I admit I am not a rabid Twisted Sister fan, but I like them. I met Dee Snyder at DragonCon in Atlanta when he had just released his movie Strangeland, and was amazed by how nice he was. I love to hear him talk. But what really made me want to review Twisted Sister's From the Bars to the Stars was the inclusion of A Twisted X-Mas Live in Las Vegas.
The Christmas special here took place in 2009. The guys come out (all five original members) and my, how they've changed over the years. Since their 80s big hair and makeup days, the first four onstage now resemble middle-aged bikers, beefed up and makeup-free. But then Snyder arrives, dressed as the weirdest Santa you ever saw in full makeup and with the trademark wild hair. Once he sheds the Santa suit for his usual stage clothes, he still looks like, as the European press dubbed him, "Sarah Jessica Parker dipped in acid," the most demented clown you ever saw. But he's still a hoot to listen to. Explaining how they came to make a Christmas CD, he says,"best selling album since the 80s. Go figure...they said we'd ruin our careers. WHAT careers?!"
From there, the show is what you would expect: A little outrageous, but not all that much. It's not kid-friendly, of course, especially not TS's version of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." There's a rather too-long visit from Satan Claus. But overall, it's entertaining, and I enjoyed the metal Christmas music and a dip back into some Twisted Sister classics. Besides, who else who follow an extremely unusual rendition of "O Come All Ye Faithful" (with intact lyrics) with "Burn in Hell"?
The band is performing their holiday extravaganza twice in 2011 in New York, by the way, on December 2nd at the Paramount Theater in Huntington and December 17th at the Best Buy Theater in New York City, so if you're near there, you can compare it to the Vegas '09 show.
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