Twisted Sister/Hanoi Rocks Live @ Carling Academy, Glasgow (UK) - 5th June 2006

This is one show I had been watching draw nearer for a long time, in fact it seemed like an eternity since I had bought my ticket. Admitedly I only bought the ticket when I heard that Hanoi were the support act for Twisted Sister. Although I am a Sister fan, I’ve liked Hanoi Rocks since I can remember and only ever seen them once previously so this was one of the few times I was going to a gig mainly to see the support act.

Hanoi Rocks did not disappoint, Mike Monroe pranced around the stage like he owned every square inch of it and left it on many occasions for a jaunt into the crowd, along the front row or to climb the PA stack at the side of the stage and sing a few bars from on high.

There was a mixture of new songs such as A Day Late, A Dollar Short and the classic Hanoi anthems such as Tragedy, Malibu Beach, High School, I Can’t Get It and Don’t You Ever Leave Me. I thought Andy McCoy was having a bit of an off day, his neatness during solos was not to his usual standard whereas ex Electric Boys/SilverGinger 5 guitarist Connie Bloom gave him a few guitar lessons and proved he still knows his way up and down the fretboard.

By the end of their set, the crowd had really risen to the melody of songs that Hanoi pumped out leaving a very satisfied sea of applause with the finale song Up Around the Bend.

Twisted Sister certainly kept the crowd waiting but once the smoke filled the stage and the lights went down, there was no doubt about who was the star attraction on the night.

The unmistakable outline of Dee Snider emerged from the smoke during the pounding intro to You Can’t Stop Rock N Roll and from there on in it was metal mayhem for the next hour during which time Twisted Sister churned out all of their classic head banging classics such as We’re Not Gonna Take It, I Wanna Rock and the Price.

I came to see Hanoi Rocks but I was taught a lesson, Twisted Sister were the real pro’s on the night. Sure they had the full PA, stage and light show but they had that extra cutting edge and I can honestly say that really are head and shoulders above a lot of the reformed 80s and 90s bands that I have seen perform recently. In fact Dee was keen to point out to the Glasgow audience, this was the original Twisted Sister line-up so that made them quite unique compared to some of the other bands touring under well known names, take note Axl Rose.

The band finished with I Am (I’m Me) and the audience were suitable happy and impressed. Dee Snider is a real frontman, he commands the audience, he tells a good rock story and he still has the vocal range that others have lost. Just one question, can anyone tell me what he kept nipping behind the amps for? And no Hud, it wasn’t for ice cream!!

This is one of only three dates that Twisted Sister are playing having cut short their UK tour in order that they can return to the States to record a new album. I left feeling that I had added a missing one of my ‘must see’ bands to my repertoire – all in all, a great night, and two great bands that took me back to nostalgia central – 9/10.

by Grant W.

If anybody has any photos from the UK Twisted Sister/Hanoi Rocks Tour and would like to see them in this column, drop me a line @ EMAIL

Visit the Twisted Sister Website

Visit the Hanoi Rocks Website