Eddie’s guest on his lastest podcast was Skid Row guitarist Dave “The Snake” Sabo.
When asked if he ever gets “tweaked” because he is constantly asked questions about a possible reunion with the band’s former lead singer Sebastian Bach, Sabo responded (as posted by blabbermouth.net:
“I don’t get tweaked about it per se, because I realize how fortunate I am. We’re going to Europe in October, November and December, so I’ve been doing a bunch of press for the UK. And I get asked it in nearly every interview. And my whole thing is that I’m proud of the complete 28 years of the band — the ups, the downs, the fights, the love… everything; I’m proud of it all.”
He continued, “The thing is that I understand that the majority of people that ask that question have an attachment to our band at that particular time and those songs have a specific importance to them; it brings them back to a time that was very special to them, and I am humbled by that. I am humbled and I’m thankful, and I have nothing but gratitude for that. So I’ll answer those questions, because I get it. I understand what it’s like for me to hear [Van Halen’s] Somebody Get Me A Doctor, and I could always revert to, ‘Oh my Gosh’ — before Dave [Lee Roth] came back into Van Halen — I could always sit there and go in my mind’s eye, ‘Oh gosh, I want that back again.'”
Sabo added, “You can’t recapture the past — I don’t believe that you can do that — you can only hope to improve upon it. We had a great moment for a bunch of years with Sebastian and Rob [Affuso, former Skid Row drummer] and Scotti [Hill, guitar] and Rachel [Bolan, bass] and myself, and I’m proud of it — I’m really proud of it. And I’ve always said this, I wish no ill will upon anybody. I want everybody to be successful, man — I want Rob to be successful, I want Bas to be successful, I want Scotti, Rachel and myself, all of it, I want everybody to be successful — because this is a hard business, man, and people have families they need to take care of, and we make music for a living, and it’s such a wonderful gift to be able to do that. So, that being said, I’m also extremely, extremely proud of where we are right now.
“There’s so many haters out there and we get hit all the time. And we get busted about, ‘Oh, yeah, how does it feel to be playing here?’ Well, you know what?! It feels great to be playing wherever I’m playing, because I get to perform in front of people, and people who are in the audience have given me the gift of being able to play music for a living. And that doesn’t resonate any more than it ever has than right now. For me, every night before I go on stage, I’m reminded of the fact, and I remind myself of the fact that, you know what?! ‘You get to play music for a living, dude. You are lucky.’ And it’s the truth.”
To listen to Eddie’s entire podcast with Dave Sabo, please click here.
Skid Row released their second EP in a series of three entitled, Rise of the Damnation Army — United World Rebellion: Chapter Two, on August 5th. Watch a lyric video for song We Are The Damned, here.
additional source: blabbermouth.net
42 Responses
Snake is awesome.
One of the best interviews I’ve read in awhile …
Listen to the podcast, thanks
There’s nothing wrong with playing Shecky’s Clam Hut. Joking aside, they were pretty awesome back in the day. The opening scream to Monkey Business still frightens me a little.
‘You get to play music for a living, dude. You are lucky.’
bottom line TRUTH, baby!
Who cares about SKID ROW anymore? I’m sure the Gary Moore version was way better. Maybe 10 years ago a reunion may have been interesting but not any longer. Sebastion plays to 90 people and SKID ROW can play to 15. Everyone held out and now there is no relevance left. Best case scenario, Sabastion signs on for a summer tour then maybe they could sell out B.B. Kings. It is over for so many of these guys but they continue to have egos. Stephen Pearcy? Dave Sabo? Jani Lane-less WARRANT. Hit the road Jacks and don’t you come back no more. GUNS N ROSES with AXL and SLASH is about the only interesting reunion in this genre nowadays with a hint of interest should Mustaine rejoin METALLICA.
Many of the bands you mention do indeed struggle and some also do well and make a living still from playing in a band, which realistically is fine for them now. As for Mustaine rejoining Metallica, outside of the hardcore fans it would not mean anything because unless you are a massive metal head 90% of their fan base don’t care or don’t know he was in the band. Hammett being gone would be a much bigger loss than anyone coming in. Metallica is a global arena/stadium act, they are just fine as is..
What I should have said is that Mustaine rejoining METALLICA would be historically significant in that MUSTAINE and METALLICA would both be coming full circle. As far as Don Dokken, Geoff Tate and Tom Keifer go, I can no longer imagine a market for them or their old bands unless they get back together. In the next 3 to 5 years tops, it is going to be impossible for any of these guys to find work anywhere. The small arenas are ghost towns these days and the casinos are closing down all over. The market is tightening and only the strongest ( METALLICA, MAIDEN, BON JOVI and not many others ) will survive. BLACK SABBATH, solo OZZY, AC/DC, JUDAS PRIEST, KISS, and THE SCORPIONS are all headed towards the finish line. Hey Eddie Van Halen, get well real soon.
I saw BAD COMPANY last summer and they were very good. Doubt Ace with do KISS songs from albums he wasn’t on nor would the purse be large enough to split with those 3 that you mentioned. This MILKMONEY is rather depressing but he may be right or I may be crazy……You know BILLY JOEL is mixing AC/DC songs into his sets making it even harder for metal acts to compete.
Danko Jones….good call. One of the bigger unknowns from Canada who do nothing but kick a$$ on every single track.
Hey, while you’re at it, Paul Di’anno should rejoin Iron Maiden as well.
Oh God no!
Better off and more likely Blaze than Di’Anno. If MAIDEN split with Bruce it would be similar to what MILKY is saying about Dokken, Tate etc. Di’Anno has been performing the first 2 MAIDEN albums for 35 years now. Imagine that? I’ll bet he has sang RUNNING FREE more times than any other singer has sang any other song. I’d bet 10,000 times. Di’Anno has toured extensively untill recently. He has some good solo stuff, better than Bruce or Blaze but his audience wants MAIDEN of course. If there is a farewell tour someday, they might include Paul and why not? He was great, but Bruce is argueably the best ever.
This is the sad reality for a lot of the 80’s bands. If you weren’t a mega-seller like Motley or Bon Jovi, and your front man is gone, or you keep switching band members, then the reality is that you are slogging through tiny venues like you did when you first started. People make music because they love it, but I’m sure paying the bills AND having something left over is important to not just 80’s bands, but all of them.
I saw Skid Row a few years ago. Honestly, if the tickets weren’t given to me, I had no intention of going. I don’t understand Skid Row without Bach. They played well, but it didn’t make me want to buy their CD or see them again.
Ratt without Pearcy, Queensryche without Tate, the list goes on. These guys are playing to the last scraps of 80’s and early 90’s music fans and milking it for everything it’s worth. None of these bands had the staying power of a VH or Motley. Honestly, country is where a lot of those fans went. I don’t like country music, but as a musician, that’s where I’d go if I had too.
I completely agree with you, it’s a tough business when you get older.