Skid Row
Mean Fiddler
19 November 2003

Wednesday saw Skid Row's triumphant return to London. The new boy on lead vocals complete with cowboy hat, had his task set out for him. Neither he nor the band disappointed the standing room only audience at the Mean Fiddler. The fact there was no Seb Bach around didnít seem to matter to all those in attendance. While many in the place didnít have the new album Thickskin, that didnít mean that they were bored during the new stuff, as is so often the case. I think I am not far off to believe that there will be a nice little blip in the album sales this week. Their performance was first class and only had a few bumps. The punk number played by the band without Johnny bombed, as did the new version of 'Remember Yesterdays'. The band blew through all the classics: '18 and Life', 'Slave to the Grind', and, of course, the awesome final number; 'Youth Gone Wild'. As far as I can tell, Solinger has a better range than Bach. He was able to handle the screachers, the harder stuff, and the ballads with equal aplomb.The new ones that went down the best were the second track, 'Ghost', and 'New Generation', while the title track didn't impress as much. Overall, it was a bloody good gig with the band living up to their reputation. It leaves me only to say that I am sure hard-rockers in London canít wait for Skid Row's next visit. While the crowd may not exactly be "youth" these days, there is surely nothing wrong with '30-somethings going wild'.

Rating: 5