Dec. 12, 2013

AliceCooper.com Exclusive – Alice Cooper surprise performance at Guggenheim Party!

December 12th, 2013 | Words & Photos by Kyler Clark | Twitter & Instagram – @CerealKyler

Alice made a surprise performance tonight at the Guggenheim Partner’s holiday party in Santa Monica at Barker Hangar!  Coop performed as a special guest for a lucky crowd with the band Camp Freddy serving as the main band for the night.   Camp Freddy’s core members are Billy Morrison (Billy Idol), Chris Chaney, Donovan Leitch and Matt Sorum (Velvet Revolver, Slash, Guns N Roses)!

Here are a few shots of the guys rehearsing this afternoon:

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Other guests for the show were Slash (Slash, Velvet Revolver, Guns N Roses), Wayne Newton, Billy Idol, Steve Stevens (Billy Idol), Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), Mark McGrath (Sugar Ray), Paul Stanley (KISS) & Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit).

Check out this gallery of photos from the night:

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Here’s the rough setlist:

The night began with Camp Freddy singer Donovan playing “Are You Gonna Go My Way” and “Suffragette City”, followed by Mark McGrath on crowd favorites “Blister In The Sun”, “Fly”, “Fight For Your Right”.

Wayne Newton came up for subtle and intimate versions of  “Help Me Make It” and “Danke Schoen” before Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst jumped on stage for “Sweet Emotion” and “You Really Got Me”.  Somewhere in there actor David Arquette stormed the stage for some highly energetic background vocals.  Hilarious moment.

Paul Stanley and Tommy Thayer from KISS were on hand for a killer version of Free’s “All Right Now” with Chris Chaney nailing the classic bass line.  Stanley and Thayer stayed on for Kiss classics “Strutter” and “Lick It Up”, always crowd favorites.  The band sounded great on these songs and both Paul and Tommy were in top form.  You almost half expected the stage to burst into flames in classic KISS style!

The boys introduced the legendary Billy Gibbons who tore thru ZZ Top standard “Sharp Dressed Man” and the immortal Hendrix track “Foxy Lady”.  Seeing Gibbons is always a treat, especially in such an intimate setting.  All of the guitarists in the room NOT on stage sat side stage with their mouths open.

Billy Idol joined the band for “White Wedding”, “Dancing With Myself” and “Rebel Yell”, with Slash popping on for “Yell”.  Together with guitarist Steve Stevens it sounded as close to the record as one would have hoped!  Billy Idol reminds me of Alice a bit.  He hasn’t quite changed much since his hey day, and his energy level and performance was top of the line.  A++ and one of my favorites of the night.

Our own Alice Cooper closed out the spectacular night beginning with the immortal “I’m Eighteen”, with guitarists Steve Steven’s and Billy Morrison trading guitar solos that would make your head spin!  Slash jumped back on for Alice’s version of The Who’s “My Generation”, one of his tribute songs from his recently wrapped “Raise The Dead” tour.  Matt Sorum and Chris Chaney really shined here as a solid rhythm section.  Slash stayed on as Alice closed the night with the Cooper classic “School’s Out”!

It doesn’t get much better than this when it comes to Christmas or Holiday parties!