So I saw Sebastian Bach (who was tonight’s opener) at a much smaller venue back in May. It was awesome because we were about four feet away from him that night. This time it was a much bigger venue – the Premier Theater at Foxwoods casino. Cool for him to have a bigger audience, but for me, I was definitely not four feet away but it was fine.
Back in May, he couldn’t really head bang or wear his signature cowboy boots due to back/neck issues. Tonight those issues were gone and he was rocking! Plenty of head banging, the cowboy boots were back, and he was whipping that mic around his head.
He started with What Do I Got To Lose from the latest solo album and then went into Slave to the Grind. He doesn’t necessarily hit all the high notes he once did, but he still sounds great if you ask me, and he adapts his voice accordingly. The dude really is one of the greatest vocalists of a generation. He did a few more songs off the first record and introduced the band. This time around, he had his son on drums which is pretty cool.
18 and Life was awesome as always and then they did another solo Bach song, Freedom. It was around this time where something in the drum mics started making a cracking/popping sound that was annoying him. He yelled over to the side stage sound dude at one point that something isn’t right, but kept going. By the next tune, Piece of Me, it just kept getting worse and when the song was done, his son just kept beating the drums until they found the issue and it seemed to go away. But they screwed up because during the next song, Everybody Bleeds, you couldn’t hear his vocals at all. I believe the stage monitors were working because he just kept going and you could hear very faint vocals at times. They figured it out towards the end of the song and when the vocals were back, there were big cheers.
Monkey Business, I Remember You, and (Hold On) To the Dream came next. It’s worth noting here that at one point in the night, he said “I can’t talk much” as he was chatting with the crowd. This is kind of a bummer because as a headliner, he tells great stories and is a funny dude to listen to. Being an opener, I assume he has a tight schedule to stay on. Which is potentially why during the final song, Youth Gone Wild, with the full theater on their feet, after about 30 seconds into the song he yelled “STOP!” at the band, said “Goodnight” and they walked off. The crowd was left confused and then the boos started. Not a good way to end the show.
While he didn’t have time tonight to chat too much, earlier in the night before he angrily left, he did point out that instead of “Foxwoods” they put “Bach woods” on the drums. That was a good chuckle.
Tesla was next and I didn’t have high hopes. Ive seen Tesla a few times in the past and actually met them once. They have always been a fantastic live band and frankly underrated on rock radio and MTV. But…I came across a recent video of them and it was not good. The band is still solid, but singer Jeff Keith sounded horrible in the clips I’d seen. I had hoped it was an off night, but no.
First off, he looks unhealthy. His cheeks are all sunken in, his teeth look brand new as if all the others fell out, and he almost looks like he’s contorted or in pain when he moves. But I’m not going to shows to check out dudes appearances, I go to hear them rock. But there was no enjoyment in hearing him rock. Jeff’s voice is gone, and he now sounds like Cartman from South Park. Now, listening to Cartman sing can be funny…when it’s meant to be funny. But this was just kind of sad. Listen for yourself.
Anyway, after listening to about 5 songs, we headed out. I just couldn’t sit through it. I know they’re not young rockers anymore, and the band can still play, but it just wasn’t good. I’m glad Sebastian was the opener as I don’t think I could’ve made it though their full set to see him. And he was the act I was there to see.
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