Check out all the photos HERE
After seeing Sebastian Bach live just a few shorts months ago as support act for Guns N Roses at the Entertainment Centre, I was really looking forward to seeing the former Skid Row singer and Broadway star perform in a more intimate setting. Thebarton Theatre was to be the setting for his latest appearance in Adelaide, a much more suitable rock venue than the Ent Cent and also the setting of the original Skid Row concert in Adelaide back in the early 90s (and one of my favourite shows ever). When the gig was moved to HQ (presumably due to poor ticket sales) I was surprised but now even more excited at the thought of the show. To see the dynamic stage presence of Sebastian Bach in such a venue was a rare opportunity. HQ is a fantastic venue for live music as the multi-tiered design of the room makes it almost impossible not to get a perfect view of the stage from pretty much anywhere. Unfortunately for the support act, when the main act is a larger than life rock n roll character such as Sebastian, almost any band would have seemed a little bland so they received a fairly quiet response from the growing crowd.
When Sebastian and co hit the stage, with their cranking version of Aerosmith’s Back in the Saddle, the room lit up. The energy and excitement that Sebastian exudes from the stage is amazing and although he was never a major contributor to the song writing for Skid Row, it is pretty clear that it was this energy that was the prime cause of their massive success at the time. The crowd couldn’t help but be mesmerised by the performance from beginning to end.
Thankfully, even though Sebastian was kicked out of Skid Row, the set list was still full of all their songs that made him a star. 18 and Life, Monkey Business, and the monster power ballad I Remember You were all stand out Skid Row classics which got the biggest response from his adoring fans. Since the last time Sebastian brought his band to Australia, his Angel Down album has been released so there were also some new songs from that album peppered throughout the set. These songs actually went down pretty well too and seemed to fit in quite nicely with the old stuff even though they have a harder metal edge to them.
The only negative part of the show was the ‘technical difficulties’ that Sebastian was seemingly experiencing. It wasn’t the fact that there was a noticeable problem with the sound as far as the crowd could tell but the way that Sebastian reacted to them made them seem like a major issue. It actually seemed as though he was having an overblown tantrum over very little. I get the impression that this man just loves a drama (remember that famous bottle throwing incident?).
Once Sebastian got over this little hitch, he thankfully managed to get back into his vibe and continued to enthral those in attendance without further problems.
By the end of the set, when the lights came on and it was time to go home, there would have been a lot of people in the room truly appreciating the fact that Sebastian Bach brought his band to Adelaide and decided to play such an intimate venue rather than cancel the show altogether. Judging from the night’s passionate performance, I think that Sebastian and his band live to be onstage and wouldn’t have missed it for the world either.
Check out all the photos HERE
