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SEBASTIAN BACH, KURT DEIMER, BEYOND DRIVEN In Ottawa, Canada By Andrew Depedro, Ottawa Corespondent Friday, November 15, 2024 @ 10:54 AM
No 30-year-old band reunion questions?
The cardiovascular performance of the evening can be credited to the pride of Shawville, Quebec better known as BEYOND DRIVEN - who, judging by their guitarist's love and proper use of his replicated version of Dimebag Darrell's illustrious Dean ML axe throughout his set, had likely been prompted to drop the "Far" from their name back in the day (and as it turns out, there's a groove metal band based in South Africa who have had the actual FAR BEYOND DRIVEN name registered since 2006 anyway). That said, with the powerful prowess of their cleverly-named vocalist Erin Maiden and her captivating stage presence, BEYOND DRIVEN play an energetic style of standard hard rock coupled with lots of heavy groove metal influences. Basically, if one were to have Darby Mills of the HEADPINS fronting PANTERA on their proverbial 2024 bingo card, BEYOND DRIVEN would be the closest to that definition. With her backing band of Jeremy Williams (guitar and evidently massive PANTERA fan), Doug Freake (bass) and Kyle Pallen (drums), Erin sang and Roth kung-fu'd her way through the band's short yet energy-charged performance, starting with the bizarrely-named yet catchy track "Check Liver Light", followed by the vibrant "Bitch Switch" and "No Such Thing As Can't" straight to the closing literal number - and also their debut single - "Barely 18". Harboring a guess that the band have only been active for about a couple of years due to the short setlist, BEYOND DRIVEN otherwise show enough motivation to go *ahem* far beyond a band with a starter song or two on every streaming service and eventually get a debut album out of the garage.
https://www.facebook.com/BeyondDrivenOfficial
He's worked hard in the movie industry and even died hard as the unfortunate gas station cashier character whose jawline was shorn off by Michael Myersin the 2018 Halloween remake. And as the co-headliner on this tour, KURT DEIMER was determined to rock hard with his uplifting and engaging performance. With a similar musical pedigree including touring
https://www.kurtdeimermusic.com/
"You can take the man out of the band, but you can't take the band outta the fuckin' man!"
Headliner SEBASTIAN BACH, for all of his faults not worth documenting in this review, can make a valid claim about his live performances being all about him and his past musical accomplishments. His setlist that night would be comprised of mostly the classic SKID ROW hits his powerful signature voice had lent itself to, but that same voice was just as crucial to those same songs just as much as the lyrics and the instruments were - and in this case, Bach's band comprised of bassist Clay Eubank, guitarist Brody DeRozie and drummer/son Paris Bach, played the songs to perfection, from the lesser-known tracks like "Here I Am", "Big Guns", "Sweet Little Sister" and "Rattlesnake Shake" to the hits such as "18 & Life", "Monkey Business" (with a neat segue into "Tom Sawyer" in between), "Slave To The Grind", "I Remember You" and the closing number "Youth Gone Wild". And within that same setlist were four songs from his latest studio release Child Inside The Man, including "Freedom", "Everybody Bleeds" and the opening number "What Do I Got To Lose?", which brings the heavy swagger reminiscent of the first two SKID ROW albums. Finally, perhaps Bach's other best asset when it comes to his live performances would be his exuberant stage banter as he engages with the audience. He'll be making a couple of clearly thinly-veiled yet light-hearted quips about how he'll never rely on the use of laptops to put on a live show (recalling his past online feud he found himself brought into with Ronnie Radke of FALLING IN REVERSE) one minute and then the next, he's introducing everyone to his 82-year old mother- "the child within the
And speaking of completely unexpected phenomenons throughout that night, what would've been more awesome than running into former Immaculata High School alumni Alanis Morrissette in the crowd sporting a matching KNAC T-shirt? An apparent Eveready Ed doppelganger whose real name was Bob in the crowd sporting a matching KNAC T-shirt - and a KNAC-FM 105.5 T-shirt for that matter. His story about how he'd heard about the famed radio station through his LA-based cousin sending him tapes of many a show had prompted him to visit the city in '89 as well as getting his cousin to score him a genuine old school 105.5 shirt to bring back with him - which he proudly sported in its original mint condition after he noticed me with my latter-day shirt on representin' that night. And it was enough to break the FB group page that night in true Edster style when it ended up on social media.
Many thanks to everyone for making the show happen that night - from the bands to the venue to the audience and especially Bob.
Setlist:
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The Bronson Center aka yours truly's former alma mater was once more the location of a magical musical gathering of sorts which featured a family reunion, an early Halloween appearance and a lot of jumping and impressively high kicks.
alongside the likes of DROWNING POOL, TESLA and even YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, it's almost understandable to assume that the established actor-turned aspiring musician almost sounded like he was a recently-discovered six-string shredder of sorts; he's actually the owner of his own oil brand Starfire, having initially majored in business and real estate in
university. Yet while his music history may be fledgling, with his only actual studio release to date being his EP Work Hard, Rock Hard released in late 2021, KURT has an impressive backing of experienced talent, starting with his actual entry into the scene playing gigs in university before contributing his vocals to some songs he'd written with a friend and catching the attention of his future manager Andy Gould, who'd previously worked with ROB ZOMBIE and LINKIN PARK, and was eventually connected with prestigious names such as Geoff Tate, who duetted with him on his first single "Burn Together", and current BON JOVI axeman Phil X, who eventually joined his touring band. And on his first visit outside of the US, Kurt, along with his touring band comprised of bassist Christian Sturba, second guitarist Michale Vassos and drummer Dango Empire alongside his Toronto-born sidekick Phil X, gave a trusting performance from the heart. His live renditions of his original works such as "Naive", "Back Of The School", "Hero" and indeed "Burn Together" (with bassist Christian Sturba subbing for Geoff Tate) were rock solid enough, but it was his chill-sounding cover of PINK FLOYD's "Have A Cigar" which was the popular number of his set. That, and the encouraging pep talks he gave during the intro to his latest single "Fight" whose message of coming together for a common goal resonated among the audience, particularly on the 10th anniversary of the Parliament Hill attacks, and his brief interaction with the crowd during the aforementioned song as well. In short, KURT DEIMER achieved his own nirvana that night by getting on a similar-leveled plain with his newfound audience.
woman" - sitting up on the balcony before giving an homage to the many musicians we'd lost over the course of the past few years - including some special singalong tributes in particular to Myles Goodwyn of APRIL WINE, Kris Kristoffersen and Gordon Lightfoot. You must admit that with much of Bach's wild and hedonistic past, be it solo or during his halcyon days with SKID ROW, watching, let alone participating in a crowd chant of "Sundown" with him leading that same chant, is both unexpected and mesmerizing to watch. Another proverbial dauber on the 2024 bingo card that night. Whatever SEBASTIAN BACH ever thought he got to lose with his first return to Ottawa in six years, he gained back hundredfold with respect.