Alice Cooper: "If You Have an Accordion or Banjo in Your Band, You're Not a Rock Band" (VIDEO)

There are plenty of things we've come to expect around the holiday season. Crazy shoppers, long lines, snowbirds, traffic, and Alice Cooper's Christmas Pudding. Now if you've been living under a rock for the past decade, Christmas Pudding isn't a holiday dessert your grandmother force feeds you after dinner, it's...

By Jim Louvau

December 12, 2014

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There are plenty of things we've come to expect around the holiday season. Crazy shoppers, long lines, snowbirds, traffic, and Alice Cooper's Christmas Pudding. Now if you've been living under a rock for the past decade, Christmas Pudding isn't a holiday dessert your grandmother force feeds you after dinner, it's the original shock rocker's annual charity concert that raises money for his Solid Rock Foundation.

Though Cooper has been sober for more years than he can even remember, he still knows how to throw a rock 'n' roll party.

"The Pudding is something we do every year. It's like an Arizona tradition, and I just go through the Rolodex and see who hasn't been to the Pudding," Cooper tells us.

He's recruited newcomers P.O.D, and Thousand Foot Krutch, to join his old pals Night Ranger, Nils Lofgren, and Jonny Lang. Cooper's daughter Calico Cooper will host the event.

Though this year's lineup doesn't have the huge names we've seen in the past, like KISS, Rob Zombie, Joan Jett, or Johnny Depp, Alice and his band will perform their full theatrical show for the first time ever.

"It's probably the best band I've ever had," Cooper explains. "Our show is built on pure live rock 'n' roll. To me, the theatrics are just icing on the cake."

Once you kill the audience with the music, then you start putting the icing on the cake. Then you can do all the stuff that make's it Alice Cooper."

Fans can expect a full production, including pyro, the guillotine, Frankenstein, and (of course) the snake.

It's been a busy year for the 66-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, who just wrapped up opening for Mötley Crü on their farewell tour and the release of the documentary Super Duper Alice Cooper. Locally, Cooper also opened Alice's Attic thrift shop next to his Rock Teen Center in north Phoenix.

Christmas Pudding takes place at Comerica Theatre on Saturday, December 13.

Find any show in Metro Phoenix via our extensive online concert calendar.

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