My experience

I had a feeling it would be a great weekend. My boyfriend and I decided to make the 9-hour journey from Huntington, WV to Asbury Park, NJ in my car. To most, this would almost seem absurd, but to me, it was well worth the trip.

We got lost several times on the way there on Friday, once going about 75 miles out of the way. I was hoping we'd arrive at our hotel around 5:00, but by the time we got there it was more like 6:45. I hadn't showered yet, so I hopped in the shower, and had to rush to get ready. I ended up going to the concert with wet hair.

Around 7:30 we headed out the door to find the club. Of course, we got lost again. We went down some side street and asked a guy for directions. He either barely spoke English or had a very thick accent, I couldn't figure out which. We sort of deciphered what he said, and drove away. We rounded a corner and there it was. There were TONS of people waiting in line outside. This was the point where I started to get really excited. We went to the back of the line, and had to wait ten minutes or so before they started letting people in. When we got inside, I felt like a wide-eyed kid. It was a ROCK bar. I don't know what I was expecting, but they don't have anything that cool in Huntington, that's for damn sure. We looked around for maybe 30 minutes or so, and then claimed our place near the front of the stage. There was one person between me and the stage.

The first opening band came out. They weren't bad. They said something negative about religion/church/God on several occasions and that made me feel a little uncomfortable, but their music sounded good. The second band was great. They did some originals and a few covers, and it was exactly the kind of music that should have been opening up for Sebastian Bach!

Their set ended, and everyone was starting to get really excited, especially me. I had no idea what to expect! We were waiting probably close to 30 minutes before they came out. There was a group of women beside of me who were pissing me off. They were being very impatient and acting like they didn't even want to be there. They said they wished it would hurry up and be over. I wanted to ask them, well then why the hell did you come, but I kept my mouth shut.

Finally, I heard the opening chords of "Slave to the Grind," and Sebastian ran out on stage. This was the point where the whole thing seemed unreal. He grabbed the microphone which was maybe a foot above my head, and launched into the song. The energy was nonstop. My boyfriend almost got hit in the head by his swinging mic! After the first couple of songs, Sebastian decided to take a big drink of water and spit it out like a fountain all over the people in the front. A lot of it went on me. I was laughing my ass off about it too.

My boyfriend was headbanging behind me, and at some point he busted his lip on my head. It hurt! Sebastian slowed things down some with "This is the Moment" from Jekyll and Hyde. I've known that song for a long time, but the way he sang it that night moved me to tears. People around me were looking at me funny...but ask me if I give a shit. Sure don't. They also did "Confrontation" from J&H, but they made it into a metal version. It was awesome!

Sebastian and his band tore through some more Skid Row songs like "In a Darkened Room," "Frozen," "18 & Life," "Here I Am," and "Sweet Little Sister," as well as some of their own tunes such as "Rock N Roll" and "Done Bleeding." Another highlight of the set was "Monkey Business," which went into the Time Warp from Rocky Horror. The set was great, and as you can imagine, I was thoroughly enjoying myself. They ended with "I Remember You" and "Youth Gone Wild."

After the show, I wasn't sure what we were going to do. I had been in such a rush at the hotel that I hadn't picked out anything for the band to autograph in case we got to meet them, but I had brought a Sharpie. I guess I can be absent-minded at times. We hung around the bar for a little while, then some of the band members started to come out. We saw Larry (bass) and Paul (guitar). I had them autograph my shirt with my Sharpie. Paul told us that Sebastian was outside signing autographs and meeting people. Holy shit. That's basically what was running through my mind...like what the hell am I going to say to my favorite singer.

My boyfriend and I went outside. There were LOTS of people out there in line to meet Sebastian, mainly women. Big surprise, huh? I wish we had known earlier that he was out there because by the time we got outside the bar security was trying to make people leave. They were being anal about cameras too, even though Sebastian didn't seem to care. We had to leave ours in the car.

Security kept saying "Bar is closed, head toward the door," but nobody seemed to be moving, and Sebastian just kept right on talking to people. Then security started to physically move groups of people out, and some people started to leave. A girl asked if I was a groupie, which amused me. I walked right up to Sebastian, nervous as shit, and asked him to sign my shirt, which he did. I told him that the show kicked ass, and I said it all wimpy too, like "it kicked ass." He said, "thanks man" and he patted me on the shoulder. The rest of the night I was cussing myself. Dammit, you met Sebastian Bach and all you could say was "it kicked ass?" Great.

Saturday night I was all hyped up again. We got near the front; one person between me and the stage again. The opening bands this night sucked. The first one had a female lead singer, and they reminded me of No Doubt. She herself seemed pretty cool, I just wasn't a big fan of their music. The second band, however, had to be the all-time worst. Singer dude comes out, and he looks like a blond Ozzy, or maybe a fat Jani Lane. He's probably around 40, and he has on cargo shorts with smiley faces on them and a Harley Davidson t-shirt with the sleeves cut off. The first thing he does is pull down his shorts and moon the audience. Like I really wanted to see that. Then his roadies or whatever pull out this plastic bag from the Dollar Tree, and start pulling out little plastic items like big ass sunglasses, plastic swords, etc. I think the entire audience had one big collective thought: "What the hell?" Their music itself was pretty good, but singer dude up there was distracting as shit. He jumped into the audience and made his way to the back of the club and sang half their show from back there. He tried to make people in the front put on the stuff from Dollar Tree but nobody would cooperate. He kept saying "I love you people." He mustve been on something. To top it all off, at the end of their set, he asked who wanted the rest of this bottle of Jim Beam he had been drinking. My boyfriend puts his hand up and takes it from him. Then the guy says, "drink it motherfucker." He drank it. Eww. The lady beside us handed him a Tic Tac. Thanks, Tic Tac lady!

