Rock Of Ages: Twisted Sister and Extreme Bring the Devilish Fun (2008)

Arhiv Arhiv Last updated 11 June 2026

Concert date: 14.09.2008
Attendance: 1309
Ticket price: 5000

The Rock of Ages festival, headlined by Twisted Sister and the reunited, back-in-action Extreme, is reason enough on its own for another trip to Italy and its northern capital Milan, a city that never can and never will hide its always richly seasoned concert offering. Add The Quireboys, the Swiss hard rock perfectionists Gotthard, “reunion” number two alongside Extreme, and Washington’s Angel as the link between glam and old-school rock, and the cup runneth over.

Well, so that things wouldn’t be too spotless, Gotthard were the first to spoil the party, cancelling their set over “technical reasons”. Sadly, the same happened to the even hotter name on the bill, Angel. Going by the rumors that they’re only getting together for their first US show (after more than 20 years), and only next year at that, you could suspect the organizer went a bit too populist with the whole thing, but for the price of 57.50€, fair enough. By Extreme and 19.30, the PalaSharp hall, the former Mazda Palace in the Milan district called Lampugnano, had filled up nicely and surely counted 5000 attendees, if not more, which is great news for a genre of music that’s practically extinct, the kind we’d come to hear.

Since two bands were cancelled, things kicked off two and a half hours later, and the organizer dropped the price from a hefty 57.50€ to 50.00€, which maybe, just maybe, consoled those of us who nearly cried over the absence of Gotthard and Angel. A sort of band-aid on the wound was former Guns ‘N Roses horseman Duff McKagan with his Loaded, who, to be honest, wasn’t on the “line up” even in our wildest dreams this time.

PINO SCOTTO: 15.30 – 16.00:
The festival, stacked like this, was opened by Milan local and singer Pino Scotto, known for his work in metal outfits from our western neighbor such as Vanadium and Fire Trace. The guy has been musically active since around the mid-eighties and, of course, showcased the highlights of his career. The crowd down front knew their national hero all too well. Even in the atmosphere of a still-empty hall, the band managed to gather some 400 curious souls right below the stage, who followed the action more actively. Scotto almost deafened me with a wobbly, uneven tuning, a practically inaudible bass line, and a guitar that was far too loud and screechy. You can tell the guy is a fan of the good old school, with Purple at the head of the class. Pretty generic sounds, not their own, were coming from the stage. Pino can scream extremely high with his otherwise cracked, throaty vocals. The very sharp sound didn’t suit the guitar playing at all, which kept trying, especially in the solos, to fill the big shoes of the giant Richie Blackmore, and that took away a fair share of the seriousness of the performance. In short, with the vocals way too loud in the mix, he nearly blew me away from my spot below the stage, and in fact he did. I went out for some fresh air, until…

PINO SCOTTO set list:
1. On Fire
2. Get Up Shake Up
3. Fighter
4. Spaces And Sleeping Stones
5. Silent Heroes
6. Il Grido
7. Streets Of Danger
8. Run To Fast
9. Too Young To Die

THE QUIREBOYS: 16.30 – 17.30
…The Quireboys took the stage. The band currently lines up as Spike (vocals), Guy Griffin (guitar), Paul Guerin (guitar), Jimi Jimmi (bass), Keith Weir (keyboards) and Pip Mailing (drums). A completely different story. The guys put on a great show, built on a repertoire of excellent songs that belong at exactly this kind of spectacle. Spike soon won the crowd over, and even though plenty, way too many, people were still “chasing away boredom” with other “mandatory” chores, the stage was bubbling with genuine energy from the sextet. They built the set list around their debut “A Bit Of What You Fancy” (1990), which earned them tremendous success on release, hitting number two on the UK best-selling albums chart. The guys served up solid hard rock, with noticeable leanings toward blues and the occasional dip into country waters. To the performance they added a decent touch of cheekiness, eroticism and passion, and led the crowd through their hour-long set with unbelievable confidence.

THE QUIREBOYS set list:
1. Don’t Bite The Hand That
2. Misled
3. The Finer Stuff
4. Tramps & Thieves
5. This Is Rock N’ Roll
6. Mona Lisa Smiled
7. Hey You
8. There She Goes Again
9. I Love This Dirty Town
10. Sweet Mary Ann
11. 7 o’ Clock Man
12. I Don’t Love You Anymore
13. Sex Party

DUFF McKAGAN’S LOADED: 17.30 – 18.30
The groundwork would’ve been perfect had Gothard played, because the crowd was really fired up down front for another dose of hard rock. Instead, the stage was taken by former Guns N’ Roses and current Velvet Revolver bassist Duff McKagan with his band Loaded. With a modern-leaning alt-punk sound, they brought a completely different atmosphere to the hall. The first big change was that the hall suddenly filled up drastically. Even though everybody knows Duff, the audience reacted rather limply to the band. You just can’t win over the makeup-wearing metalheads with punk, that’s obvious. True, plenty of hysterical screams came from the front rows, from girls who lost their heads at the sight of Duff’s heroin-chic frame, but that couldn’t shake the generally lukewarm feeling the band left behind thanks to the crowd’s numbness. Even Duff himself realized this at some point and called out to the people: “Don’t be so polite, Milano!”

