Sebastian Bach / We Love The Underground @ Rams Head Live 7/7/2015

I went to see Canadian metalhead Sebastian Bach ($20) at Rams Head Live in Baltimore. I unfortunately missed local hard rockers Aries due to traffic. I did see Tim Sir, Bobbie, Karen, SarahS, Christian, and of course RocknRollexperience there! Despite being in the first 3 rows, I didn't get a lot of great pics. Oh well.

I believe I got there not too long after Aries finished, and it seemed like there was an OK turnout- a few hundred people. This would turn out to be one of the last shows of Aries, but Baltimore traffic and construction saw to prevent that.

Ego gone wild

Merch Gone Wild

Merchandise wise, Sebastian Bach has some meh shirts, and of course a meet and great for $150. Yeah, a bit excessive. I didn't get anything.

We Kind of Liked the Underground

We Love The Underground was the first band I saw. They were a local hard rock band from Baltimore, but I'd never seen them before. Their sound was odd because they had a wide range of styles going on- their first few songs had some boogie woogie (re: keyboard piano) that sounded pretty good, then other songs were a bit more octane (radio hard rock), and yet more were 80s hair band or arena rock sounding, and closing with a hair metal/hard rock cover. The mix of styles had me feeling that the set was a bit uneven, as some songs were way better than others. The twin guitars were nice, but they needed a bit more soloing IMO. Their singer had a decent voice, and had some pretty high notes, but they seemed to be buried by the mix- the middle speaker seemed to be having some issues this evening. By the end of the 45 minute set, the singer did seem a bit out of breath while trying to sing "Welcome to the Jungle" (which the audience was moving a LOT to. Hey, still way better than I can do I think). But otherwise, they were better than I expected, and seemed to have some pretty catchy songs. I need to check the studio versions out, because the mix was off this evening and I feel like I missed whatever what was coming out of the right speaker.

What song was that?

Ex Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach's band took the stage to some intro tape. The 3 backing members tore into a Skid Row classic- "Slave to the Grind." His band comprised of bassist Kevin Chown, lone guitarist Brent Woods, and longtime drummer Bobby Jarzombek. The single guitar player did detract from the heaviness and overall fullness of the sound, which is no knocking his talent- he was solid, but Skid Row songs sound way better with two guitars.

Brent Woods and Kevin Chown

Kevin Chown

Bobby Jarzombek

Now, to Bach- as local blogger RockandRollExperience  hilariously noticed, Bach really does not look the Youth Gone Wild anymore. Let's hope Mrs. Bach isn't reading this ;3 I thought he sounded mostly fine, and there were (un?)fortunately no rants. The last time I saw him was at M3, but that was a different experience as he was too loud at a big show- at this one I think he could have been louder (or maybe it was just the mix of sound issues that evening). He played a predictable mix of some solo stuff and a mostly predictable set of Skid Row classics. There was also a "new song" that brought the momentum to a grinding halt. It wasn't a bad song, but its slower tempo (not to mention not having heard it before) elicited a lackluster if any response from the crowd. I later looked it up and realized that the "new song" was a newer song "Push Away" and not a new new new new song. Maybe I heard incorrectly.

Stop Beating yourself blind!

In any event, the slightly over an hour set seemed very short. Bach's solo material was OK, but let's be real and recognize that everyone was really there to hear the Skid Row songs. I've got his solo albums and they are just OK. Sebastian didn't play a lot (4/13) of his solo songs, so it didn't seem overpowering. Overall, it was good to see him, but it was another short headliner and one was left wondering if he really couldn't have added a few more songs.

Paunch gone wild?

Next show: Whitesnake in Atlantic City!

Photos

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Setlists

We Love the Underground (8:46-9:16)

• ? (Take me out  (boogie))
• ? (underwear  .. all tight)
• ? (heavy short rock and roll hell. dual guitars)
• ? (whoa oh s)
• Ready or Not
• We Light the Way
• ? (drums keys what you want me to be shot them into the wall)
• Welcome to the Jungle (Guns N Roses cover)

Sebastian Bach (9:50- 10:58)

• intro
• Slave to the Grind
• Kickin' and Screamin'
• Temptation
• The Threat
• Another Piece of Me
• 18 and Life
• American Metalhead
• In a Darkened Room
• Monkey Business (w/ Tom Sawyer Interlude)
• Tomorrow
• Push Away
• I Remember You
• Youth Gone Wild