Sebastian Bach with The Standstills have been touring the west coast all summer, including the Commodore in Vancouver.
The Standstills consist of Jonny Fox on guitar, and the beautiful Renee Couture who played drums front and center onstage. What the band lacks in the way of bass player, Fox more than made up for with his low tuned baritone guitar. The band has an amazing sound; similar to 70’s stoner rock/metal, but with playful drums and very rock n’ roll catchy crunchy riffs.
Near the end of the set, The Standstills played a loud homage to Led Zeppelin, playing one of Zeppelins most recognizable tunes, “Immigrant Song”. The guitar and drums worked very well for the song, but of course no-one can come even close to the power of Robert Plant vocally. It was a great song nonetheless.
The Standstills played about a 45 minute set (about 7-8 songs) including “Shotgun” and “Wild” with my favourite being “Orleans” – I love the way the guitar’s baritone deep sound adds up with the voice of Jonny Fox. Perfect. The band was a lot of fun to watch and have an original sound, something that isn’t common these days. Definitely check these guys out.
Sebastian Bach is known for being Skid Row’s ex singer from their golden days, and so he brought all of our favourite hits from his old band. The audience was packed with 80’s rock and rollers, and metalheads living the nostalgia of one of the 80s and early 90s most iconic singer.
Bach played his heart out; very energetic and always upbeat and his voice hasn’t aged one bit. Bach hit every note when playing Skid Row classics from “18 and Life”, “I Remember You”, “Monkey Business” -all while partying with the crowd, swinging his microphone all over the place and head-banging (accentuated by his long blond hair of course). Bach played a cover of “Shout at the Devil” by Motley Crue and closed the show of with non-other than a great Canadian tune, “Tom Sawyer” by Rush.
In all, both bands put on quite the show. If you’re into a good hard rock show, love the nostalgia of the 90s and like to support Canadian bands I’d recommend this tour to anyone, memorable, fun and filled with energy.
8/10
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review written by Emilio Angel
photos by Red Lenses Photography