In an exclusive interview with Rolling Stone Brasil, the former Skid Row singer also revealed a special setlist for shows in the country
Figuring among the stars of Summer Breeze Festival and in his side shows throughout Brazil, Sebastian Bach recalled, exclusively to Rolling Stone Brazilthe episode in which he was between life and death during his first visit to the country, in 1992. On that occasion, the rocker was performing at the Ginásio do Ibirapuera, in São Paulo, leading the Skid Rowwhen he decided to throw himself at the Brazilian audience.
The audience, inflamed by the energetic performance, did not welcome him with outstretched arms, causing the vocalist to fall violently against the gymnasium court, having to protect himself from being trampled or crushed with so many people trying to reach him. Asked if he still had memories of the failed attempt, the musician shared the trauma in detail.
According to him, the crowd was trying, in some way, to take him by force, forcing him to exert enormous force to protect himself:
I almost died. […] They knocked me to the floor of the arena, everyone was on top of me. I said to myself, ‘If you don’t straighten your arms and get on all fours, you will be crushed now.’ I had 10 thousand people on top of me, literally, I’m not even exaggerating.
Bach recognizes the fervor, but assumes that the Brazilian public was unaccustomed to such action: “At that time, in the United States, jumping off the stage was, like, fashionable. Everyone was jumping off the stage, we were doing it all the time. So, audiences were used to bands jumping into the crowd, but Brazil was not used to that at all.”
He further described that, until he was rescued by a security guard, he remained on all fours so as not to put his head on the ground, fixing his arms on the ground. Finally, the trauma yielded a good-humored verdict from the singer: “Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last stage diving I ever did. Sebastian Bach he did. No, never again. That was the last one. You’ll never see me do that again!”
Return to Brazil
With a performance at the São Paulo festival scheduled for this Friday, the 26th, the musician revealed that he is preparing a surprise related to his former band for the Brazilian agenda, which also includes a solo show in Curitiba, the following day, and a performance with the Mr Big in Rio de Janeiro, on Saturday, 28.
We are on the 35th anniversary of the first album, Skid Row. And in celebration of the first album, we’re going to play 95% of the band’s first album. Skid Row at the show in São Paulo, Brazil! We’re also going to play some newer songs, but it’s a festival and we’re going to rock it.
The musician also praised a song in particular from Skid Row that cannot be left out of the Tupiniquim repertoire; present on the second album, Slave to the Grind (1991), the reaction to “Wasted Time” here is surprising Sebastianwhich ensures her presence in the three setlists: “When I sing this, the crowd freaks out”.
