Sebastian Bach/ 18 & Life On Skid Row(2016)

Book Review Time……

Sebastian Bach joins the long line of Rock Dude’s writing their tale of Excess/Mayhem/Craziness. Well you get the Drift.

The one thing I can say is Bach grew up in Ontario so there’s my connection and he writes about a ton of Canadiana in his Book. More on that later…

Baz opens the  book with the incident in 1990 when Skid Row was opening for Aerosmith and someone  in the crowd tossed a bottle hit Bach in the melon and cut him open.  Baz did what he does best and that is go berserk(wouldn’t you?). He basically picked up the broken bottle seen the guy who had thrown it  as the dude in the crowd was flipping him off and tossed the bottle at him and leapt  into the crowd. Bach broke the guys jaw who had tossed the bottle but Sebastian also broke the nose of a young girl in the crowd who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Just like an Old School Western Skid Rows Managers after there set told them “Get on the bus and over the State Line” They didn’t make it and Bach was arrested by the police.

Sebastian says this was the first real clink in the armour of Skid Row and problems would soon arise.

The Book shifts back to his early years growing up first in the Bahama’s than onto California and finally Peterborough Ontario as David Bierk(Sebastian’s Father) took a Fulltime job at an Art Gallery.

Bach goes into good detail about growing up as a child in Southern Ontario. His fascination with Comics and KISS in the mid to late 70’s and I will say that Bach has a passion for this.

Bach’s world came crashing down when his parents got Divorced in 1979 and it was Sebastian who writes in the book that his first time seeing KISS in Toronto back in 1979 was the last time that his Family ever did anything  together as a family unit as  his father had left already.

Great detail is also written about when Baz started playing the Toronto Bar circuit in the early to mid 80’s and meeting in Toronto Nikki Sixx and giving him a demo tape that weaved its way to New Jersey and lo and behold  Bach joined Skid Row.

Of course myself  being a Hard Rocker this is really where the Book takes off. Tales of Excess are detailed and no one is safe! Ask Lars Ulrich! Bach though keeps it cool with what he writes about and it will probably give those people more street cred if anything!

So to not give away too much I ‘m going break it down to a few Stories or as I would call them Whut??  Many more but here’s a 3 Pack Sample…

1- First night of Skid Row opening for Guns N Roses at  Alpine Valley  (May of 1991.) An unruly person backstage makes derogatory remarks about Sebastian. So what does he do? Well he punched the guy out. Turned out it was Gun’s Guitarist Izzy  Stradlin’s  brother! Whut?

2-Backstage at an Los Angeles Aerosmith show(1990) Bach is joined by David Lee Roth and Axl Rose. As Roth downs shots of Jack Daniels he looks at Sebastian  and Axl and  Roth says ” I here there’s a couple of pretenders to Mah Throne!” Bach quotes Roth as saying “Mah” LOL. I won’t tell you what happened next but it’s worth the read  with an end to this tale that you won’t believe!  Double Whut??

3- One of the biggest shock a roo’s for me  was the guys that he partied with in Bon Jovi. Bach writes about Richie Sambora’s diet of choice in the late 80’s that doesn’t surprise me. What did was Jovi Keyboardist David Bryan  snorting speedball’s! Triple Whut??  HA!

Bach goes into detail about the Music Business as well.

After 1992’s Slave To The Grind Tour. Bach thinking  he was going to have a  business meeting with his managers to receive a huge cheque after the success of the tour.

Wrong!

Bach writes that  they had to pay off everything meaning all the managers/accountants/crew/food/booze and the fact that their manager told them that since they wanted to be like KISS and shoot off pyro it was costing them $3000 a blast! Bach also writes he  learned that day  what the term “Shortfall” is…

(Side note…. when Skid Row played here in 92 the Fire Marshall would not allow their pyro to be used. So they saved dough in Thunder Bay for one night anyways..)

Of course the whole fallout of Skid Row is written about and as Bach  is kicked out he eventually moves on and becomes the solo act/hits up Broadway for a part in Phantom Of The Opera/ ends up doing Tv on the Gilmore Girls and The Trailer Park Boys/renews his friendship with Axl Rose. (great story also when Axl/Baz bump into Jon Bon Jovi)

The book ends up with his personal life getting on track and moving on.

For myself this was a great read! As it has Ontario roots that Bach speaks from so I get it. Bach does name drop a bunch of people and he could have really hammered on the Skid Row guy’s but he doesn’t air anybody’s  dirt just the problems that he had on a personal level. That surprised me as he could  have torched I’m sure Rachel Bolan but give Bach credit he gave a lot of people a pass….

Book is worth the Dough $$$…!

Worth a Reread!