LA CANVAS Cares: Music On A Mission Benefit Concert

Vampires, with heart. I can’t tell you about their diets, their exercise regimes or whose blood they are drinking, but Gene Simmons and Johnny Depp definitely seem immortal. Although one is famous for playing bass while blood drips out of his mouth and the other is known for playing a character with scissors instead of hands, they actually have a lot of heart.

These vampires of Sunset Strip seem to only come out at night for a good cause. The occasion for their appearance was the event “Music on a Mission” at the Lucky Strike in Hollywood and Highland for Mending Kids, an organization that provides surgical care for children around the world. Just a few streets over from the Viper Room, which Depp owned until 2004, the show gathered a wide array of musicians including Gilby Clarke (of Guns ‘n Roses), Nuno Bettencourt (of Extreme) and Nika Costa.

With his hair slicked back and eyeliner on, Johnny joined Gene on stage to play Alice Cooper’s teenage anthem “School’s Out,” apparently unbothered by the irony that they both finished formal education in the previous century. This won’t be the last time Johnny shows off his axe skills as he has just announced he will join Alice Cooper in the new band aptly named Hollywood Vampires. Proceeds of their eponymous album, which comes out next month, will be donated to charity.

In an interview with Billboard, Gene, who has been a long-time supporter of Mending Kids, admits he is never been on stage with Johnny. But, he says, “Anything you do too slick doesn’t come off heartfelt.”

Backstage, before Johnny stepped on stage, his wife Amber Heard kissed him good luck. Maybe she’s his source of immortality.

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