Rock USA is getting ready to take place
with another heart pounding rock and roll lineup that includes Alice
Cooper, Judas Priest, Breaking Benjamin, Queensryche, Warrant,
Avenged Sevenfold, Def Leppard, Jackyl, Styx, Tesla, Dellacoma,
Wysteria, Pop Evil, Papa Roach, Dokken, Road Trip, Lynyrd Skynyrd,
Vixen, Whitesnake, and Wayland on July 15 – 18 in Oshkosh,
Wisconsin. For those of you who missed last year's lineup, it was
even more hardcore with acts that included Slayer, Rob Zombie, Five
Finger Death Punch, Three Day's Grace, Skid Row, Korn, Seether,
Megadeth, Theory of a Deadman, All That Remains, Machine Head, Black
Label Society, Halestorm, Hell Yeah, Black Stone Cherry, Like A
Storm, Wayland, Beyond Threshold, Jackyl and Almost Kings. This is a
festival worth camping at, as there is enough time between bands to
go back to camp and prepare for the next round.
Wisconsin in the summer is beautiful to
begin with, but you throw in a bunch of killer bands, and friendly
people that want nothing more than to have a good time, compound that
with some carnival rides, games, ziplining and more, and you have one
heck of a swell show over the course of a few days. It's not out in
the middle of nowhere, as Oshkosh is a fairly good sized city, with
conveniences like shopping, restaurants and more; in fact, the
concert is held at Ford Festival Park, which is right by an outlet
mall. Other attractions include the EAA Museum, which is located
directly across the highway.
Of course, the EAA also hosts their
Airventure from July 20 – 26, so if you plan your trip right, you
could also camp out with your plane for that. Even if you don't own
a plane, you can still watch a series of planes overhead.
Experimental Aviation has some really cool stuff to check out there.
Bottom line is if you've never been to
Wisconsin, or Oshkosh, there's plenty of stuff to do and see. Rock
USA, also known as RUSA, is just the perfect excuse to check out the
Midwest and Lake Winnebago. Oshkosh is a college town, so there's
plenty of people who are up for having fun.
The music is really worth the visit.
There's so many cool things from last year, it's hard to list it all.
First of all, there's all kinds of vendors, from Wisconsin cheese to
gemstones and freebies, but there's definitely alcohol, and a
fabulous lineup of music that will keep you head knocking as you
swerve on.
If rock music is not your thing,
there's CUSA, or Country USA, held at the same venue. That takes
place June 23 – 27 and includes Miranda Lambert, Lee Brice, Eli
Young Band, Eric Church, Tim McGraw and a slew of others, as this is
the 20th anniversary of the annual concert. Last year,
CUSA was more congested than RUSA, but I have to admit, I loved the
hardcore that RUSA had to offer.
I dare say that if RUSA had been a
touring festival, it would have had one of the best lineups in the
country. It was one of the the top shows that I attended last year,
and would highly recommend it. Whether you're daring enough to camp,
or if you'd rather chillax in a hotel or stay with friends, it is an
awesome atmosphere, and walking around by myself, as a single female,
not knowing too many people, I felt safe, didn't get swept away by a
moshpit unexpectedly, and I had a ton of fun, too.
I would recommend signing up for the
VIP experience, as it not only provides bathrooms with running water,
which is nice when you're camping, but there's also food. The
catering is great. It's not some cafeteria style slop, but a nice
catered buffet with sliced meats, desserts and the whole shebang.
Of course, there's plenty of food
vendors, including awesome jerky, so it's not like you're going to
starve if you don't do the VIP experience, but the VIP does provide
closer seating than normal tickets. It's nice to sprawl out, have a
seat to sit down in, and be able to get up close and personal.
Still, even with a normal ticket, just grab a pop-up chair with a cup
holder and take it all in, or dance around.
I cannot say enough great things about
last year's lineup. Rob Zombie, you know I'm going to like, as he
was responsible for me getting the chance to tour on Ozzfest in 2002
after he pulled me up on stage, so you know I'm going to like him, as
he always puts on a great show with a touch of his horror movie
influence thrown into the stage setup. Slayer, classic metal,
phenomenal, need I say more?