This time Duff took on the role of guitarist/singer. Vocally, Duff is a remarkably fun singer. Slightly boozy, tuned a touch low, he chases Lou Reed’s elusive tone in his relaxed singing, but the vocals fit Loaded’s music superbly. He can also get very explosive and fierce when there’s more noise to let out. The rowdy but massively rolling, thick sound, built on the riffing of both guitars, was fueled by a tight and ferociously agile rhythm section, which actually dragged the otherwise trivial-looking songs out of their basic boredom. There’s no doubting Duff’s self-confidence. The band mixed up the repertoire from their two studio albums, tucked in some flowers from the upcoming EP Wasted Heart, and whipped up the crowd with the Guns N’ Roses candy So Easy! A fun show, but one that was scripted for some other festival with a more alternative character.

EXTREME: 19.30-21.00
With Extreme, things in the hall took a sudden turn to the level that practically screams for self-creation at events like this. The adrenaline rush built in an instant. A fever all around the hall. Extreme’s first show in Europe in 14 years! With a new album in their pocket, only their fifth overall, “Saudades De Rock” (2008), Extreme drove a crowd of 7000 thousand fired-up headbangers into ecstasy. Duff McKagan’s Loaded had helped the hall fill only slowly, but given the huge buildup of climax before Extreme’s set, it was more than obvious that most people had come for Extreme and Twisted Sister. People couldn’t wait to hear the classics Decadence Dance, Rest In Peace, It (‘s A Monster), Play With Me, More Than Words, Get The Funk Out,…

What dampened the feeling and general enthusiasm a bit was the sound, which was set up very badly. Guitar way too loud, monitors thundering and crackling, and the same went for the vocals… There was a considerable imbalance in the sound throughout the show. And yet the fever of anticipation was so extraordinary that Cherone and the gang didn’t even flinch as the floor literally melted together with the band into one. With his guitar escapades, Bettencourt proved he hadn’t lost a shred of his explosiveness, hellish speed and precision, or, as a musical artist, his highly expressive insight, in the years Extreme were resting. Gary Cherone has kept his voice untouched and in the new millennium comes across as incredibly convincing, hungry for blood and for proving himself, as driven as the most driven teenager. The power, the incredible strength, the command, the stage charisma, the great sense for show theater, he poured into a breathtaking performance that very few hard rock singers on the planet are up to today. Everything worked on an exceptional level.

When one of the drum stands came loose during the show and a roadie selflessly got down on his knees to fix it, Bettencourt hopped on him like a rodeo rider and played a few riffs right on his back. The band showed an incredible looseness through this sense of humor, which also sparkled in their tight playing and extreme drive. Extreme did not forget the “extreme”. Madness! Bettencourt remains an outstanding guitar wizard who literally hypnotizes you with his show and pulls you into his musical world of thrilling, breakneck guitar adventures. A nice dose of erotic dynamite was definitely not excluded, and the new songs were played even faster than on the “Saudades De Rock” original. Especially the cowboy-flavored Take Us Alive. With the new songs the guys did a great job shifting the dynamics of the set. The funky, flirty Comfortably Dumb disarmed everyone with its big rhythm right at the start, and among the new stuff it was Ghost, with Bettencourt on keyboards, that conjured up the best ambient mood. The sound hurt the classic ballad More Than Words most of all, where even in its acoustic garb Bettencourt’s guitar kept screeching loudly and stubbornly over the monitors. The crowd helped fix some of it, as Cherone partly left the singing of the verses entirely to them. Even though they leaned a little on “back up” recordings of vocal harmonies, Bettencourt and Cherone still pair up brilliantly into a richly colorful Extreme duet in the new millennium. As expected, the hall exploded to boiling point in Get The Funk Out. All hands in the air, everywhere as far as the eye could see in Palasharp, which was nostalgically reminiscent of the golden age of hard rock.

This was a “warm-up” show, followed by a European tour. It already has dates confirmed for this fall, so far mostly in the north of Europe, so let’s hope new dates get added, closer to Slovenia. Anyway. Welcome back to the scene, boys. This time there must be no more retreating from the rock ring for Extreme. We missed them on the rock scene for far too long.

EXTREME set list:
1. Comfortably Dumb
2. Decadence Dance
3. Rest In Peace
4. It (‘s a Monster)
5. Star
6. Tell Me Something I Don’t Know
7. Play With Me
8. Midnight Express
9. More Than Words
10. Ghost
11. Cupid’s Dead
12. Take Us Alive
13. Am I Ever Gonna Change
14. Flight of the Wounded Bumble Bee
15. Get The Funk Out

TWISTED SISTER: 21.30 – 23.00
This was their fifth show of the year, with gaps of up to two months between dates, which tells you that catching Twisted Sister on stage in these new times is not exactly a common thing. The glam metallers, who created one of the most important glam metal albums in rock history with “Stay Hungry” (1985), were the attraction that followed. Their first appearance in Europe after the reunion, after a long break of musical inactivity, was already back in 2003, and unlike Extreme’s return it wasn’t all that exciting, but still! What you witness at a Twisted Sister show is always an experience called “A Chapter Of Its Own” or “Mission: Total Disconnect”.

