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Ryan Roxie rocks with Cooper and on his own

Is there a better act to see Halloween weekend than Alice Cooper?

“Alice is the Santa Claus of Halloween,” joked guitar player Ryan Roxie. “Every night is Halloween for Alice, but in the month of Rocktober, it does carry on a little added energy. The stage actually changes color a little bit. There’s more orange lighting, some extra props.”

Cooper and the band, which last played Packard Music Hall in May 2016, returns to the venue on Saturday for a pre-Halloween bash.

They won’t be passing out any candy, but Roxie has gotten used to seeing kids in the audience mixed among those who were in school when “School’s Out” was released in 1972. The number of young kids in the crowd is the main thing Roxie remembers about the meet-and-greet he and fellow guitar player Tommy Henriksen did at Record Connection in McKinley Heights in 2016. Roxie will do another meet-and-greet there from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday before the concert.

“Our kids are going to our record collection for inspiration, moreso than past generations before,” he said, and he believes those kids will take those classic sounds in a new direction, creating their own musical hybrid.

Why does Roxie believe younger listeners are embracing the music of their elders? — “It’s either really good parenting or really bad parenting.”

Outside of a couple breaks, Roxie has been playing guitar with Cooper since 1996, longer than anyone else in the current lineup — Roxie, Henriksen and Nita Strauss, guitars; Chuck Garric, bass; and Glen Sobel, drums — and longer than the lineup that recorded such classic rock favorites “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” Under My Wheels,” “I’m Eighteen” and “Welcome to My Nightmare.”

One of the reasons he’s stayed as long as he has is that Vincent Furnier — the man everyone knows as Alice Cooper — gives his bandmates the freedom to pursue their own side projects.

“Alice allows us a platform to promote our own music,” Roxie said. “Alice, because he is so in tune with his celebrity and status, doesn’t have an ego about it. He gives us support, he gives us the spotlight in his set … When the boss doesn’t have an ego, it’s much easier to do your own projects. Alice has talked about my album on his radio station, he’s interviewed me. I have nothing but great things to say about him.”

The band (minus Cooper and Strauss) will showcase some of their own music and Alice Cooper favorites tonight at The Smiling Moose in Pittsburgh on an off-day from the current tour.

Roxie is a prolific solo artist, releasing “Imagine Your Reality” earlier this year and regularly posting new music online. While most of the songs on the album are originals, the disc does include a cover of Cheap Trick’s “California Man” with a guest appearance by Cheap Trick’s lead singer Robin Zander.

“That was one of your rock ‘n’ roll bucket list moments,” he said. “Basically, the guy who was on a poster on your wall growing up now is in front of you singing. That really is imagining your reality.”

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