LIVE REVIEW: Sebastian Bach - Adelaide, October 22nd 2017

It’s 9pm on a Sunday night in the city of churches… Adelaide, Australia… which for some strange, unknown reason seems to have become the preferred timeslot for touring acts that choose to include Adelaide on their itinerary. Not that we are complaining, as any tour including Adelaide on the itinerary these days is met with a chorus of cries of ‘hallelujah!’ Although most were due for an early start the following morning, the city’s premier live music venue, The Gov, was 3 quarters full to witness one of the best ‘pure’ rock shows doings the rounds of Australia at the moment.

In what was a surprisingly subdued start to the show the band hit the stage with a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing, and followed this up with the balladeque “Breakin Down”. The mellow-vibed entre was however just the preamble to explosive avalanche of fist thumping as “18 and Life” brought the audience up to a fever pitch, which lead beautifully into “I Remember You” which had the audience vocals on the verge of drowning out the vocals from onstage.

With the crowd now in the palm of his hand, Bach launched into a brutal rendition of “Slave to the Grind” with Bach’s hair flailing around the stage in a performance that drew on his glory MTV days with Skid Row. In a rarity for artists these days the crowd interaction has not been lost in Bach’s onstage persona. He talks, he chats, he jokes … he enjoys the audience and their input into the performance, even singling out a couple of fans in particular. At one stage Bach even broke into an impromptu rendition of Men at Works ‘Land Downunder’ and threatened to deliver a metalised version of the song by tours end. With 3 days off before the next gig, I’m guessing its a threat that’s not out of the question!

Whilst interspaced with the occasional track from his solo efforts, it was the tracks from his time with Skid Row that really drew the appreciation from the audience, including a string of hits from the infamous multi-million selling ‘Skid Row’ album – ‘Big Guns’, ‘Sweet Little Sister’ and ‘Piece of Me’. Proving that he is also well versed in Australian musical history Bach delivered a retort on his love for Australian rock royalty such as Bon Scott, AD/DC and Rose Tattoo, before dedicating the song ‘American Metalhead’ to Australian audience by implementing a temporary title change to ‘Australian Metalhead’.

Returning to one of Skid Rows biggest hits ‘Monkey Business’, Bach was well and truly proving that he has lost none of his vocal capabilities, especially when compared to many of his contemporaries. It just makes you wonder how huge, how ‘possible’ and how successful and band reunion could potentially be. It just NEEDS to happen.

The band signed off with the anthem ‘Youth Gone Wild’ before returning to the stage with an encore – delivering a tribute to AC/DC with ‘TNT’. He’s still got it, and with a band consisting of Brent Woods (Wildside, Alice Cooper, Vince Neil), Rob De Luca (Spead Eagle, UFO), and Bobby Jarzombek (Fates Warning, Rob Halford, Riot), he has a band behind him to match. As the tour continues toward the east coast of Australia, this is one show not to be missed.

Set List: Little Wing, Breakin Down, 18 and Life, I Remember You, Slave to the Grind, Love is a Bitch Slap, Big Guns, Sweet Little Sister, Piece of Me, In a Darkened Room, American Metalhead, Monkey Business / Tom Sawyer (Rush), Youth Gone Wild , TNT (AC/DC).

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