Sebastian Bach/The Butlers
June 10, 2018
Bottom of the Hill, SF, CA
Jello Biafra’s 60th Birthday Bash
June 17, 2018
Great American Music Hall, SF, CA
By Dan Wall
On consecutive Sundays in June, two legendary lead vocalists came to San Francisco to present their most recent shows. One, a heavy metal singer with a big voice and an even bigger ego played a club so small that the artists’ tour bus shadowed the tiny venue. The other played a club sized more for his talents and draw, even though it was his birthday.
Vocalist number one is Sebastian Bach, the former Skid Row singer and a legendary personality in the rock world. He has been touring around the country this summer playing a greatest hit set; unfortunately, in SF, he left out two of his biggest hits and played for only 55 minutes. This, according to reports backstage (not confirmed) that he was pissed off at the tiny club he was playing in.
Does this really shock you, whether it is confirmed or not? Bach has always been one of the biggest divas in rock, and even I was surprised he was playing the tiny Bottom of the Hill (a great club, but small). After nearly getting blown off the stage by opening act The Butlers, Bach came out with three straight BALLADS-yes, ballads. A cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing,” followed by “Breaking Down” and “18 and Life,” is not exactly how a big, ballsy rock singer opens a show (he usually does a much different set than this one). The set resumed with various Skid Row songs, solo numbers, a few unknown tunes and then “Monkey Business” and “Youth Gone Wild,” all dealt out capably by his backing trio of metalheads.
As we awaited the encore, and knowing “I Remember You” and “Slave to the Grind” hadn’t been played, we got-NOTHING! No encore, no “I Remember You,” nothing. Is this how a middle-aged rock star who can’t get back with his original band treats a crowd that’s come out on a Sunday night to see him, no matter where the gig is played? Somewhere, Rachel Bolan, the current bassist for Skid Row and the chief cock blocker where all things Bach is concerned, is snickering “I told you so.”
Ah, The Butlers. What a group this is. A quintet of Bay Area musicians featuring guitarists and all-around great guys Billy Rowe (ex-Jetboy) and Craig Behhorst (ex-Ruffians) up front, alongside vocalist Graham and bassist Michael Butler (ex-Exodus, Jetboy). The drummer is Andy Galeon from Death Angel, if we are still verifying pedigree. A cover band, yes, but one of the best I’ve ever seen. How many bands play Def Leppard’s “Lady Strange” instead of “Pour Some Sugar On Me”? Or “Let It Go”? How about spot on versions of “Doctor Doctor” and “Fox on the Run”? Nobody doing covers as a living does it this well, and I can’t wait to see these guys open for L.A. Guns in August.
The following Sunday, it was off to the Great American Music Hall (near the Mitchell Brothers theater for all the perverts out there) to see Jello Biafra celebrate his 60th birthday. For the uneducated, Biafra was the lead vocalist/songwriter/protagonist for Bay Area punk legends Dead Kennedys.
The venue was perfect for Jello, who was performing here with his band, The Guantanamo School of Medicine (you will have to ask Mr. Biafra about that name). A sold-out crowd greeted the punk king, awaiting a few guests and surprises at this birthday celebration, but alas, hardly a surprise was to be found.
Biafra was his jovial self, knocking off fast-paced punk material with his strange, quivering voice guiding most of the mayhem. For most of the 80-minute set, the band played obscure Biafra solo stuff and songs from the GSOM. Occasionally, and for most of the encore, the quintet pulled out some Dead Kennedy classics that had the place in an uproar.
And that’s how it went, a bunch of obscure stuff, and then “California Uber Alles,” and the place went nuts. A few more punk rockers, and then “Police Truck.” I’m sure you get the picture, and I have no problem telling you that the solo and band stuff is not nearly as good as the DK classics played.
For the Tipper Gore haters in the crowd (Biafra once had it out with Al’s wife on Oprah), the encore included “Holiday in Cambodia,” “Too Drunk to Fuck” and “Nazi Punks Fuck Off.” Those songs are legendary in punk circles, but probably explains why the DK’s never got much bigger than playing venues this sized.
There was no big deal about his birthday, aside from the customary cake and singalong to “Happy Birthday.” And no, none of the DK’s showed, and its not hard to believe since the band and Biafra hardly agree on anything and have been in court many, many times about song rights and back royalty payments.
The verdict: Biafra in a unanimous decision. He stuck to the plot, and even though he didn’t play every DK classic, he played a bunch of the right ones and the songs sounded great. By not doing “I Remember You,” Bach had pretty much lost the decision before the second round even started.
