Bach In Black
It's a cold, wet evening. The clouds which have been threatening all day have now covered the sky, and as a result it's dark. However, a triumphant blast of sound coupled with the flaring of bright red light signalled that Sebastian Bach had arrived to headline the evening, and he arrived in style. Immediately the entire crowd surged into action, cheering and really moving around in a way that hadn't been seen so far. As guitarists Johnny Cromatic and Mike Chlasciak begin throwing down strong guitar riffs, out storms Sebastian Bach himself, to wild applause from the audience.
It seems that Sebastian's time with legends of rock Skid Row has left him with a totally dedicated fanbase. A large percentage of the setlist he played tonight were Skid Row songs, and they sounded as fantastic as they always have. A large surprise was the excellence of the new tracks played, especially the excellent 'American Metal', a new song which the audience were very receptive to, and it featured clear Skid Row influence but felt like Sebastian was adding entirely new elements.
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However, the shock of the evening was when Children of Bodom frontman and avid Skid Row fan Alexi Laiho swaggered on stage, followed by Bodom keyboard player Janne Warman. Alexi had clearly had rather a lot to drink, as his contribution to the show was to steal a guitar and shred his way through the final song of the night, Skid Row classic 'Youth Gone Wild'. Alexi and Sebastian shared vocal duties and as a result, the Bloodstock crowd were fortunate enough to hear a bizarre melodic death metal meets classic rock version of a legendary rock song.
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Alexi's presence on stage injected an already exciting performance with a whole new level of intensity, and warmed the frozen bodies of hundreds of onlookers. This was a blistering show and one that will not be forgotten for a long, long time.
To view all photos taken during this set click here. There are 16 available.