06 November 2009 (gig)
08 November 2009
Often grouped in as an 80’s Metal band, Twisted Sister was founded in the 70’s - so its roots were in glam more than Metal. But a change occoured when the group discovered their perfect frontman in Dee Snider, and the quintet went on to become one of the most popular bands of the MTV soaked mid-80’s.
The bands 1984 breakthough Stay Hungry album (which has also been re-issused in a amazing 2 disc set by Rhino and inclues rare demos and outtake and a new cool song in '30') was helped much by MTV and their semi-comedic videos (which were good and bad for the band – making their music known, while rendering their image novelty-like).
In an age when many groups are performing classic albums in their entirety, Twisted Sister is actually revamping the costumes and makeup (reportldy this was the last T.S. show with the make-up they will ever do) that they used for the original 1984-era tour for Stay Hungry and brought their act to Plymouth, MA on November 6, 2009.
First off, what is great about the band is that they are touring with all members of their classic linuep (Snider, Eddie "Fingers" Ojeda, Jay Jay French, Mark "The Animal" Mendoza, A. J. Pero), which is becoming a rarity for most metal bands from that era still touring (e.g. Guns N’ Roses).
And while Snider claims he is getting to old to front the band, he is still the ferocious in-your-face aggressive personality that once gave the PMRC nightmares (Snider’s testimony at the PMRC hearings was the most dramatic as he intellectually made a mockery out of the sham that the hearings were).
Opeing with a bombastic 'Stay Hungry,' Snider and the band ripped through the entire Stay Hungry record song-for-song. While an amaing set, it may have been a a bit too early to hear the classic 'We're Not Gonna Take It' as only the second song, but it is a minor complaint as hearing such Twisted Sister classics as 'Burn In Hell ,' 'The Beast,' 'I Wanns Rock,' and 'SMF' in 2009 by the real band is just as aweinspiring as they were in ’84.
A four song encore of 'Come Out and Play' '30' (the only new T.S. song played, and it was also the first time the band played the song live) 'Under the Blade' and 'You Can't Stop Rock N Roll' (hard to remember it now, but snipets of the video for this song were used in an MTV promo in 1982 and was the real introduction of the group to the video-age crowd) left the mostly older headbangers (many of whom brought their kids to witness what they missed in the 80’s) in the crowd more than satisfied.
While their image can be somewhat cartoonish (in a KISS sort of way) Twisted Sister has shown that through respecting their audience and giving it their all live, they are not a novelty, but the real deal.
