US Hard Rock band in June 2023 in Aschaffenburg and Hamburg. Support shows for KISS in Mannheim and Cologne. Tickets for headline shows go on sale from Friday 28 April 2023.After the US hard rockers SKID ROW were confirmed as support for the final KISS shows in Mannheim and Cologne on July 1st and 2nd, 2023, the band from New Jersey announces two more concerts as headliners after the successful tour in November 2022 on: SKID ROW will perform on June 14, 2023 in Aschaffenburg (Colos-Saal) and on June 19, 2023 in Hamburg (Gruenspan). The quintet’s current Top 15 album, ‘The Gang’s All Here’, is still available in stores.
Their self-titled debut from 1989 is considered one of the great genre classics with hits like ‘18 And Life’, ‘Youth Gone Wild’ and ‘I Remember You’ and six times platinum in the USA. With her second album ‘Slave To The Grind’, SKID ROW became the first Metal band in US chart history to go straight to number 1 on the Billboard charts. After the departure of the original singer Sebastian Bach at the end of the nineties, they tried several front men, but they never sounded as authentic as on their current work ‘The Gang’s All Here’ (earmusic/Edel), which reached number 15 in October 2022. They owe that not only to excellent songwriting, but also to the new man on the microphone: Erik Grönwall is the name of the fifth officially documented SKID ROW singer. The Swede was two years old when the New Jersey band released their debut. Hard Rock fans know Grönwall from the Swedish group H.E.A.T. (2010 to 2020).
Entering the band of his role models has a beautiful, almost impossible history: As the winner of the Swedish talent show “Idol”, he had the jury in 2009 with his version enthusiastic about ‘18 And Life’. Because this band around the founding members Dave “Snake” Sabo (g), Scotti Hill (g) and bassist Rachel Bolan created something so powerful and timeless at the end of the eighties that they on the other side carried this young Swedish singer away years later. “You’re young, a little crazy - fist in the air and fuck yeah - that kind of feeling”, recalls Erik Grönwall. “SKID ROW are ‘the youth gone wild’ and I wanted the same thing. I wanted that lifestyle.” Now he’s living it, because since 2020 Grönwall is the new SKID ROW singer and the new, sixth album ‘The Gang’s All Here’ is the catalyst of an attitude that has been blazing since the band was founded in 1986. Producer Nick Raskulinecz kindled it a creative fire, leading the band to construct good ideas and rebuild them into something even better, something timeless, he became the arbiter of their legacy, allowing the band to trust their instincts and be the same boisterous kids, who created their first two albums.
Raskulinecz encouraged SKID ROW not to be afraid to add signature touches that define their classic songs. The band should sound like it sounds. In doing so, he followed the same philosophy as producer Michael Wagener many years ago. “Nick is very aware of the past and respects it,” says guitarist Snake. “But it’s more about the essence and soul of why we started this thing in the first place. He said, everything from 1985, when I met Rachel, to 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee, is SKID ROW and he was there to remind us.” The album production really felt like it was when the gang meticulously crafted songs in a garage in New Jersey. “It’s so much fun to be able to let it all out in a room,” says guitarist Scotti Hill. “It felt like back then, like we were back in our garage, like we were in the old days. The only difference is that we now have air conditioning and no longer have to breathe the fumes from kerosene stoves.” Drummer Rob Hammersmith (since 2010) knows the feeling. “The way we spent eight to 10 hours a day trying out ideas and playing things made us feel like we were a kid playing in the garage with his friends again,” he says “This album is really a group effort and I really enjoyed how close this whole experience was with the guys.”
This creative closeness meant that new songs were spontaneously written during rehearsals. As soon as someone played new riffs, songs like ‘World On Fire’ and ‘Not Dead Yet’ were born on the spot. “It was really a first,” says bassist Rachel Bolan. “When everyone contributes from the beginning, you can really work instinctively.” There will always be uncompromising expectations of how SKID ROW should sound. Erik Grönwall expects harsh comparisons to other singers in the band’s history. But the fact that people care so much about it is a good thing, he thinks. “That speaks for the size of the band. When people care that much, it means the band is relevant.” “A lot of people have been on this journey with us,” says Snake. “But even though we’re all older - and a little wiser - our essence is still there.” You won’t be disappointed. ‘The Gang’s All Here’ is a revival of everything you ever loved about Skid Row. Snake calls it a rebirth. “There’s a newfound energy and passion - and excitement - because we’ve been challenged. When challenged, we rise to the challenge! There is still so much in us that needs to be told. Recording this album showed me that our tank is far from empty.”
‘The Gang’s All Here’ - you, the band and the attitude to be forever wild and young at heart. The album will relive everything you felt when you first heard this band.
Dates
14 June 2023 – Aschaffenburg, Colos-Saal
19 June 2023 – Hamburg, Gruenspan
Tickets: https://tidd.ly/3L0EGqw
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