In the early ’90s, before grunge fully reshaped the sound and image of mainstream rock, bands like Skid Row and Pantera were still very much living the mythic rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle: loud, chaotic, and occasionally destructive.
During a recent interview with Australia’s Sense Music Media, Sebastian Bach looked back on those days with a mix of nostalgia and disbelief. Recalling a particularly unruly moment on Skid Row‘s 1992 tour, when Pantera was opening, Bach described how things spiraled out of control even before he had arrived at the hotel.
“Oh, it was wild. I remember being on the bus pulling into Philadelphia, and we got a call and they go, ‘We’ve been kicked out of the hotel.’ I go, ‘What do you mean? I’m not even fucking there yet. How can I get kicked out if I’m not there?’,” Bach recalled.
“And they go, ‘Well, Dimebag [Darrell, guitarist of Pantera] and Snake [Dave Sabo, guitarist of Skid Row] did acid’ – I mean, this is going way back; hey, kids don’t get any ideas; it was a different time – but they go, ‘Yeah, Dimebag and Snake did acid and Dimebag got a knife out and stabbed the couch in the lobby of the hotel.’ And I go, ‘Holy fuck, man.’ So there’s a couple of stories that are pretty crazy like that. But he didn’t stab any people – just the couch.”
Looking at the state of modern rock, Bach acknowledged that things have changed, perhaps irreversibly. Asked whether he sees any remaining figures who carry the swagger and attitude of old-school rock stars, he pointed to an unlikely but familiar name.
“Well, you might not be anticipating this, but I think Liam Gallagher from Oasis is completely hilarious. When I watch his interviews [laughs] — he is, to me, a rock star. When he said, ‘Look,’ he goes, ‘Look, all I wanted out of life was a large-screen HDTV and a fit bird,’ which is a hot chick. That’s all I fucking want — that’s all I want. Hey, Liam, you’re speaking for me, too. And I got a bunch of HDTVs, and my chick is fit as a fiddle. [Laughs]”
It’s a different kind of chaos now, less knives and acid, more tongue-in-cheek bravado and viral interviews. Still, for Bach, the essence of a rock star isn’t just in the destruction, but in the authenticity and irreverence.
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