Sebastian Bach, the former Skid Row frontman now touring with Twisted Sister as Dee Snider’s replacement, opened up about stepping into the role for the band’s reunion tour.
Bach reflected on how the first shows of the tour have gone, singling out standout performances and describing the atmosphere at each stop.
“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,” Bach said. “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.”
He then addressed whether he feels nervous taking on Dee Snider’s role. He explained that his real source of anxiety isn’t the performance itself but the constant presence of phone cameras.
“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,” Bach said. “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*ck.”
Bach continued by describing the balancing act between delivering an energetic live show and being aware that every performance is being recorded and scrutinized.
“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,” he said. “At the same time, recording perfect videos. [laughs] It’s two different things. It’s two different things.”
He also explained the practical reasoning behind having a drum shield on stage. He tied it back to the same concern about being filmed and needing to protect his vocal performance.
“Some people say, ‘Why do you have a drum shield around the drums?’ ‘Cause you’re filming the fucking show,” Bach said. “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.”
Bach turned to specific songs and spoke about the personal significance of performing “The Price,” along with his commitment to doing it justice.
“And I’ve seen some videos that are great. I’ve seen a, a bunch of them. 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,” he said.
Bach closed by noting that the band is performing the entire set in the original keys, without any alterations or backing tapes.
“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.
Bach’s comments come against the backdrop of a lineup change that few Twisted Sister fans saw coming.
Dee Snider stepped away from the band in February, canceling the reunion tour altogether due to a series of health challenges that left him unable to perform live. That cancellation initially left the shows in limbo. Bach was brought in months later to take over lead vocal duties, effectively reviving the tour from the ground up.
The current run is billed as Twisted Sister’s 50th-anniversary performances, marking half a century since the band’s formation. The touring lineup features Bach alongside longtime guitarists Jay Jay French and Eddie Ojeda, joined by Russell Pzütto on bass and Joey Cassata on drums.
The tour officially kicked off on August 28 at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey. It then moved through stops including the Alaska State Fair on September 4 and the Oregon State Fair shortly after. Additional dates on the schedule include a September 12 show at the Choctaw Grand Theater in Durant, Oklahoma, followed by back-to-back performances in Niagara Falls and Windsor, Ontario, on October 8 and 10.
Bach is now fronting the band through the fall. Twisted Sister’s 50th-anniversary celebration continues to take shape as a run built around high-energy shows and faithful renditions of the band’s classic catalog, delivered exactly as fans remember it.
