Live: Dee Snider in Pittsburgh

From his early days of fighting with belligerent drunks that didn’t understand the way he dressed or looked while performing with Twisted Sister, to his wilder days fronting the band through the eighties and even to his larger than life performance while testifying on behalf of all metalheads before the P.M.R.C. (Where he crushed it)- Dee Snider has always fought for what he believed in…Metal! With his new album For The Love Of Metal on Napalm Records and a new tour which recently hit Pittsburgh’s Jergel’s, he’s out to prove he’s got a whole lot of fight still left in him. He’s looking great as well. It’s hard to believe that he is 63 years old cause he jumps around like a twenty something year old. Which just adds to his already hectic set list, face it the man is the consummate performer. He was flawless as he ripped out “You Can’t Stop Rock N Roll,” “The Kids Are Back” and “Under The Blade.” He was larger than life as he prowled the stage, trying to make a connection with all the people he could, to give them a night to remember. There were people there in their sixties and people who were only six and all of them where given a show to remember. It was at this point that he laid one on everybody from the new album and it was ”American Made.” It gave Snider’s touring band a chance to strut their stuff and much to my surprise they blew everyone away. They were all much younger than Dee so their energy was through the roof and they complimented Dee’s performance so well. Then they kicked out an absolutely killer version of Led Zeppelin’s “Heartbreaker.” From there they tore through a fantastic bass heavy version of “Burn In Hell.” Next they played not one, but two smoking hot renditions of “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” It was a slow version played with just piano and Dee’s voice and a regular version that had everyone on their feet singing along loud and proud. Followed by another scorching new one called “Become The Storm.” By now Dee was in the groove. He was telling joke after joke, cracking the crowd up at every turn and he wasn’t done yet, far from it. Next was “The Price” followed up with a long drawn out version, complete with a sing along, rendition of the classic hit “I Wanna Rock.” They closed the show with a very cool cover of AC/DC’s “Highway To Hell.” Dee then said his very thoughtful thank you’s before exiting the stage from a great show. -Eric Hunker