At Hard Rock Live

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All Photos By Travis Failey Photography

Sebastian Bach made his triumphant post covid return to Orlando’s Hard Rock Live on Sunday night and one thing specifically was evident, Sebastian was in a great mood and his performance reflected it.

With an almost packed house with seating and general admission in play, KALEIDO opened the show promptly at 7:45 and played a bit of an extended set for a band that most in the audience were not familiar with.

KALEIDO, who was found by Sebastian Bach by watching YouTube is out of Detroit and have a long list of accolades including being named Outstanding Alt/Indie/Punk Artist at the 2019 Detroit Music Awards. They were named Best Band in Detroit by Real Detroit Weekly in 2013 & 2014 and won two Detroit Music Awards in 2015 for "Outstanding Rock/Pop Group" and "Outstanding Rock Recording" for their second independent EP Unbreakable. KALEIDO was nominated again in 2017 for their album Experience and won “Outstanding Heavy Rock Group”.

They are a four piece and are fronted by an amazing front person and vocalist in Christina Chriss who dominated the stage with her presence and vocal range. She transitioned from clean vocals to a dirtier, edgier sound without issue and when she needed to unleash a monster scream or growl, Christina did it without the use of technology or a pitch shifter. The band opened with “Die Tryin’" which caught the crowd's attention and moved quickly through their ten-song set that also included “My Fire” and a short drum solo over the song “Goosebumps” by their drummer Joey Fava. Bassist Cody Morales not only provided a solid rhythm section counterpart to Fava but also was an Energizer Bunny moving all over the stage.

By the time their set was almost complete, the fans in their seats were now on their feet and applauding KALEIDO’s performance. One of the highlights of their set was the finale aptly named for the times, “Panic In a Pandemic”, which has Sirius X/M and terrestrial radio written all over it. It will be interesting to see if they get on the festival circuit for 2022 as that is right around the corner. I know they picked up some new fans at the show and the fest circuit could really provide them a huge spark and move them forward in the future.

One thing I would suggest to them though is playing a cover that the older crowd would be familiar with on this tour with Sebastian.

As the on-stage gear change was concluding, JUDAS PRIEST’s "Rapid Fire" boomed through the P.A system and knowing how much Sebastian likes PRIEST, we knew he was hitting the stage after “Rapid Fire” concluded.

The opening notes to “Slave To The Grind” hit the crowd like a wrecking ball and they were ready for Sebastian. Well, Sebastian was a bit too ready and fired up as he and the band’s timing were a bit off where Sebastian apologized to the crowd and welcomed everyone to the show. He even stated he was too excited, then said that he was the tour guide for the evening or the captain of the ship for tonight's cruise through the 30th Anniversary of Slave To The Grind.

Sebastian also stated that if they only did Slave, the show would be over in 40 minutes so we would be getting other songs thrown into the mix and that Slave would not be played in the order that’s on the LP.

After the “threat” Sebastian, along with a madman in drummer Bobby Jarzombek, bassist Rob De Luca and a magician on guitar in Brent Woods busted out a fan favorite from the debut SKID ROW album in “Big Guns”. The ladies in the crowd were flaunting their own personal guns to the delight of the men in the crowd and Sebastian had himself the grin of a Cheshire cat.

They followed up with a personal favorite of mine in “Sweet Little Sister”, then kicked back into songs off Slave with “Quicksand Jesus”. Sebastian shined like the rockstar he is through the dimly lit stage at this point as his voice cut through the crowd and bounced off the back of Hard Rock. Even with age, Sebastian is still one of the best singers in the world.

As the set progressed, Sebastian had to catch his breath a couple times but damn, even the young bucks out there would have to if they were singing songs like “Creepshow” and “Mudkicker”.

Sebastian was also the comedian by chanting F##K Covid and talking about all we had to worry about in the 80’s were crabs and went on a bit of a diatribe about them ending with F##k 2020 F##k Covid & F##k crabs.

After “Living On a Chain Gang” which Sebastian said was as tough song to sing at 23 and extremely hard at 53, he wondered how the hell Mick Jagger still does it at 78. As I mentioned earlier, Sebastian was in a great mood all night and engaged with the crowd throughout.

He also brough up the Abbott brothers from PANTERA and stated that “"In a Darkened Room" was Dimebag’s favorite SKID ROW song and that he missed them both."

Sebastian also busted on MTV and how they don’t play videos anymore and talked about MOTLEY, KISS and GNR and their videos while the band played their songs. Sebastian joined them on a shortened version of “Welcome To The Jungle” and killed it.

The band continued with “Wasted Time” and then “Monkey Business” and transitioned into RUSH’s “Tom Sawyer” seamlessly. Prior to “I Remember You”, Sebastian gave tributes to the musicians that we lost over the last year or so in Eddie Van Halen, his friend Alexi Laiho from CHILDREN OF BODOM and Paul Stanley’s dad who just passed at the age of 101.

As their set was concluding, everyone knows that a Sebastian Bach show is not complete without the first single ever released. As Bas tapped on his tattoo, the crowd knew what was next and shouted “Youth Gone Wild” in unison. The band completely crushed it and was a highlight of the night. But as you thought the night was concluding, Sebastian asked the crowd if they did all the songs off Slave, and they responded with a resounding “No”. Well Sebastian stated that it might not be appropriate and joked before slamming a set ending version of “Get The Fuck Out”.

Once again, Sebastian Bach showed that even at 53 years old, he’s one of the best frontmen ever. He was so happy to be playing again on stage and his energy and attitude was infectious.

I know most reviewers will always conclude with “this is a must see tour“ but if you’re a fan of Sebastian and/or SKID ROW and you miss it, you might need to get some “Psycho Therapy”.

For Tour Dates Near You:
http://www.sebastianbach.com/#tour-section

Set List:

• "Slave To The Grind"
• "The Threat"
• "Big Guns"
• "Sweet Little Sister"
• "Quicksand Jesus"
• "Psycho Love"
• "Beggar’s Day"
• "18 and Life"
• "Livin’ On a Chain Gang"
• "Riot Act"
• "In a Darkened Room"
• "Creepshow"
• "Mudkicker"
• "Wasted Time"
• "Monkey Business"
• "I Remember You"
• "Youth Gone Wild"
• "Get the Fuck Out"