Lzzy Hale Fronting Skid Row Is My Favorite Current Music Thing
Spike has finally found a place in his heart for a New Sebastian Bach.
There are some bands and artists from years ago that I have long caped for and always will. Bands that had a moment of popularity at some point, but who I’ll still support and will argue were underappreciated and underrated. The Mt. Rushmore of artists in this category for me are Silverchair, Warrant, Limp Bizkit and Skid Row. Quite a collection there. (I love Hanson too, but they still tour all the time, and there are only four things in a Mt. Rushmore).
Outside of the current Limp Bizkit revival, my opportunity to truly enjoy any of these acts in a live setting is either limited or impossible. Silverchair has been on hiatus since 2008, and lead singer Daniel Johns has expressed little desire to ever return to that time in his life. Warrant in its original form is impossible, as lead singer Jani Lane died at 47 years old in 2011.
Skid Row has toured with a number of singers, but none of them truly captured what they were with original frontman Sebastian Bach. They were biggest in the hair band era, and of course famous for power ballads like “I Remember You” and “18 & Life,” but there was a grittiness that wasn’t present in most of those bands. Their second album, Slave to the Grind, fits a lot better with Appetite for Destruction (Guns N’ Roses) than it does Open Up and Say Ahhhh (Poison).
Because the band members hate Bach with a passion, I have long written off them doing anything. That is, until last week.
I saw on Blabbermouth (the news site for hard rock and heavy metal) that lead singer of Halestorm, Lzzy Hale, had fronted Skid Row for a few shows. I am familiar with the vocalist and the band, and their music has always fit into the “incredibly acceptable radio rock” category for me. But there was something about the combination of her with Skid Row that piqued my interest, so I headed to YouTube.
I’ll tell you what, Lzzy Hale fronting Skid Row is fucking awesome (this is a full show) .
All of the singers that Skid Row has had since Bach have been decent enough, but none of them have captured both the attitude that the band had at its peak, and the combination of clean vocals and credible growing that Bach offered. Lzzy Hale accomplishes all of these things, without looking like she’s fronting a Skid Row tribute band. She hits the notes, the growl, the attitude, and on top of it all she looks like she’s having a great fucking time.
Watching the videos, I experienced a sense of FOMO I haven’t felt since I decided not to go to the Linkin Park Chester Bennington tribute show in Los Angeles following his death in 2017 (still regret that one). I never even knew these shows were happening, but I was desperately trying to figure out a way to go back in time and fly to Reno or something and see one of them. It’s hard to put into context how much of a change this is for me. As much as I love the band, I never even considered seeing them without Sebastian Bach until that moment.
I was disappointed to find out that no other dates with Hale were scheduled, and Halestorm basically looks like they’ll be touring through the Fall (no offense to Halestorm).
I know there are a lot of bands from this era that tour successfully. Guns N’ Roses has been touring for five years basically doing a tribute concert to themselves. Def Leppard makes the rounds every other year or so on a bill with Bryan Adams or Spin Doctors or something. But none of them ever capture the energy they had in their prime. These performances did capture that energy for Skid Row.
I am essentially begging Lzzy Hale and Skid Row to do this again, and at least give me the chance to see “Slave to the Grind” or “Big Guns” performed the way they were meant to be. Maybe not in an arena, like when I saw them at the Spectrum when Pantera opened up for them 32 years ago, but perhaps something like the Franklin Music Hall. It will certainly never be 1989 again, but maybe I could forget that for a night.