Sebastian was “Bach” in town Saturday May 12th at Cubby Bear North Lincolnshire where he played an up close and personal show. This was my fourth time seeing Sebastian Bach live (1989, 1991, 1992 and 2012) and, without question, the former Skid Row frontman is still on top of his game. At 44 you would think he would have lost a step but, not the case - he was just as powerful Saturday as he was in 1989. The only thing that may have changed is the size of the crowds from 20,000 to a few hundred, which allows for a much more intimate, in-your-face performance. The Cubby Bear was packed from wall to wall, filled with Sebastian Bach’s faithful. Sebastian could have easily filled a larger venue, but chose a club tour to keep it on the most personal level possible with his fans. The show went very smoothly, and he kept it that way by cracking jokes or telling stories between songs. Sebastian kicked off the night strong with a wall-shaking version of “Slave to the Grind”. After “Slave to the Grind” Sebastian gave two of his four band members a hard time for wearing GnR t-shirts and not wearing SB attire. He wanted to know if Axel was paying them for promoting GnR.
His current show is a good mix of nine Sebastian Bach songs and nine from Skid Row, giving fans the best of both worlds.
Kicking and Screaming is by far Sebastian’s best solo work and it showed. I would have expected the crowd to respond louder to the Skid Row songs but solo tracks “Kicking and Screaming” (title track) and “I'm Alive” had the crowd roaring more than “Youth Gone Wild” and “I Remember You”.
I have read many times that Sebastian just wants to play and make more music, which is very apparent when watching him perform live. Still, Kicking and Screaming will tough to beat.
Set list- Slave to the Grind, Kicking and Screaming, Dirty Power, Here I Am, Big Guns, Love is a Bitchslap, Stuck Inside, Piece of Me, 18 and Life, American Metalhead, Darkened Room, As Long As I got The Music, Monkey Business, My Own Worst Enemy, I'm Alive, I Remember You, Tunnelvision, Youth Gone Wild.
For more tour and album information, visit www.sebastianbach.com.
Opening the show for Sebastian Bach was a local band called Hessler. Hessler is a local Chicago band that formed in June of 2011. The band members are Lariyah Daniels (lead vocals), Igz Kincaid (lead/rhythm guitar and vocals), Frankie Sripada (lead/rhythm guitar and vocals), Marcus Lee Cox (drums), Erik Michael (bass). The opening act opened the show with "Come On" and ended it with "Windy City Wild Child", both off their seven song Bad Blood EP. By the time the band got halfway into "Come On", the crowd was warmed up and ready to rock.
Hessler's next show is May 23rd at the Double Door 1572 N. Milwaukee. On May 25th they will be playing at Rocklahoma featuring Slash, Rob Zombie, Megadeath, and Queensryche.
