2006.12.07 - Rexall Place, Edmonton, AB, Canada

Bach is back

Ex-Skid Row frontman promises killer Rexall show

SANDRA SPEROUNES
Journal Music Writer
EDMONTON

It’s not often you hear someone jump for joy when they pick up the phone to do their bazil-lionth interview.

But Sebastian Bach is clearly enjoying every moment of his latest flirtation with fame.

“Right on!” his gravelly, surfer-dude voice chirps across the line from his hotel room in Ames, Iowa.

Long banished to performing in small clubs and appearing on reality TV shows, the ex-Skid Row frontman is now back where he belongs — playing in huge hockey arenas as the opener for Axl Rose’s latest version of Guns N’ Roses.

“I’m getting ready to kick Edmonton’s ass!” Bach yells. “I’ve waited so long to play an arena tour. This is perfect. It’s so much fun ... I do prefer the huge stages because that’s what I did. Plus, I’m just plain tall and I’ve got the moves and voice that deserves a big, huge place. I sing differently in an arena. I mean, I don’t know if I do, but the way my voice sounds in an arena sounds pretty good to me.”

Rose isn’t doing interviews, but Bach is more than happy to talk about his crazy tour mate.

Yes, he’s heard GN'R’s long-delayed album, Chinese Democracy, and thinks it totally rocks.

Yes, openers Eagles of Death Metal were kicked off the tour in Cleveland, Ohio, but they've been replaced by Helmet, a metal act from the’90s. WHY?

Yes, Rose recently cancelled two dates — due to venue bylaws and illness — but Bach promises a killer show at Rexall Place.

Yes, GN’R doesn’t usually get on stage until close to midnight, but it’s not because Rose is waiting for his personal psychic to give him the OK.

“That’s totally not true,” laughs Bach. “Do you know who the psychic is? Sebastian Bach. I know every single person on this tour and there’s no psychic. That’s ridiculous.

“A lot of people aren’t used to a true rock star like Axl, but I am. I’ve known him for a long time, I opened up the whole Use Your Illusion tour, so we’ve worked together before and we kick ass every night. It’s a good relationship. I love the guy. It’s a great tour. He’s not motivated by money, he’s motivated by his art.”

But Bach, a 38-year-old Peterborough, Ont., native, really wants to blab about himself.

His story isn’t quite as wild and wacky as GN’R’s tale. It’s actually kind of sad.

Bach, too, is estranged from his former bandmates.

After nine years of service and two hair-metal hits —18 and Life, I Remember You — Skid Row kicked him out in 1996, forgetting who was the real star of the band.

He tried to start his own groups, including Last Hard Men and starred in a few musicals, such as Jesus Christ Superstar. He also auditioned for Velvet Revolver — starring Rose’s ex-bandmates — and won a role on Gilmore Girls. Bach plays Gil, a wannabe rockstar, on the mother-daughter TV show.

“I do pick and choose what I do,” he says. “I watched the show, the dialogue really intrigued me, they talk almost as fast as I do. The references to pop culture, I thought, were well done, plus it was an hour-long show.”

“I couldn’t believe I was asked to create a character. I get along with everybody on the set. It’s a fun environment to work in. And I like proving to people that I can do things like learn really hard lines and deliver them. I kick ass on the set, too.”

He didn’t have as much fun when he joined VHl’s SuperGroup, a made-for-TV band featuring redneck rocker Ted Nugent and Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian. They ended up calling themselves Damnocracy, bickering a lot and playing a show in Vegas.

“Music channels don’t play rock videos anymore,” says Bach of his decision to do a reality TV show.

“They may change the game, but I'm still a player. They can change the way you see rock ’n’ roll, but I’m still one of the guys on there. I consider myself extremely fortunate in that respect. I ain’t leaving your living room.”

Damnocracy is officially dead — Bach plans to release a solo album after he finishes taping his last episode of Gilmore Girls in the new year. It will be his first record since 2001’s Bach 2 Basics.

“Why would I do anything else but my solo stuff?” he says. “The people are finally understanding that I can do it without my old band, which is all I ever wanted. So that’s what I’m doing."

Right on.

*

TAKE YOUR CAR

Northlands is urging Guns N’ Roses fans to drive to Thursday’s show.

That’s because the concert will likely end later than 1:24 a.m., when the last LRT is scheduled to run.

