Dee Snider - Shouted Review & Photo Gallery 1st Feb @ Manning Bar, Sydney NSW

Dee Snider - Shouted!
Manning Bar, Sydney NSW
February 1st, 2019
Support: Desecrator
Just twenty-four hours earlier, I was standing in the same place outside the large wooden doors of Sydney's Manning Bar, in anticipation of Dee Snider's 'Spoken' word tour (my review here). Here I am again, for the very same reason, only this time it's to witness a live performance from Dee and his band, after the release of Dee's latest album, For The Love Of Metal, instead of getting the ins and outs of Dee's life. The excitement leading up to both nights, was intense to say the least - Australia had waited a bloody long 34 years for this. As the performance had transitioned, so too had the weather. Tonight there was a light sprinkle of rain, and I revelled in the cooler temperature. Soon enough, the doors were swung open and it was game on. Fans ran up the stairs to the venue, while some darted to the merch desk to purchase their memorabilia for the event, others darted to the bar and the rest of us secured our position on the barrier.
Like a long lost family, we all greeted each other and shared in the excitement. Even security greeted us with a smile. It wasn't long before Melbourne's Desecrator took to the stage. I've seen this band several times, with a few different band members come and gone, not once have they ever disappointed. I knew Sydney was in capable hands of being warmed up tonight and threw my horns up in approval. Riley (vox/guitar) thanked us all for coming out tonight and the thirty odd minute thrash assault ensued. The crowd banging their heads, as Desecrator put on one hell of a show, giving it their all, to work the crowd up. I was blown away to hear them do a cover of W.A.S.P's - 'Animal', egging the crowd on.. "What do we fuck like Sydney? That's right, like an animal.. I fuck like a beast"! At the end of their set, I could hear the appreciation from some of the crowd "Where are those guys from? They were fucking awesome". I agreed, proudly!
Lights came on as the crew removed Desecrator's back-line, making room for Dee Snider and his band. A few drunken dickheads had made their presence known, trying to push and shove their way closer to the stage. Good luck getting through the SMF's that had made the front line of the barrier their own. With a wait time of around thirty minutes, and a few hundred selfies taken by crowd, the lights went down and the crowd began to cheer. This is it, Dee fucking Snider...
Russell Pzutto (bass), Nick Petrino (guitar) and brothers Nick (drums) and Charlie Bellmore (guitar) made their way on to the stage and got right into the intro to 'Lies Are Business', track one from For The Love Of Metal. Fuck me, what a catchy, heart racing hook that is. Legendary, Dee Snider came bouncing on to the stage, dressed in tight white wash jeans with leather knee patches. A skull and crossbones on one leg and a twisted "Snider" wrapped around the other, complimented by the addition of nuts and bolts going up the sides of each leg. A black singlet that read "NEW YORK PHUCKING CITY" and let's not forget the mirrored glasses it's rare to see Dee without. Although the outfit was a whole lot tamer than days of old, Dee's energy was otherworldly. It's performances like these, that are a testament to Dee's Rock star status and man did he earn that.
'Tomorrow's No Concern', from the same album, followed on. The crowd singing along "I gave you yesterday, you can keep it.." while throwing horns up and feeding off Dee's energy. Dee may be 63 in numbers, but his physique and vitality are yet to catch up to his age... Hell, they have decades of catching up, yet somehow, I don't think they ever will. The title track and a definite favourite, from Twisted Sisters second studio album, You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll, was next. Dee's incomparable voice, the insane riffs that were pulled off with ease and Nick's skin poundings that would have made AJ proud, took me back to my teenage years, man they were some great times. Dee let out an almighty roar and continued in to 'American Made' one of the chunkiest songs of the night, both musically and vocally. Dee changing the lyrics for the occasion, to "Australian Made", with us Aussies showing our respect by banging the fuck out of our heads.
Some banter between Dee and the crowd took place, before Dee dedicated the next song, 'Roll Over You', to Clive Palmer, ending with a fitting "Fuck you"! I'm quite certain everyone had a giggle at that. The next song is probably one of the greatest Twisted Sister songs ever, in terms of knowability. Yeah, you all know what it is, right? 'We're Not Gonna Take It'. While Nick took it away on drums, Dee and Russell began the chant. Guitars kicked in and the room was full of bouncing bodies, pointing fingers. Dee held his microphone to the crowd, as we all made the same declaration. What a glorious moment of unity. Dee stating "that was a fuck yeah situation. Sometimes it's a Hell yeah, but that time it was a Fuck yeah situation".
After some interaction with a drunken punter, Dee reminded us of a band he was in after Twister Sister (as if we needed reminding), called WidowMaker. Dee and band played 'Ready To Fall' from the album Stand By For Pain and later played 'Blood And Bullets (Pissin' Against The Wind)'. More crowd favourites followed, 'I am The Hurricane', 'Burn In Hell' and a final 'Under The Blade', before Dee and band left the stage.
With the applaud and "Dee Snider" chants from fans, it wasn't long before the band was back on stage to perform the other greatest Twisted Sister song, in history. That clip that all of us rebellious headbangers could relate to and knew exactly what we wanted to do with our lives... 'I Wanna Rock'. An equally energetic performance from the band and the audience had us all dripping with sweat. Title track 'For The Love of Metal' followed and would have been a fitting way to end the show, but Dee being Dee, had to take things just that bit further and treated us to a brilliant rendition of AC/DC's, 'Highway To Hell'. What a moment in heavy metal history that will go down as.
I spoke to many people on the way out of the venue and every single person had the same thing to say, "how fucking awesome was that"! This gig is easily one of the best gigs to date. Thanks to Hardline Media and Dee Snider for an unforgettable evening.
Setlist
Lies Are A Business
Tomorrow's No Concern
You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll
The Beast
American Made
The Fire Still Burns
Roll Over You
We're Not Gonna Take It
Ready To Fall
I Am The Hurricane
Burn In Hell
Become The Storm
Blood And Bullets
Under The Blade
Encore
I Wanna Rock
For The Love Of Metal
Highway To Hell
Gig Review by Trudy Johnson @BrutalTrudes
Follow the Dee Snider vs Clive Palmer saga right here
Photo Gallery courtesy of Mick Goddard (MickG Photography)
Please credit Wall of Sound and Mick Goddard if you repost.
Desecrator
Dee Snider

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