Three Days Grace was the band that took
my by surprise. I had seen their former lead singer Adam Gontier at
Dirtfest, and I though he had put on a good show, but when I saw the
whole band, wow. They had this serious military-like stage show that
just commanded your attention from the start.
Five Finger Death Punch I had seen many
times before, so I knew they always put on an awesome act that is
full of life with Ivan also being a commanding presence on stage. I
had met Ivan at DTE the year before, actually with his daughter, as
Battlecross had been barbecuing after a show, and he was down to
earth enough, and definitely protective of his daughter. Still, I
will say, at RUSA, he was the only one that I noted going out to the
crowd before his show to sign autographs to whoever wanted it.
Machine Head's lead singer celebrated
his birthday at the show, so there were all kinds of people lurking
around at the back of the stage as they played. Even though they
played earlier in the day, they cranked those guitars up a notch and
really gave it their all. You could tell they were having fun.
Black Label Society is another band I
have a lot of history with, as I not only toured with them on
Ozzfest, but have seen them a number of times since. Probably what
stands out the most is seeing them at the House of Blues in New
Orleans, hanging out backstage with the guys from Valume Knob, which
included Kirk Windstein from Crowbar and Down. They invited me back
to a balcony party that Black Label Society was hosting, and I was
sworn to secrecy on the detail that happened at that party...
Another band I toured with on Ozzfest
was Seether, and I loved watching the South African guys come up
through the ranks over the years. On Ozzfest, they were an opening
band, and I remember interviewing them, back in my younger, sexier
years, dressed in what I was wearing while working as a Harley Girl
on the tour, which basically included a bikini top. Back then, they
were blushing, but now, they're at the top of the lineup, with a slew
of hits to their credit, and their show is even better with age.
Megadeth brought the fire like they
always do. They've been one of my favorites since way back, and with
as many years as they have under their belt, their stage show was
pretty fun. They highlighted all the times they were mentioned in TV
shows like Beavis and Butthead, as well as movies like Wayne's World,
showing clips of when the band was mentioned as they played, an
appreciation homage.
One band I have always appreciated was
Skid Row, and I will admit, their former lead singer was the first
person I have ever been starstruck by when I was first starting out
in journalism. Even though their lead singer has changed, the music
is just as good as ever, and before I even went to RUSA, I had to
interview them. After coming back from sound check, dinner and a
photo shoot, Dave “Snake” Sabo of Skid Row called from York,
England, to talk about the key qualities of a lead singer, the
difference between writing for Skid Row and writing for movies, and
personal injuries.
Author Marisa Williams: You grew up in
Sayreville, NJ, but is that where you live now?
Dave “Snake” Sabo of Skid Row: No,
I lived Sayreville into my 20s. After that, I lived in Holmdel, NJ,
then I lived in Los Angeles for 12 or 13 years, and now I live in
Long Island, New York.
Marisa: Were you impacted by Sandy?
Skid Row: We had a little impact from
Sandy, but not as much as you would've thought. My family and myself
were really lucky. There was a lot of damage in surrounding areas,
but we walked out virtually unscathed.
Marisa: Promotions are calling Skid
Row a New Jersey-based band, but didn't Sebastian Bach, who replaced
Matt Fallon in the original Skid Row lineup, have ties to Canada and
Detroit?
Skid Row: He grew up in that area,
yeah. When we found him and contacted him though, he was in Toronto.
Rachel and I started the band in '86, and we were based out of New
Jersey all those years.
Marisa: When you were looking for a
new voice for the band, what were some of the key qualities you were
looking for, how did the selection take place and how did things vary
musically from when Sebastian Bach joined the band versus when your
current lead singer joined?
