Twisted Sister Preview

Twisted Sister
House Of Blues, Chicago
Thursday, December 7, 2006

By all accounts, A Twisted Christmas (Razor & Tie) was supposed to be Twisted Sister’s swan song. What has happened since the record’s release in October, though, has been as much a surprise to the band as it has everyone else.

When IE spoke with Twisted frontman Dee Snider for the December “Hello, My Name Is” Q&A we were armed with questions like “Why go out with a Christmas record?” and “What will you miss most about Twisted Sister?” because in press Snider had done for *Twisted Christmas* he was saying the record would be the last hurrah for the Long Islanders. Needless to say, we were forced to be much more spontaneous after Dee told us — during the first question — that maybe the plans have changed. You see, Snider, guitarists Eddie Ojeda and Jay Jay French, bassist Mark Mendoza, and drummer A.J. Pero counted on Twisted Christmas, the band’s distorted romp through holiday classics, being a fun way to call it a day; they just didn’t count on it being such a popular one.

According to Snider, the album has shipped more units to major retailers than anything the band have done since the ’80s (their last album of original material, Love Is For Suckers, was released just before they broke up in 1987). It’s an unexpected, er, twist for the group, but then again, their reunion hasn’t exactly followed the usual template. As far as hair metal reunions go, one would think the demand for Twisted Sister would be slightly more than Trickster. Or maybe Kix. But damnit if people don’t still want to see ugly men dress up like even uglier women, and much of the success can be directly attributed to the band, who have taken a conservative-but-crafy approach to “the reunion.” Unlike mega ’80s hitmakers Mötley Crüe, who have driven their comeback face first into the ground by taking the same show to the same cities for two years now, Twisted Sister pick and choose their appearances. Since originally reforming in 2001 for a 9/11 benefit the group have played roughly 20 gigs a year and concentrated the touring mostly overseas, where they still draw tens of thousands of people. If you do the math that means American fans get about five chances a year to see the band live. Haven’t the Crüe have played Chicagoland that many times this year alone? Because of this gameplan Twisted Sister have avoided what so many of their ’80s peers haven’t: becoming suburban-sports-bar mainstays. Who woulda thought?

Rev Luv open.

— Trevor Fisher

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly