Artist’s interpretation.

In the pantheon of surreal things you don’t ever expect to see, Dennis Haskins singing Alice Cooper slots in somewhere between “Freshman-era Marlon Brando winning a sprint against Usain Bolt” and “Michael Bay ripping down a Best Director Oscar,” yet there you had it Friday night.

Haskins joined Steel Panther on stage at Ovation inside Green Valley Ranch to do “School’s Out” — and he honestly nailed it. Maybe every day after Saved by the Bell finished taping he’d go sit in his trailer and listen to “I’m Eighteen” over and over again or something. We don’t have all the answers here. It got a little weird when he started chasing guitarist Satchel around to fake-hump him, but for God’s sake, he was Mr. Belding. He’s earned the right.

By the time the band moved on to a rousing take on Slaughter’s “Up All Night,” Haskins had left the stage, leaving an entire shell-shocked room looking around trying to figure out of what they’d just seen actually happened. It totally did, and now we can never look at Kelly Kapowski again without thinking of “Billion Dollar Babies.” So, thanks for that, Dennis Haskins.

By Jason Scavone

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