Skid Row: A person has to have a great
range and a great tonality to their voice. They also have to be able
to do the songs justice and also have their own personality when they
sing those songs. They also have to be a dynamic stage performer as
well. Most important is having fun, an unstoppable desire to be
successful and perform great music. You have to be able to get
along, travel around the world with them, and get used to that,
hopefully becoming closer friends as time goes on. The selection was
all word of mouth. I remember we had mentioned in Metal Edge, in an
article that Jamba Joey had done, we mentioned that we were looking
for a singer, but it was word of mouth. Friends of friends got in
contact with Sebastian and Johnny, basically, and we flew them to New
Jersey, jammed with them, felt everything out. In both instances, it
was the right choice. Both have amazing ranges, can sing with a
great amount of passion and range. That was big, because the songs
on the first Skid Row album and Subhuman Race are not easy
songs to sing, and when people came in, you have to do those songs
and be respectful of the notes and melodies. Johnny has all those
qualities but his own tonality to his voice; obviously, we made a
decision years ago that he's the guy, and he still is.
Marisa: How do you go about writing
music? What comes first for you: drums, guitars, vocals or something
else? Has the process of writing changed for you over the years at
all?
Skid Row: No, it's never been by
design in any way. It's basically, Rachel and I get together and
show each other the different riffs we came up with, lyric ideas,
melody ideas, fly back and forth with it, start discussing what we
like and don't like. For us, that's way it worked from day one, and
still is today. We could be at sound check, play a riff, and someone
will ask, “is that yours?” Okay, cool. We'll put on the
Dictaphone, and when we start to write songs, we'll go through riffs.
It inspires something. That's the way it always works, not okay,
you do lyrics and I'll do music; it's mutual contribution from both
of us.
Marisa: How does writing and
performing for Skid Row vary from music for films like The Still
Life?
Skid Row: There's a huge difference.
One is that you're writing for yourself. Skid Row is a selfish
process. It's songs we want to love, sit there and be proud of, live
with for the rest of our lives. Once we accomplish that, we believe
it's ready for the people of the world to hear, but it's selfish.
Film and television is different, because you're helping to have
someone find their vision, not your vision. You just help facilitate
it. You write what you can to bring a scene or sequence to life -
even more than director or music supervisor is thinking - and then
let go of it. You get so used to everything being your own, and you
have to let go and move on. It's an interesting feeling, and it goes
completely against what happens when write for your own band.
Marisa: I was looking online, and what
the hell did you do to your ankle on the 2000 KISS Tour?
Skid Row: Truth be told, I was walking
across a floor in the Hard Rock Casino in Vegas. There was a spill
there, and I didn't see it. I fell in a certain way, and my left
foot bent exactly backwards. It broke every bone in my ankle. There
are three major bones, and I broke all of them. I had to have 9
screws and a metal plate inserted into me, and I was in a cast for
quite some time. Unfortunately, I still do have problems, but I can
walk and do what I need to do.
Marisa: How did you get started in
music? Did you come from a musical family? What were your biggest
musical influences?
Skid Row: I'm the youngest of five
boys. In that household, there was an unbelievable amount of music
being played everyday, from R and B, soul, pop, surf music,
beginnings of heavy metal, Elvis, Beach Boys, Otis Redding, first
Black Sabbath album, Jimmy Hendrix, the Doors, Janis Joplin... As a
child at five-years-old, I always loved music; it affected me in such
a beautiful way, influence number one. As I got older, I indulged
myself in music 24/7, and I discovered other bands. At 13, I went to
see KISS at Madison Square Garden and came home a changed boy. It
took me a while to figure it out, but I knew I wanted to perform
music. Nobody else in my family had been a performer, or musician,
or anything like that. It was out of the blue, but it was the best
decision I ever made. After that, I grew up in a town with Jon Bon
Jovi; he and I were best friends. He was a mentor and still is to a
certain degree. Having that influence as well, music surrounded me
and engulfed me completely.
Marisa: What instruments do you play,
and how old were you when you learned to play them?
Skid Row: I like to play guitar. I
figured it out that I'm the worst bass player in the history of life.
