Skid Row
25th October 2018
The Studio, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Chris Zwaagdyk.
Anthems.
If any band knows how to write em’ – it’s gotta be Skid Row.
While not the biggest crowd that The Studio has seen in recent times, those who attended last night were ready to rock, an array of Skid Row shirts both old and new intermingling with everything from Halestorm to Dream Theatre, a veritable whose who of the music world represented proudly in t-shirt form.
Warming up the punters for what lay ahead was first local support act for the night Metaract; while still fairly new on the scene as a collective, Metaract is a conglomerate of very familiar faces. Leading the charge on vocals and guitar, Chris Yong of Tadpole, Redline and Static Era fame knows exactly how to command the stage while to his right the furious string shredder Sharne Scarborough of Just One Fix feeds into the band’s heavier chugging riffs. With a tight set that was headed by their latest single ‘Never Forget’, Metaract left a lasting impression on the enthusiastic crowd.
Having recently released their latest single – complete with kick ass music video – for ‘Go It Alone’, Silence The City stormed the stage with a no holds barred attitude. Lead vocalist Justin Pitt immediately got up close and personal with the crowd, his distinctive vocal style reaching out and pulling hearts and minds back in. No strangers to the music scene having formed a decade ago, Silence The City have grown to become a four piece, both bassist Sam French and Andrew Kerr on guitar laying down a solid wall of sound upon which drummer Adam Davey smashes out his beats. ‘Cntrl Alt Delete’ had heads moving in unison; ‘Brave’ and ‘Broken’ all from their latest album Resilience following closely behind, the band continuously building up the energy levels in the room. Finishing their set on the melodic rock track ‘Ruins’ and Silence The City proved exactly why they have longevity in their ongoing career.
Pushing up against the barrier it wasn’t long before the crowd began the war cry for their heroes Skid Row.
Having formed in 1986 and completely dominating the rock world with their first two explosive albums, Skid Row have built a loyal worldwide army of fans. The last three years have seen some tumultuous times for the boys however which began with the loss of their long-term vocalist Johnny Solinger who replaced the incomparable Sebastian Bach back in 99’. While Tony Harnell of TNT took the helm for awhile it would ultimately be former Dragonforce vocalist ZP Theart that would step in and make the band whole again. While Skid Row have released a couple of EPs’ in recent years, last night – being the final show of the Australasian tour – was all about the fans, their set list overflowing with the anthems that had everyone salivating for more.
Kicking it off with the in your face ‘Slave To The Grind’ it was obvious that the boys meant business, the formidable guitar line of Dave ‘The Snake’ Sabo, wild-eyed Scotti Hill and the forever punk infused bass of Rachel Bolan leaving the fans picking their jaws up off the floor within the first couple of numbers. But unfortunately, it wasn’t just the audience that had come out to play, gremlins had also decided to crash the party, tech difficulties halting the show momentarily following ‘Livin’ on a Chain Gang’.
Back on track and Skid Row literally brought out the ‘Big Guns’, the bigger than Ben Hur ’18 & Life’ following it up perfectly and prompting a mass sing along. While it must be said that Theart struggled on some of the bigger notes, his hold on them never quite cementing he could not be faulted for the sheer magnitude of his stage presence. Showering the crowd with bottles of water, he worked the stage and gave it everything he had despite fatigue undoubtedly settling in.
Highly underrated track ‘Forever’ from the 1998 album 40 Seasons: The Best of Skid Row made a welcomed appearance before Theart handed the reins over to Bolan who delivered a stonking version of The Ramones ‘Psycho Therapy’ dedicating the track to Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee and Tommy. Sabo displayed his softer side with an acoustic intro to the heartbreaker ‘Quicksand Jesus’, the extended outro seeing him deliver an electric solo that eclipsed all others. Well, that was until his phenomenal guitar dual with Hill following ‘Monkey Business’
A three-song encore saw Skid Row take it home in style, from the ballad of ‘I Remember You’ through to closer ‘Youth Gone Wild’, the boys emptied every last drop from the tanks and the crowd absolutely loved them for it.
Time may keep passing, but anthems will never grow old.
Were you there at the Powerstation for this hard rock flashback? Or have you seen Skid Row perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Skid Row Setlist:
- Slave To The Grind
- Sweet Little Sister
- Piece Of Me
- Livin’ On A Chain Gang
- Big Guns
- 18 & Life
- Makin’ A Mess
- Forever
- Psycho Therapy [Ramones Cover]
- Quicksand Jesus
- Monkey Business
- I Remember You [encore]
- Get The Fuck Out [encore]
- Youth Gone Wild [encore]
Silence The City Setlist:
- The Missing
- Go It Alone
- Cntrl Alt Delete
- Brave
- Broken
- Closer
- Ruins
Metaract Setlist:
- Never Forget
- Animal
- 4-4-2
- Battleplan
- CPR (Start Again)
- Double
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