Motley Crue's Vince Neil

LONDON - Two of pop music's veteran "bad boys" put their aggressive, winning touches on the successful Rock the Park III last night.

Headliner Alice Cooper and Motley Crue's Vince Neil spearheaded a stage lineup that drew a capacity crowd of 10,000 to the festival's rain-dampened, final day in Harris Park.

As expected, show-closer Cooper displayed the glitzy, ghoulish theatrics that earned him the title "pioneering prince of shock rock."

Introduced by the menacing organ music from Phantom of the Opera, the 58-year-old rock icon strode onto the stage and into his Department of Youth, followed by No More Mr. Nice Guy.

Those defiance-tinged tunes launched a high-energy, 16-song set that commanded the spectators' unwavering attention for 90 minutes.

As well known for his bizarre antics as his music, Cooper's act featured his customary gothic-style costumes and morbid makeup, plus an assortment of irreverent props, including a guillotine and coffin.

Unfortunately, his trademark/sidekick, a 1.8-metre-long python, was a no-show. The snake apparently had trouble crossing the Canada-U.S. border and its planned replacement failed to make the trip from Hamilton.

Cooper soon made the crowd forget about the reptile's absence and concentrate on a string of his memorable and ominous numbers, such as Billion Dollar Babies, Lost in America, and the melancholy I Never Cry and

I'm Eighteen, the 1971 hit that first brought the singer to prominence.

Appropriately enough, the black leather-suited figure capped his Harris Park stay with Welcome to My Nightmare. A monster hit in the mid-'70s, it became Cooper's touchstone tune and the subtitle of his remarkable 40-year career.

Less showy but more genuinely outrageous than Cooper was Neil.

"Come on! Make some (expletive) noise!" the gravel-voiced singer urged the crowd attending his supper-hour set.

Then, as promised, he delivered a raucous, 75-minute performance boasting "a bit of Motley Crue, a bit of Vince Neil and a bit of some other (crap)."

Backed by his three sidemen, the scruffy, blond vocalist authored an ear-numbingly loud, raw, sweaty, rock-till-you-drop concert -- and the audience appeared to love every moment of it.

A few numbers emerged from the din in identifiable form.

One was the angry and tortured Set Me Free (From You) while another was Girls, Girls, Girls, the 1987 Motley Crue hit paying earthy tribute to strippers.

Neil was the lead vocalist for Crue, a rambunctious foursome surviving repeated breakups, death, drug problems and hassles with the law to become one of the world's top touring groups. Among its hits are Shout at the Devil, Too Fast for Love, Ten

Seconds to Love, Dr. Feelgood and Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away).

Fitting right in with last night's heavy-metal music theme were veterans of the genre, the California band Quiet Riot and Helix, a London-Kitchener combo featuring lead singer Brian Vollmer.

While awaiting the final tabulation, organizers expected Rock the Park III had raised about $150,000 for the Bethanys Hope Foundation. The London-based charitable organization funds metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) research.

"It was a crazy weekend but a lot of fun," said Brad Jones, founder and promoter of the festival.

"At times, the weather was a bit iffy, but we managed to make it through."

With yesterday's capacity crowd, attendance for the three-day event hit a formidable 28,900.

Jones gave the credit for that achievement to Rock the Park's trio of headliners -- Peter Frampton, Styx and Alice Cooper.