That's just the way life is sometimes. I'm just a guitar player. I
don't pretend or play keyboards; at least, nothing substantial. I
don't sing very well, so that's it. I started at 14 and a half with
a cheap acoustic guitar my brother attempted to play and threw in a
corner with no desire, but I picked it up and started playing.
Marisa: What's the coolest thing about
your latest project?
Skid Row: The coolest thing, number
one, is that we are going about it in a different way. We will be
releasing three EPs over the course of 12 months, nailing it back to
five or six songs. It doesn't get old quick with an audience. Well,
it still might, but we really wanted to have more content in a
quicker fashion. We will never write 12 to 14 songs every six
months; over saturation is problematic. Five to seven songs, three
times, fans have music over the course of the next year. When you go
on tour, you have to have intentions. We have 20 seconds to get
someone's attention, and once it's gone, you're done; you've lost
them. Release it. People have it in their minds for four to six
months. Move on. It's an exciting process. Writing these songs has
been a blast. There's no pressure to write 14 songs, attempt a tour,
and if the record flops, you gotta come up with 14 more and another
tour. This is more conducive way to create quality music and tour
without killing ourselves and being redundant.
Marisa: What is the scariest thing
about being on the road?
Skid Row: I've had plenty of stitches
and broken bones, so I'm not scared of that. The scariest thing is
nobody shows up to one of your shows.
Marisa: What do you consider to be
your career highs and lows?
Skid Row: Career high: our second
record debuted at number one. All records are a labor of love, but
Slave to the Grind was really. So much of everything I had
went into that record. There were so many sacrifices made by
everyone in the band to make that record, and to see that all pay off
as number one was something else. I've been to so many shows,
touring with KISS was a dream come true. For me, the bottom was
shortly after the KISS tour, around 2001 to 2002. I had an
illnesses. What I was going through was different. It was a
difficult time physically, mentally and emotionally. For a while, I
couldn't play guitar for a year or so. That was the low point;
you're in such a space that you want to drink yourself to sleep.
When the one thing you always relied on, when you can't do that any
more, and luckily, I could rehab back, but that's a huge bite out of
your soul.
Marisa: What's your favorite way to
travel and why?
Skid Row: I do like flying. Everyone
has their issues, one way or another, with fear, but I love flying.
It's fast, but I love taking the train, too. Where I live, I'll take
the train from Long Island to Manhattan, and I love it, so...
Marisa: What's your favorite place to
travel to, and is there anywhere you have not been to that you would
like to go to?
Skid Row: My favorite place... I have
so many favorites, but New York, traveling back home. I love Tokyo,
Prague, London, Brussels, South America, Costa Rica, Hawaii, Chicago,
the Midwest, but I'd say it's coming home to New York. There is one
place I've never been. I've never been to Alaska. I find it so
amazing, because we've been to Iceland, but not Alaska. I would love
to add that to a tour.
Marisa: What's your biggest musical
fantasy?
Skid Row: To sit in a room and get
guitar lessons from Randy Rhodes.
Marisa: If you were an unicorn, and
you could be any color but white, what color would you be and why?
Would you have any special powers?
Skid Row: I would be black and red.
My body would be black, and my horn would be red. My horn could
dispense beer upon the masses. On the ground, my horn would be like
a tap, where you could pull it, and beer would come out for all my
friends. I would be able to fly from pub to pub, from town to town,
to dispense my own beer to my friends and family.
Marisa: If you were yogurt, would you
be mixed fruit, fruit on the bottom, what flavor and why?
Skid Row: I would be a fusion of
vodka. Greek yogurt with vodka and moonshine soaked blueberries.
Marisa: Closing thoughts and
additional comments?
Skid Row: We will tour the world like
the crazy idiots we've always been. We've always been thankful for
the support. It has always been humbling and means the world to us.
The author of 100 books, Marisa
Williams earned her Master's in Writing from the Johns Hopkins
University; for more on Marisa, visit www.lulu.com/spotlight/thorisaz, www.facebook.com/booksnbling,
www.twitter.com/booksnbling, and www.wix.com/thorisaz/photography.
