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Thursday
Jun042015

Twisted Sister With Mike Portnoy

Twisted Sister recently performed with drummer Mike Portnoy for the first time. The band was at The Joint at the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel and Casino as part of the Metal Meltdown series. Extreme, Skid Row and Great White are also part of that series. Check out Twisted's AJ Pero tribute below.


Reader Comments (19)

I was at the Vegas Metal Meltdown show, & Twisted Sister, even after 3O+ years, still tore the roof off. Portnoy was incredible, & no offense to A.J. , was clearly the best drummer I've seen play in this band (& I've seen 7 of the 10 they've had). Even with the guys pushing 60, & without the warpaint & costumes, Twisted live is still a force to be reckoned with.

* I do have one bone to pick. The story about when A.J.'s father died & he decided to stay on the road, is a flat out lie. AJ's father died in late December of 1984, they were scheduled to play Providence, Rhode Island on New Year's Eve. Having flown from LA. to NY, & then driving up the East Coast to that show, only to find a note on the Venue's door , I can tell you, that show absolutely WAS CANCELLED. AJ was a great drummer. There was no reason to fabricate a story to show how great he was.
June 4, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterAce Steele
Glad to hear the show was a good one, Ace.

How were the other bands?
June 4, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterHim
Yeah, I was fortunate to see 'em at M3 a couple years back with A.J. which was awesome, especially when you consider it was the original line-up. As Ace says, they are a force to be reckoned with live.

It truly is astounding every time Dee Snyder opens his mouth, every syllable, even if he's just bantering between songs, bellowed with such sheer loudness and velocity. The guy is literally a fire breathing Rock & Roll dragon! And though he may be 60, he's not out of breath in the clip because of his age, it's because he gives himself over with such true passion, you can tell he gives it his all, leaving it all on the stage seemingly every night he performs.

That said, and with all do respect to A.J's legacy, for me personally, I've always found their music and lyrics overly simplistic. Say what you will about other bands of the era but there is just more going on with that of the likes of Cruë, Cinderella, Poison, Britny Fox, even RATT, though the latter's lyrics sometimes rival Twisted Sister's in stupidity.

And though I could also do without Mike Portannoy in yet another band, I am happy to see him fulfill A.J's wish and, no doubt, his own, since the video above is by far the most rocking moment of his career which is proof it's never too late, at least until he climbs back on stage with borefest, Winery Dogs.

p.s. Well, Ace, as usual, your story of your long trek to see them live only to find the show cancelled is testimony to your unwavering love of all things Glam Metal in it's heyday, but in the words of my Dad, "That sure is a long way to go for a drink." Couldn't you have just waited for them to return to L.A. to see 'em? Or was the allure of what awaited backstage just too hard to resist?, haha!!
June 4, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterMetalboy!
Ace, my friend, I am reminded of the old expression, "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story." :) I don't think anyone would argue with you that Portnoy is a better drummer than A.J. He plays with the same heaviness that Pero did, plus he has more technical skills to go with that heaviness. I will say though that A.J.'s drumming abilities were better than what he displayed in TS. In the mid 90s, he had a band called Father Time. I remember seeing them at the legendary Birch Hill Country Club in Oldbridge, NJ on a double bill with Dee Snider's SMFs. Because it was his own band, he actually took a drum solo -- the first time I'd ever heard him play one, and it was pretty awesome.

And Mr. Metalboy!, you're absolutely right about Dee. Huffing and puffing is not a new thing for him. I clearly remember him having to catch his breath even way back in the day before TS was famous because he has always been such an intense performer.
June 4, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterBob
I heard they were doing one last actual tour. I saw it legitimate places with actual interviews...does anybody know what's going on with that? I'd love to have a chance and see them. On another note, yes Portnoy is technically better and has done amazing work, but you can't deny the force of Aj Pero!! God bless em both.
June 4, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterDj
Ace.

Just playing devils advocate here..., perhaps his dad died and they played the night he died and cancelled a show for services like a wake or funeral. I don't know exact dates of death and their tour schedule.

Just may be this type of situation. Or not & Dee is lying pos
June 4, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterKixchix
I did the cross country trip for Twisted Sister, twice. The aforementioned cancelled New Year's Eve gig, & in the summer of 1981, when an east cost friend of mine sent me a cassette of one of Twisted Sister's infamous radio broadcasts...I had never heard anything like them before! The lyrics to "I'll Never Grow Up!" , "Bad Boys of Rock & Roll", "Lady's Boy", & "Rock & Roll Saviours" just blew me away... and when I saw the poster, I said to my best friend "We've GOT To See This Band!"... so we did. That week in New York, we saw Twisted play 4 different clubs, at 4 sets a night. It totally changed my life & the way I understood how a band works... L.A. Bands had it easy, compared to East Coast bands... Those guys WORKED! Hard! And Dee Snider worked harder than any musician I had ever seen. He took to the stage the way a conquering army takes a hill , in battle. Take no prisoners! What other band do you know of, that played 2000+ shows before getting signed?

