Concert Review: Twisted Sister and Tesla Rock The Big E in Springfield, Massachusetts

1 hour ago

4 min read

Big news this year was the announcement that Twisted Sister would return to the stage with Sebastian Bach on vocals. I give Dee Snider a lot of credit for not coming out knowing that he said he couldn't give 100% and that wouldn't be fair to the fans. Well, he just doesn't want to do what many others have done: play live as a shell of his former self! By far Dee is one of the most intense frontmen ever. I've seen him live many times, and honestly, no one could match his intensity. Sebastian definitely has the intensity to be close. As a lifelong Twisted Sister fan, the set list is amazing. Besides seeing Twisted Sister in the 80s (I covered and photographed them in 1987), I've also seen Dee Snider perform solo as SMF (playing all the early material), with Bent Brother and again as Twisted Sister—one of the greatest bands for a short period of time.

This tour began on August 28th and runs through December 11th, totaling 12 shows. These shows have been scattered around the US and Alaska with 5 previous dates and 6 more upcoming dates scheduled. They've played a lot of state fairs including this show at the Big E in Springfield, Massachusetts. As one of the largest fairs in the US, this event represents six New England states making it the largest fair on the East Coast. For this show the weather couldn't have been better. Since it was a Friday, the fair was packed, I only saw a little bit of it before making my way to the main stage located near the back of the fair. Outdoor shows in the Northeast could have had terrible cold weather but for this one, temperatures remained in the upper 60's; it easily could have been in the 40's. The venue has a fairly large stage with floor seating and some grandstands around the back; I'd estimate the crowd to be around 5000. Different opening acts have been used during this tour and for this show, Tesla was the opening act.

On to Tesla: they have been a long running act beginning in Sacramento, California, in late 1981 playing club shows and so forth as City Kidd. They changed their name to Tesla and released their first album "Mechanical Resonance," in 1986, "The Great Radio Controversy" in 1989 and the live acoustic album "Five Man Acoustical Jam" in 1990. These three albums led to the band's great commercial success, helping them sell over 14 million albums in the United States alone. In total, they've released 9 albums including their recent release "Homage" in 2026. In recent years, the band has been playing out a lot, headlining, co-headlining, and opening for many of the summer amphitheater shows relying on their extensive hits. Their music is still in regular rotation among many of the radio stations and hair nation on satellite radio. They played a crowd pleasing 12 song set filled with all of their biggest hits. The band has mostly remained intact with original members: Frank Hannon on guitar (1981 to present) and Brian Wheat on bass (1981 to present), Vocalist Jeff Keith has been in the band since 1984, guitarist Dave Rude joined in 2006, and Steve Brown on drums since 2021.

The lights go down, the recording of "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" comes on and the excitement begins! They opened with a great, often-used opener, "What You Don't Know (Sure Can Hurt You)," followed by the song that broke them and one of the coolest videos and greatest metal anthems, "You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll," then onto "Shoot 'Em Down". The classics kept coming with "Tear It Loose," followed by a three-song segment of some of my all-time favorites: "The Kids Are Back," "Like a Knife in the Back" and "Ride to Live, Live to Ride". I personally would have loved to see them play the 1st two albums in their entirety, but what a great start! They finished their set with material from later albums "The Beast" and "The Price," followed by the Skid Row song, "I Remember You," featuring guitar help from Dave Rude while Jay Jay played the acoustic guitar. Onto the final three songs: "I Wanna Rock", "Youth Gone Wild" by Skid Row and ending with Twisted Sister's biggest hit "We're Not Gonna Take It"! Unfortunately, due to the venue's curfew, they had to cut "Under the Blade" from the set. Personally, I wish Tesla had played one less song so Twisted Sister could have played this one.

Great show, Twisted Sister sounded great, the crowd loved them, I loved them, and the band was having a great time. You could just tell they were loving their time up on stage. Sebastian Bach did a great job and fit in well, he spoke to the crowd often, dedicating songs to Dee and fallen musicians. I would have wished that Dee was there, of course but he's not and they definitely made the most of the situation. Twisted Sister is original members Jay Jay French on guitar since 1972, Eddie "Fingers" Ojeda on guitar since 1975, Sebastian Bach on vocals, Joey Cassata on drums and Russell Pzutto on bass.

I really hope that they keep going and do this again, maybe next time I'll see a few more of the classics. The first show in New Jersey at the Starland Ballroom also included "Destroyer" and "Burn in Hell". If you have an opportunity to see this show go - I promise you'll enjoy it!