During recent stops in Toronto and Ottawa, moody frontman Axl Rose and his rockers didn’t get on stage until close to midnight, and then performed for two hours and 15 minutes.

“They’ve got a penchant for running late,” says Bonni Clark, of Northlands. “We’re preparing for what may happen. I think it’s just prudent to let people know.”

(Ergo, you might also want to take Friday off to recover from the show.)

There will, however, be limited LRT service if the concert runs late — “one or two trains on standby,” Clark says. “It wouldn’t be one every five minutes."

Clark says there’s ample parking on the Northlands site, but she doesn’t know how many stalls are available.

She says the lots have only filled up once in the past year — during Super Saturday at the Canadian Finals Rodeo and Farm Fair in November.

Clark couldn’t say how many people usually take the LRT to concerts. But the city’s new transportation manager, Charles Stolte, says 25 to 35 per cent take the train to Oilers games.

That’s about 5,000 to 6,000 people per tilt.

Rexall can hold up to 17,500 fans for concerts.

Sound problems plague late-starting Guns N’ Roses

CONCERT REVIEW
Guns N’ Roses
With: Sebastian Bach, Helmet, Suicide Girls Burlesque
When: Thursday night
Where: Rexall Place

SANDRA SPEROUNES
Journal Music Writer
EDMONTON

There’s a likely reason why Axl Rose and the rest of Guns N’ Roses didn’t get onstage until 11:52 p.m. Thursday.

Perhaps the mercurial metal frontman wanted his 13,000-plus fans to be so drunk and tired, they didn’t notice—or care — how terrible the sound in Rexall Place was.

You could barely hear Rose’s trademark screech during the first few songs—including opener Welcome To The Jungle and It’s So Easy.

The mix was hit ’n’ miss for the rest of GN’R’s 21/2-hour set.

At times, Rose was almost completely audible, particularly during the reggae-lite version of Knockin' On Heaven’s Door, the bluesy ballad Patience, and a tour-de-force rendition of November Rain, capped off by a waterfall of sparks drenching Rose’s piano.

Yet for Sweet Child O’ Mine, You Could Be Mine and Nightrain, he sounded like he was singing through an underpowered megaphone— raising questions about the competency of his sound guy and the state of Rose’s voice. Could it be his pipes aren’t as powerful as they used to be?

Part of the problem, of course, is the range of his screams.

He sounds like a wailing guitar — but he couldn’t compete with his three guitarists, Robin Finck, Richard Forms and Ron Thal, one of whom came out sporting a long jacket and black hat.

He didn’t look exactly like Rose’s former band-mate, Slash, but it was enough to encourage fans to make comparisons between the latest and classic versions of GN'R.

The verdict?

Well, if you’re a fan of the Replacements, one of the most underappreciated groups of the ’80s, you got a kick out of seeing skinny bassist Tommy Stinson playing GN’R’s Rocket Queen and Out Ta Get Me.

Otherwise, Rose’s new batch of guitarists were more than serviceable — each getting a turn to play a blistering solo, including a ragged version of O Canada.

They’re obviously killer musicians, but three axe solos slowed down the momentum of the show, which wasn’t the best idea so late at night.

Neither was playing a few unknown and mediocre numbers from GN’R’s long-delayed album, Chinese Democracy.

(At least a few dozen people left Rexall halfway into the group’s set.)

Thankfully, keyboardist Dizzy Reed, who joined GN’R in 1990, picked up the pace again by playing a rambunctious, bluesy cover of Angie on piano while Rose was backstage, changing his shirt for the umpteenth time.

Then again, he was pretty hyperactive — constantly running across the stage, jumping, throwing his microphone stand or doing his trademark side-to-side sashay. He even attempted a jig when Bubbles of Trailer Park Boys came out to perform his cult hit, Liquor and Whores.

Opener Sebastian Bach, who joined Rose for a duet of My Michelle, didn’t seem to have the same vocal woes as his tour-mate.

Not only does he have stronger pipes— holding notes for longer and higher — the overall volume of Bach’s bandmates seemed to be much lower.

Ergo, you could clearly hear the Peterborough native during his 70-minute set, which featured old Skid Row numbers —18 and Life, I Remember You, Piece of Me, Monkey Business, Youth Gone Wild — and a few from his upcoming album.

If only Bach had Rose’s songs... or Rose had Bach’s voice, then we would’ve truly been in Paradise City.