One other thing: The TS lineup you all know, is by no means the "original lineup". Dee is Twisted's 3rd singer, Animal is their 2nd bassist, Eddie is the 3rd lead guitarist, & AJ is 9th drummer. Only Jay Jay is an original member since the beginning.
June 5, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterAce Steele
WOW!, Ace! The TRUTH Be Told, Once Again!!!

p.s. And let us not forget Snyder's appearance in front of the PMRC!!!
June 5, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterMetalboy!
Mike PortANNOY!!! In case you Metal Kidz missed it the last time!!!
June 6, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterMetalboy!
Excellent history there, Ace! Were they already doing "I Am (I'm Me)" live? One of my favorites from this era of the band.

But I have to ask again: how was the rest of the show in Vegas?
June 6, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterHim
Him, No, Dee hadn't written that one yet. They had a large collection of really good songs that were popular with their fanbase... I'm really surprised things like "Plastic Money" & "Rock & Roll Saviours" didn't make it onto some of those earlier records.

As for the Metal Meltdown show, It was good all around. Great White sounded good, & vocalist Terry Illous even mimic'd Jack's vocal inflections at times & sounded like Jack used to.

Skid Row was OK... Tony Harnell is obviously still getting used to being in this band, (It was his 5th show) Vocally he was solid, but he just seems to stand there a bit.

Extreme sound tight, & had a good show, They've just always bored me a bit.
June 6, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterAce Steele
HIM: "I Am, I'm Me" has always been a standout for me, as well. Ace, I will check out "Plastic Money" and "Rock & Roll Saviours".

I also, highly recommend to all that you check out the "VH1 Behind The Music: Twisted Sister". Their path to success Ace describes is an astonishing and inspirational one.

p.s. Ace, to say Extreme is boring is too kind. I happened to see these guys point blank at the The Cat Club in NYC when "More Than Words" was heading up the charts and the whole experience was almost unbearable, a feeling I did not display as the chick who got me in was a total fox and thought they were the greatest band ever. I was and still am very impressed with Nuno Bettencourt, however.
June 6, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterMetalboy!
As far as really old Ts tunes go, you can't beat, "You Know I Cry." Excellent twin guitar leads that they seemed to give up on later. "rock and Roll saviours" is a great tune that they started doing in '78, but the lyrics sound a little dated now because the song is about the death of disco music.
June 7, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterBob
Thanks for the music lesson and the update on the concert, Ace. I really wanted to be at that show. Alas, schedules wouldn't permit it.

I have to ask, Ace: have you ever considered writing a book? It just seems like you could offer fans that sort of "fly on the wall"/"been there, done that" history. And with metal books being fairly popular right now, it would seem like a perfect time.
June 7, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterHim
Him , Thank you for the compliment. I actually started that process with my old girlfriend, since we were like the "Lucy & Ricky" of the L.A. Metal & Glam Scene in the early 80's, and our apartment was "ground zero" for a lot of offstage incidents with Motley Crue, Quiet Riot, London, Legs Diamond, Dokken, Steeler, Great White, W.A.S.P. & others. Our summer Bar-Be-Ques were off the hook !!!

In the meantime, I've donated photos to other books that have already been published, like original Quiet Riot bassist Kelly Garni's book "Angels With Dirty Faces" which documents his time growing up & playing with the late, great Randy Rhoads. Well worth reading.

http://www.amazon.com/Angels-Dirty-Faces-Kelly-Garni/dp/1481194151
June 7, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterAce Steele
Can only imagine, Ace. Must have been glorious (and rough and scary and all the rest in equal rockin' measures)!

And you say you "started the process." So is a book in the works or is it something you would have to dig back up and start working on again?

Thanks for the tip on the book too. Once I work my way through my latest reading list, I will give it a go.
June 8, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterHim
Between the 2 of us, it'll take another year to write & then edit and all the legalities in publishing.

If this were a movie, we'd be in the storyboarding phase.
June 8, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterAce Steele
Sign me up, Ace.

I will gladly buy it, read it, and review it when it comes out. Nice to hear you are still working on it.

Thanks again.
June 9, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterHim
Ace! Can't wait to read it! And I'll happily buy it, read it and review HIM's review of it!

And, of course, tell others to buy it and read it.

I am also going to write my own tome someday, "Found Socks & Lost Receipts: My Adventures In Advertising". Believe it or not, there was A LOT of crazy sh*t went down in the 80's & 90's on Madison Avenue. Think "Madmen" on Steroids (and various other toxic substances), hahaha!!!
June 12, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterMetalboy!

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