Not that they need it, but I think the opening bands just made Sebastian and Friends look that much better. They did pretty much the same set, except they added "Livin on a Chain Gang." Cool. During that song, Sebastian grabbed my boyfriend's hand and they were headbanging together. My boyfriend was thrilled! The band seemed to be even more "on" this time. The energy and passion that Sebastian puts into everything he sings is just unbelievable. I was mouthing almost every word, and I got those looks from people again. I love Sebastian and I love his music and I'm damn proud of it and if you don't get that, then it's your problem. Ok, I'm better now.

We waited around again afterward, and we bought posters to have the band sign. I had also brought a picture from a magazine to have Sebastian sign. We heard through the grapevine that most of the band was outside. We stepped off the patio and there was Paul. We talked to him for a little while and had him sign our posters. We walked a little further up and there was Sebastian. My boyfriend talked to him for a few minutes and got some high fives, and we had him sign our posters. Then we walked up to where the band's camper/Winnebago thing was and Bam Bam (drums) was back there. We talked to him for a long time. He had my boyfriend hold his drink while he autographed our stuff. Security came back there and said that anyone without a pass had to leave, but I guess they thought we had one so they didn't make us leave. Cool. Thanks, dumb security people!

I saw that Sebastian was down on the patio and I decided I wasn't through with him yet since I still hadn't had the guts to really talk to him. There weren't nearly as many people around him as there had been the night before because they had shut the door that connects the patio to the bar. I only had to wait a couple of minutes, and then I went right up to him, took a deep breath, and started talking. I told him that he's a big inspiration to me, and that his emotion when he sings is a lot of what inspired me to be a singer in the first place, except it came out a little wordier than that. He was smiling the whole time. He grabbed my pic and my Sharpie and signed it for me. He wrote, "Hey Lisa, Keep singin, ~Sebastian." There were still some people waiting to meet him so I turned to go. He grabbed my hand, pulled me back, and gave me a big hug. He kissed me on the cheek and I tried to kiss him on the cheek but I think I just got his hair. I wasn't expecting that at all! He kept ahold of my hand, and he told me to keep rockin'. I told him I would if he would, and he said that wouldn't be a problem, because "it's too much fuckin fun." Thanks Sebastian!

Overall it was an amazing weekend. I waited years to see Sebastian perform live, and it all lived up to every expectation. I saw him and his band with their fans, and they treated every single one of them like royalty. How many bands can you say that about? I was really sad to see the weekend end...but I think for me it's only the beginning. Can't wait till next time!

Sebastian rocked in Towson,MD at the Recher Theatre. The two opening bands Hyper Chyld and Crank rocked! I would pay to see them again. At about 10:00, Sebastian came out and rocked the place. He sang for about an hour and a half. He sang all kinds of kick ass Skid songs plus some Broadway stuff. His voice was incredible! He said he would see us all again soon. Before he got off stage he announced he would be meeting everyone. It was A LOT of people there to meet him. I was in line sooo long to talk to him and I finally got up there to talk with him at about 1:15, but it was all worth it.

He signed my pic of me and him and I gave him a stuffed animal and I got 2 big hugs and a kiss and I got another pic with him. I also met Paul Crook and he was a very sweet guy. Everyone who hasn't seen him live needs to! The night rocked and I will never forget it!

The Recher Show was was soooo good! Baz came out around 10 pm and played for almost 2 hours; he sang tons of skid row songs, broadway songs and some others. While he sang he got up on the speakers in his J&H outfit and was beatin on the ceiling during "Youth Gone Wild". I blew him a kiss and he pointed and waved at me which was total kick ass! A little before the show was over we went to the bathroom for a few to regain our hearing for a few minutes but I watched from the bathroom door alittle too(couldn't help myself!) as he sung "Done bleeding." Then we stood in the bach to watch the rest of the show. I started doin the time warp but Tasha wouldn't do it with me lol so i stopped an just sang along *smile*. After he sung "Youth Gone Wild", we stood in line in PAIN because our feet hurt soooooooo bad! Me being the stupid nerd I am wore these platform 3'' sandals with my jeans and like I have a few blisters but it was TOTALLY worth it!

When I got up to the table there, I laid my pic and camera down, and as I looked up at that BEAUTIFUL face I just smiled the biggest smile i could as he grabbed me, gave me a big ol hug and kissed me almost on the lips (bout 1cm more it would have been on the lips) and I kissed and hugged him bach.

But before that he hugged and kissed me he poked me in the boob while say "That's A Nice *poke* Shirt *poke* That's From *poke* Our First *poke poke* Tour. *poke* Kick *poke* Ass *poke*"(that was a total dream come true to be grabbed, poked, hugged, AND kissed by SEBASTIAN BACH!) But then after the hug and kiss, my pic of me and him signed, (the pic read "Love Ya Melanie, Sbach 2002, even though my name isn't Melanie it was still cool cuz it came from Baz!

It was all loud and he couldn't hear me very well, then I got a pic with him and I hugged him again and kissed his cheek and let Tasha have her time with him and well she's already told ya bout her time! But I do say this...the first opening band "Hyper Chyld" KICKED TOTAL ASS! we met the lead singer and took a pic with him also. We had the best time that night! Well worth the pain endured by our shoes.