Sebastian Bach Brings the Big Guns to San Antonio: Review, Photos

Sebastian Bach‘s still got it.

If his crushing new solo album, Child Within the Man, didn’t already make it clear, Bach drove the point home at the Rock Box in San Antonio on Sunday, where he blasted through Skid Row classics and highlights off his new LP with the same gutsy aggression of his youth.

You can see UCR’s exclusive photos and the full set list below.

Bach came out swinging with Child Within the Man lead single “What Do I Got to Lose?,” a vintage metal anthem that worked the audience into a fast frenzy. Bach kept it old-school on all fronts, noting early in the set that there were “no fuckin’ laptops” onstage. He waxed nostalgic about his first San Antonio show in 1989, when Skid Row opened for Bon Jovi. And although he once bristled at the “hair band” designation, he introduced “Can’t Stand the Heartache” by whisking the audience back to the good ol’ days of blasting Van Halen cassettes, playing frisbee and getting drunk on the beach.

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He also brought the sass that’s kept him in headlines for decades — albeit in toned-down form — rolling his eyes at the cellphones that shot into the air during “18 and Life” and quipping, “Look at all the videos that are being made right now.”

But Bach didn’t shy away from mortality — his or anyone else’s — on Sunday. “Fifty-six years old, mother-trucker!” he declared with defiant pride. “Age ain’t nothin but a fuckin’ number!” Thirty-five years after Skid Row released their self-titled debut, Bach can still hit many of the album’s piercing screams. He needs more time to catch his breath between the power notes now, but nitpickers ought to heed Bach’s own words on Sunday: “Let’s see you fuckin’ do it.”

The performance took on a poignant air when the singer turned “I Remember You” into an elegy for Eddie Van Halen, Neil Peart, Taylor Hawkins, CJ Snare and the myriad other rockers lost in recent years. The dedication came on the heels of a romp through Rush‘s “Tom Sawyer,” which featured furious drum work from Bach’s son, Paris.

It was a blast, just like the rest of his set — because Bach has never forgotten the long-lost art of having fun at a rock show. It’s difficult not to share his enthusiasm when he swings his microphone above his head or pounds the air like a boxer. Bach has been at this for nearly four decades now, and he remains a proverbial defender of the faith with the chops to back it up. The times have changed, but his conviction has not — and if you squint your eyes and listen close during the opening scream of “Youth Gone Wild,” you can still catch a glimpse of the child within the man.

Sebastian Bach, 6/23/24, Rock Box, San Antonio Set List
1. “What Do I Got to Lose?”
2. “Slave to the Grind”
3. “Here I Am”
4. “Big Guns”
5. “Sweet Little Sister”
6. “18 and Life”
7. “Can’t Stand the Heartache”
8. “Freedom”
9. “Piece of Me”
10. “Everybody Bleeds”
11. “American Metalhead”
12. “Monkey Business” (with part of “Tom Sawyer”)
13. “I Remember You”
14. “(Hold on) To the Dream”
15. “Youth Gone Wild”