits, from "Higher" and "My Sacrifice" to the double-platinum chart-topper"With Arms Wide Open.
Fans crowded the stage and sang along as Cooper reached back to the early '90s for"Lost in America" and whipped out his harmonica for"Fallen in Love," a blues-rocking highlight of 2017's"Paranormal." That, of course, could only mean he was about to play his breakthrough single"I'm Eighteen."