The lights go out, the stage is swallowed by darkness thick with heavy fog, and the sound of the AC/DC classic Sin City breaks through. Adrenaline washes over the crowd, and behind my back it’s buzzing like a beehive. As expected, a goofy punch to the forehead right in the first second of the show! You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll, followed by a greeting with The Kids Are Back, drives the audience totally nuts. Twisted Sister, completely decked out in golden-eighties gear with the glam look and the essence of the hard-hitting metal riff, come across so convincingly that you could describe them with the word “monstrous” or shocking, which they of course love and are proud of, and that’s the whole point. When the point inherited from Alice Cooper or Kiss, the symbiosis of horror-flick play-acting and every kind of tomfoolery, shakes hands without a care in the world! Wigs, makeup, a few wrinkles and belly folds can be spotted, but with his huge charisma Dee is, in the new millennium too, a frontman who belongs to the narrow circle of the greatest stage showmen and grand masters of theater. The whole hall was eating out of his hand. Dee is a born speaker, a born windbag who of course disregards the consequences of his words and fires his shots from every possible angle. When the audience needs to be conquered, he nails them with: “You are the most wonderful audience we have!” and so on…

Twisted Sister delivered excellent sound. Their raw, primordially original way of building a riff was blazing on stage at full power. After Stay Hungry, where the heat in the hall surged for the first time, and after the surprise of the night, the “lost” Captain Howdy, came the first peak. No need to guess. We’re Not Gonna Take It. A song that other bands from abroad love to cover at their own shows. In short, by far the band’s best-known and most notorious song, their Smoke On The Water or Whole Lotta Love. After I’d nearly gone deaf, caught in the middle of an extreme energy flux somewhere in the fourth row below the stage, at the end of the song Dee explains why on earth Twisted Sister play it so early in their shows. Want the answer? Really the only possible excuse in this case, one that lets you dump the responsibility on everyone else. So that if anyone doesn’t like Twisted Sister’s music, they can go home right away and don’t have to wait through the whole show to hear this big hit at the end. And so Dee politely sent all such cases in the hall home, saying: “Get the fuck out of here!”

The years and the white powder have done their dirty work, and you can tell the guys are in awful physical shape for performing. After practically every single song they need a breather, which they fill with long speeches that Dee and J.J. even swap between songs. Just how small and vain the mindset of some US bands can be is shown by, say, the case where the band praises its audience and fans to the heavens in their speeches, yet can’t hand out picks and drumsticks among them in a fair way. That both guitarists were thinking mostly with their lower head during the show was proven by the way they handed out picks in the front rows. Exclusively to the female part of the crowd. For that you have to tug the security guy by the sleeve every time and show him exactly which girl the pick goes to. Buying potential “groupie” girls at full throttle! The girls know how to use that, of course, and I don’t begrudge them, but it’s direct proof of how small and narrow-minded bands like Twisted Sister are in this case, and how hugely inflated all those words are about the “priceless value of the fans who keep the Twisted Sister name alive so that their rock doesn’t die”. Throw your props to the real fans, if you’ve got the guts. It’s also general advice to all such vain types, like J.J. French and Eddie “Fingers” Ojeda in this case, in bands.

Let’s leave the injustice of “feeding” with crumbs aside. A Twisted Sister show is something every fan of solid, uncompromising, white-hot rock magic has to experience, the kind that Dee Snider conjures up above all with a charisma no smaller than that of the biggest leaders like Bruce Dickinson. True, he vanished backstage several times during the show for drinks of dubious origin, but all along he ramped up the energy of the show with incredible confidence, and the crowd was really carrying Twisted Sister high on its wings that night. One of the peaks of the night was of course the arrival of the Extreme members on stage, who joined Twisted Sister on the mics for the final chorus of I Wanna Rock, where the band basically managed to lift the roof off the PalaSharp hall, such was the noise unleashed in unison from the stands and the floor.

It was one of those magical nights when you can still relive that grand arena feeling of the old magic of mass hard rock tours from the golden eighties. Let’s hope Twisted Sister take on some more serious European tour in the future, if they’re not going to record another studio album. It was one of those events where devilish rock energy and love of rock shake hands between audience and band, completely spontaneously, like two inseparable friends who, even if they haven’t met in years, know that at the first reunion they never really parted. Magical, glorious and priceless. Twisted Sister, like Extreme, helped me forget about the absence of Gotthard and Angel too.

TWISTED SISTER set list:
1. You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll
2. The Kids Are Back
3. Stay Hungry
4. Captain Howdy
5. We’re Not Gonna Take It
6. The Fire Still Burns
7. I Am (I’m Me)
8. Under The Blade
9. The Price
10. Ride To Live
11. Burn In Hell
12. Drum Solo
13. I Wanna Rock
14. Come Out And Play
— encore
15. S.M.F. (Sick Mother Fucker)