EDMONTON -- If you judge a rock concert by the things the performer throws into the audience, Alice Cooper was a complete success.

Objects hurled to fans at the Winspear Centre last night included "diamond" necklaces, play money and a riding crop, a handy item with which to start your own rock 'n' roll fetish. Oh yes, and a wall-to-wall rock block of classic rock hits from everyone's favourite mascara-wearing, five-handicap shock rock superstar. It was a lovely evening in the concert hall.

Alice, at 57 sounding like he ever did - which is to say a growling maniac - seemed like he was in a generous mood. After all, it is Halloween. Almost. Next to Christmas, people spend the most money on Halloween than at any other occasion. You'd think Valentine's Day would come in second, but there you go - fear triumphs over love once again.

On a tour behind his new Dirty Diamonds album, Alice delivered the brimstone 'n' burlesque, as expected, but seemed to downplay the schtick somewhat.

He did the money on the sword thing, the black crutch came out in I'm 18 and there were a few new wrinkles added later, but rocking came first and it came hard.

The sold-out crowd didn't get a chance to sit down or catch their breath. The band banged out Department of Youth, No More Mister Nice Guy, Dirty Diamonds, Billion Dollar Babies and Be My Lover in rapid succession.

There were a few moments where it seemed very silly, and Alice's voice very spotty - good thing he didn't do many ballads - but you can't argue with the songcraft. Welcome to My Nightmare will outlast 10 generations of Marilyn Mansons. Manson's not so shocking anymore, anyway. Get this: Alice Cooper is a huge Christian - a fact that still surprises some fans. Nice to see he still has the power to shock.

Alice entered the stage in a glittering tuxedo, twirling his baton, real classy-like. Every move and facial expression was perfectly timed, as the man formerly known as Vincent Furnier fell into his well-worn character like he was born to it, which of course he was.

When he sang lines like, "I'm looking for a girl with a gun and a job" in Lost In America, you can believe him. He is a fine actor - of only one role, but then Di Niro basically plays the same guy in every film, too.

Exuding menace and charisma and a deadpan sense of the absurd, Alice covered most of the hard rock cliches, some of which he invented, at least half of the seven deadly sins, a few broken commandments and several movie monster icons, at least the evil ones.

And if they weren't evil to begin with, then damn it, Alice would make them evil. In Feed My Frankenstein, he shambled stiff-legged across the stage, collecting various severed limbs conveniently placed behind the monitors, assembling them in a coffin.

The monster he performed with the most gusto? Why, the devil, of course. The spookiness kicked up a notch during Go to Hell, featuring a guest dominatrix in a torn leotard. They get into a fight with the whip, she turns into some kind of winged demon and takes Alice away - straight to the fiery pits of hell! Close - a drum solo followed. The lesson is clear: If you hit a woman, even if she hits you, you will have to sit through a drum solo. That of course gave Alice a chance to change into his devilish red shirt and leather top-coat ensemble for Gimme, a song about greed - and somebody gets a new riding crop for Halloween.

What happened to Halloween, anyway? It used to be a day just for kids, but now the grown-ups have stolen it for themselves. Of course, with Alice Cooper, every day is Halloween.

As for the opening act, called Still Standing, it was clear from the first few songs - and the fact that no one had ever heard of them - that this was either a Christian rock band or has a Cooper family connection. Turns out that one of the members goes out with Cooper's daughter. Figures. No serious rock headliner in his right mind would hire a band this lame. The first misstep came before the band even played a note. A promising, sinister mood from the taped introduction was blown completely when the singer bellowed, "Whassup, Edmonton!" and launched a song called Suck It Up. The song revealed all the traits of every other Still Standing song: Punkish, middle of the road hard rock that tried very hard - and failed very badly - to display pop sensibility. Particularly annoying was the canned keyboards, which, like lip-syncing, should be illegal or at least require a warning sign: Tonight's performance will feature a cheesy synth played by a robot

Lyrics like "I create all you can see ... it's me you're dying for" suggest Still Standing may be rocking for Jesus, not that there's anything wrong with that.