In the rearview mirror – SKID ROW
Skid Row and Sebastian Bach.
I don’t know HOW many times I wanted to sit down and write something about how I first met these guys, how it developed into a friendship that is still alive in some way – 22 years later. Holy shit, 22 years??? That’s insane, it feels like last year…!
I had so much fun with those guys. I loved everything about them. Their music blew me away. To this day i get a huge kick from listening to the Slave To The Grind-album.
And….Their live-shows…!!! I was talking with a friend recently about those and we remember it pretty much the same way. There has never been a band like Skid Row on a stage EVER.
It doesn’t matter how many videos you watch on Youtube or hear about it – Skid Row live was …MAGIC. Never in the history of rock has there been so much ENERGY produced on a stage, never before has rock’n’roll been personified the way it was with those guys together in front of “The Youth Gone Wild”.
[Sebastian and me, backstage Globen, Stockholm 1990 when they were opening for Guns n’Roses]
Sebastian Bach was BORN to be the Ultimate Rockstar. He was everything a frontman should be. He was wild and crazy and totally fearless. He was all over the place and his love and passion for music would shine through.
I can’t describe it. It was beyond…anything.
Skid Row is the band I’ve seen the most times. I don’t know the exact amount of shows. I lost track somewhere around 32 or so…!
People thought I was a Sebastian or Skid Row-groupie, because back in those days, the only kind of chicks you would FIND backstage, was just that – the typical Kelly Bundy-kind of girls. So of course I was shoved into that category without having anything to say about it. That’s just the way people were – and that’s the way people STILL are.
I could have KILLED for Rachel Bolans HAIR, and I love Baz – as a friend. But there was nothing more going on. I’ve never been that kind of person anyway.
One time, at the Forum in Copenhagen, the backstage area was crammed with groupie-wannabe’s, and Baz grabbed me and we went to a broom-cupboard and closed the door.
Okay. At the time I didn’t think of what that must have looked like.
The only reason we did that was because it was the only way to TALK in peace and quiet! He said he respected me because he could relate to me and my love for music – we were the same. He loved Judas Priest and so do I. He lives for music, so do I.
[Baz and I, backstage Gothenburg 1991 – Skids headlining and L.A Guns opening that year]
He called a few times. I was still living with my parents, and sometimes my sister would answer the phone. She was so used to celebrities calling the house. Back in those days, there would be a few calls like that every week. At least.
It was the late 80’s, early 90’s and everything was happening. Arenas were packed with rockers, the top albums on Billboard were rock albums – it was the golden era of rock.
[1995 – Gino’s Stockholm. Baz dedicating Youth Gone Wild to me… A memory for life. :) ]
So she knocked at the door to my room, stuck in her head and went, with a rather annoyed voice cause she was interrupted watching her kiddieshow on TV:
– SEBASTIAN BACH on the phone! Can you get it, I’m watching TV!!
I could go on for days telling stories from the Skid Row days. I just never knew where to begin. I might have to open a separate blog just for THAT.
One of my favorite bands of all time. People called them a “hair band” but they were a kick-ASS high energy, powerful hard rock band with more attitude than most bands back then.
Sebastian is still a friend – I met him back in July when he played Rockweekend in Söderhamn. Got picked up by the band-van backstage before the show, went straight to the dressing room for an interview – and then he got on stage later trying to speak Swedish…. In this clip he’s looking at me to see how he managed but I’m laughing my ass off. Sounded like anything BUT Swedish. :)
[@ 4:39 into this clip – @ 5:35 “Let me try that again, Daniela’s laughing“. The whole CROWD was laughing, not just me! Funy as hell! :D]
[Baz and I, dressing room before show, July 9, 2010 – Rockweekend Söderhamn. Still rocking, 22 years later!]
There will be occasional Skid Row-stories here, cause I’ve got tons of them.
The audio clips are from the early Skid Row days, Baz would call occasionally – or FAX…! There was no internet back in the early 90’s, so when he wanted to send a message he would FAX it – and with the time difference it was in the middle of the night and a whole bunch of pages, which led to a PILE of fax-paper on the living room floor…!
So anyway, loads of cassettes here with phonecalls, messages, interviews, press conferences, live shows… Maybe someday I will sort it all out for the fans of 2011 to enjoy! :)
[Me and Maria Bach at Omni Hotel, Albany, NY after the Kiss show 1996. At first she didn’t like me, thought I was some chick that was after her man. Then, when she realized that I wasn’t that sort of person, she accepted me and we were having tequilas in the bar while Baz was stalking Paul Stanley!]
IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR 
Those were great Daze. I miss the feeling of a real concert by real musicians that worked hard and paid their dues,,,not singing into an internet fascinated world of voice alteration! Sure we still see some talent out there, but it has been replaced by perpetual cell phones high in the air! Many people barely look away to have a real relationship with human beings much less music! ✌🏼