Sebastian Bach has made a specific claim about how Twisted Sister are approaching their autumn shows: nothing has been detuned, nothing has been transposed, and there is nothing running off tape.
Speaking to Cameron Buchholtz of “Rock 100.5 The KATT,” the singer said the set is being played exactly as the records were cut.
I gotta tell you, I was really determined to do the song ‘The Price‘ as best I could, because that melody and the lyric really means a lot to me, and I think it’s an incredible song. And we’re doing the whole set in the original keys of the original recordings. There’s not one song that’s tuned down. We’re not changing the keys. The whole set, including ‘The Price‘, is the original key. We don’t have any tapes,” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
Bach joined the band after Dee Snider resigned in February citing health challenges, and has now played three dates with them.
Bach said: “They’ve been incredible. I think the best one was Alaska State Fair [on September 4], which was the biggest crowd they said they’ve ever had there, which was a huge outside venue. Portland [Oregon State Fair] was great as well, but it was kind of rainy that day, but it was still great. And Jersey [the first show on August 28 at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville] was really special.”
The New Jersey date carried its own weight for a man who started a different New Jersey band forty years ago.
“It was awesome, ’cause Twisted Sister‘s not the first band that I started in New Jersey. There was another one — a long, long, long time ago,” he recalled. “But if you’ve ever been to the Starland Ballroom, the way it’s formatted is when the band comes on, they have to walk into the room, and the whole crowd can see when the band is ready to start, ’cause that’s the way the stage is. So when we walked in, all five of Twisted Sister, when we walked in the room, when I walked in and the crowd saw me, they [gave me] a really heartwarming, New Jersey-style welcome. And I almost got teary-eyed because we were right about to go on, an AC/DC song is playing, and ‘What You Don’t Know [Sure Can Hurt You]‘ by Twisted is such an intense opener. I’ve always thought it was one of the best opening songs of any band ever. ‘Good evening. Welcome to our show.’ It’s so heavy to me, just hearing that [song intro]. I can’t fake chills — I can’t fake that. I cannot fake chills in my arms. Just thinking about that intro gives me chills. I don’t even have to hear it. I can think about hearing it.”
Asked whether the lyrics had given him trouble, he was candid.
“Well, credit where credit’s due, there’s a lot more words in Twisted Sister songs than you think. The song ‘Under The Blade‘ is like a story. It paints a picture. ‘Burn In Hell‘ has a lot of words. There was more than I thought. So I’m still getting the words completely right. I don’t have them 100%, but that’s okay. So I’m getting it,” he replied.
“I Remember You” and “Youth Gone Wild” sit either side of “I Wanna Rock” in the running order. Bach reached for a precedent.
“Well, I mean, why not? I’m pretty sure when Paul Rodgers filled in for Freddie Mercury in Queen, I know they did a couple of Bad Company tunes,” he continued. “And it just makes sense because I kind of learned how to be Sebastian from locking myself in my bedroom and singing along to the two albums Under The Blade and You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll — and Stay Hungry. But by Stay Hungry… My passion for Twisted is kind of before Atlantic Records got too involved. They did put out You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll, but You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll is such a metal album; it’s a heavy metal album. And more so even is Under The Blade — very, very metal. ‘Tear It Loose‘, ‘Destroyer‘ — I mean, you can’t mess with those kind of songs. But I still like Stay Hungry. We’re doing a tune called ‘The Beast‘, which is a deep cut that I love singing. It’s a really great melody.”
He is right about the precedent. Queen + Paul Rodgers regularly played Bad Company and Free material on their 2005 and 2008 tours.
The thing that makes him nervous is not the performance.
“When you say, ‘Are there nerves?’ The nerves that I get as a singer is not really the show. It’s the fact that every single person is holding up their phone and filming it. And before I get to my hotel room, the whole show is being dissected and analyzed. And no musician likes that. It really sucks. Thank God I’m talented as f**k… It’s not a worry, but if you wanna put yourself in my shoes… I’m just saying my job is to go out there and go crazy, go nuts and bring all the energy I got. At the same time, recording perfect videos. It’s two different things. It’s two different things,” he explained.
That feeds directly into a piece of stage furniture some have queried.
He added: “Some people say, ‘Why do you have a drum shield around the drums?’ ‘Cause you’re filming the f**king show. And I have to sing as good as I can, and I don’t have a volume knob that goes louder than the cymbals. So, guess what you get? You get a drum shield. That’s what you get. And I’ve seen some videos that are great. I’ve seen a, a bunch of them.”
Twisted Sister are currently Bach, founding guitarist Jay Jay French, longtime lead guitarist Eddie Ojeda, Russell Pzütto on bass and Joey Cassata on drums.
Both rhythm section seats changed hands before the tour began. Pzütto, who has toured with Snider‘s solo projects, came in for Mark “The Animal” Mendoza. Joe Franco, who played briefly with the band in the mid-1980s, was originally announced for the drum stool, the position held by A.J. Pero, who died in 2015 at 55, but was unavailable for the autumn dates. Cassata, who drummed on Ace Frehley‘s 10,000 Volts, took the job instead.
The band scrapped a planned 50th anniversary tour on February 5 following Snider‘s resignation. Seven shows remain on the current run, resuming on September 27 at the Washington State Fair Event Center in Puyallup.
Remaining Tour Dates:
- Sep 27 – Washington State Fair, Puyallup, WA
- Oct 02 – The Big E, West Springfield, MA
- Oct 08 – OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino, Niagara Falls, ON
- Oct 10 – The Colosseum at Caesars Windsor, Windsor, ON
- Oct 18 – Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, Gary, IN
- Nov 12 – Hard Rock Live Bristol, Bristol, VA
- Nov 14 – The Event Center at Hollywood Casino, Charles Town, WV
