Live Review: Sebastian Bach

After his band is in place and kicking out a jam, Sebastian Bach runs on stage and tries to hide behind his bassist, putting his hands through Rob De Luca's armpits and gesticulating as if his bandmate's got two sets of arms. But with those long, flaxen locks it would be pretty hard for Bach to hide anywhere. After opening with Jimi Hendrix's Little Wing, Bach explains, "That's our new single. Atlantic Records just put it out on silver vinyl." In fact, Skid Row's five-track B-Side Ourselves EP has been reissued on grey vinyl, which Bach seems amused/taken aback by. What a set of lungs Bach has! He plays air piano while holding incomparable sustained notes (at one point even looking at his invisible wristwatch to illustrate the impressive length of time for which he holds a single note).

Bach points out the first time he toured our shores with Skid Row was way back in 1990 and a front-row punter holds up what appears to be the original gig poster in a plastic sleeve, which is undoubtedly been brought along for Bach to sign. He then tells us 18 And Life reminds him of that first Australian tour and we're treated to this Skid Row hit during which the audience singalong deafens. The crowd sings along so loudly in fact that Bach just smiles and holds the mic out, allowing us to take over for a spell.

During I Remember You, there's maximum ventriloquist dummy mouth action from Bach; his jaw opening and shutting at a fast pace to assist vibrato. Fans look around and sing these lyrics passionately in each other's faces as well as directing their lyrical knowledge Bach's way. Bach's impressive band features a rumbling bottom end and some face-melting guitar solos from Brent Woods. Bach helicopters his mic over the crowd, holding the lead way down, and we wonder whether one of his guitarists has ever copped it in the face. We really want Bach's black leather vest with silver leather lightning bolt detail on the front.

A large, white, boring everyday bra is thrown up on stage before Big Guns and ends up decorating De Luca's mic stand. Sweet Little Sister is a debilitating set highlight that gets the crowd riled up and moshing. When someone throws a red flower on stage, Bach picks it up and mimes smoking through its stem. He's so enthusiastic and everything is done with gusto, Bach's air punches executed like a pro boxer. Bach tells us In A Darkened Room was the late, great Dimebag Darrell's favourite Skid Row song as he directs our arms left and right to the beat when this song kicks in. There's a scuffle down front and Bach cautions, "Rock'n'roll's supposed to be fun!" He checks in to make sure everyone's ok down there after someone gets booted out. 

"This is the country that invented AC/DC," Bach praises. "And then in the same week it fuckin' invented Rose Tattoo! And the fucking Tatts are playing tonight! We should all be on the same gig today." We roar our agreement. It's a tough call, but obviously Bach wins by a whisker and hence secures our attendance this evening. Youth Gone Wild absolutely goes off, punters transported back to their wild days of wagging school in favour of drinking goon/Jim Beam and listening to Skid Row records with pals. After Bach introduces his first-rate bandmates, drummer Bobby Jarzombek dramatically introduces the singer as "the original and the only voice of Skid Row".

There's a lengthy ode to "the man from Fremantle, Australia", Bon Scott, and Bach even has a crack at a Scott impersonation, which is basically a hilarious string of "shit", "fuck", "cunt" expletives barked out using his idea of an Aussie accent. Bach tells us he's gonna go record shopping on his day off tomorrow and intends to "take all our KISS and AC/DC records outta the country". The band's encore rendition of AC/DC's TNT blows our heads off and Bach's voice perfectly suits the pitch. The crowd goes completely nuts, fans mounting the shoulders of mates and punching the air to punctuate each, "OI!" At song's close, Bach convulses as if an electric current is rising up through the soles of his shoes and departs the stage in this way, as if he's being electrocuted. What a legend! We'll always come back for more Bach. He's gotta be the most entertaining frontman out there and needs his own television show.