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Calling all S.M.F.s to Come Out and Play

Do you dig live CDs? Do you enjoy cranking up live DVDs? How about getting a double whammy that includes a CD and a DVD so you can jam to one while driving down the freeway and the other for blowing up your home entertainment system? Twisted Sister has reunited with all five original members and they are coming at you Live at the Astoria out of London, the place that gave the original S.M.F.s their loud, raucous, metallic start as the modern world knows it!

Dee Snider and troupe weren’t having any luck in the US back in the early ‘80s, so they took the show over to England. What a difference that made as they came out with “You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll” (which would later have the beginning ripped off by The Beastie Boys - don’t believe me, play TS next to “Fight For Your Right.”). The band that looked like the motorcycle gang from Road Warrior dressed in drag were a phenomenon, following in the footsteps of Alice Cooper & KISS while joining bands like W.A.S.P. & Motley Crüe during the Metal Invasion of the ‘80s.

The last time the original band played London was somewhere around 1990, about the time that Grunge reared it’s ugly face and ruined Metal and guitar solos. But now the band has returned with a CD & DVD that contain the same song list. The only difference being that the CD doesn’t have some of the extra Snider chatter on it to save some disc space. That being said, the DVD has no Extras, not even an interview or two, which is some DVD disc space that could’ve been utilized.

Maybe the band was following suit with their performances. TS has always put on a loud, aggressive show that was angry (watch how bassist Mark ”The Animal” Mendoza smacks, not slaps, his bass and destroys a couple of mic stands in the process), filled with “F” bombs and always threatening to start a riot, yet it was always done with fun and TS made sure you had fun at one of their concerts. Yet, for a band that took fashion lessons from The New York Dolls, they never capitalized on stage imagery. Their stages have always been extremely sparse. Maybe they don’t want to take away from the energy of the performance.

There are a lot of favorites on Live at the Astoria: “The Kids Are Back,” “Under the Blade,” “Burn in Hell,” “Ride to Live,” “You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll,” the anthemic “The Price,” “I Am, I’m Me” and, of course, “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock.” There are a couple of more songs (16 in all), but this should give you a good idea. The band may have all gained weight but they sound like they did 20+ years ago.

They encore with “Come Out and Play,” and finish up with “S.M.F.” for one hot, sweaty and rockin’ performance to a fully packed house. The sound isn’t the best that it could be, but it’s still got really decent quality. I think if you wanna rock, you’ll be happy with Dee, Jay Jay, Eddie, A.J. & The Animal banging away at your speakers.

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