Sebastian Bach
Hometown: New Jersey, USA
sebastianbach.com
Baz on MySpace
Also:
Make it Your Business
Thursday Nov, 16 2006
Whitby, Ontario. Canada
I love it when bands do club shows in between opening slots on Arena tours. Sebastian Bach has been out with Axl Rose's Guns 'n' Roses. I'm glad that when "Baz" got near his hometown he decided to stay a while.
The club was in Whitby, a little less than an hour from Peterborough where Sebastian spent his formative years. There was a large contingent of Peterborough folk in attendance, many that remembered him from his Skid Row days and a few that remembered Kidd Wikkid, Madam X and V05.
Sebastian's set consisted mostly of Skid Row songs. All of these were performed with an intensity seldom seen, especially 20 years down the road. This wasn't some washed up hair band flogging their back catalog, this was Sebastian doing what he loves to do, and that was evident throughout the night.
Early in the set Baz pointed out his mother (who happened to be standing right in front of me) and intoned "It's all her fault! Blame her!" At other points Sebastian greeted old friends and aquantinces and shared the mike with die-hards. It's funny, I realized later that had I not known who Baz was, I wouldn't have doubted someone who told me he was a twenty-something up-and-comer.
I'd heard rumours that the
Trailer Park Boys might make an appearance at this show, and sure enough about half way through Baz's set I spotted Julian up in the VIP Room. Shortly after that, Bubbles, Ricky and Julian all made their way to the stage. Bubbles strapped on a Goldtop Gibson Les Paul and led an impromtu jam of the Rush classic "Closer to the Heart". Sebastian's band stepped up and backed Bubbles admirably. In classic Bubbles fashion, after the song he had this to say:
I dropped my fuckin' pick. You know how hard it is to play "Closer to the Heart" without a fuckin' pick? For fuck sakes!!
Next from the Trailer Park Boys was a Bubbles original entitled "Liquor and Whores." When Sebastian, unfamiliar with the song, flubbed the ending, Bubbles berated him and sang it himself. Classic!!
Sebastian's set closed with "I remember You" and the anthem "Youth Gone Wild". Welcome home Baz!!
The opening act further added to the homecoming feel of the evening. Make It Your Business (MIYB) are a young band from Peterborough that shows a lot of promise. It doesn't hurt to be related to the headliner, but I won't dwell on that as I feel MIYB held their own and put on a great show. These five guys had great stage presence and were really tight. They play heavy rock that I have a hard time putting a label on. That's fine with me. The highlights for me were "When All Else Fails" with its brutal double kick drum intro, and the last two songs of their set; "Ctrl Alt Delete" and "Gutless." Spencer (guitar) told me they will be heading into the studio soon, so keep an eye out for a followup to their debut release
Shades of Grey to be released in the coming months.
Setlist and acknowledgements after the jump.
Sebastian Bach's Setlist:
Slave to the Grind
Rattle Snake Shake
Big Guns
Here I Am
Stuck inside
Peice of Me
18 and Life
You don't Understand
Canadian Metalhead
Drum Solo
The Threat
By Your Side
Monkey Business
Closer to the Heart (with the Trailer Park boys)
Liquor and Whores (with the Trailer Park boys)
I Remember You
Youth Gone Wild
Thanks to Baz's publicist Heidi and road manager Chris for arranging for me to cover the show.
photo by: George Chin
