Twisted Sister performed on June 24th at Amnesia Rockfest 2016 in Montebello, Quebec. The band’s official website has been updated with an Armadillo Road Report from Tour/Production Assistant Terry Sapp, detailing their experience. An excerpt follows:

“Given the intensive labor involved in working crew, I truly thought that I would never again be able to bring you a full road report for one of these shows, but along comes Amnesia Rockfest, in Quebec, Canada. You would be hard-pressed to find a festival more appropriately named– Amnesia: the festival we would all like to forget!

“For those unwilling to read the full report, allow me to give you the short version: this festival sucked donkey balls. Big hairy brown donkey balls. The fact that Twisted Sister sounded as good as they did was ENTIRELY due to your faithful and diligent road crew and a rock and roll band that never quits, never gives up and plays with 200% every single time. Thank you TS! zero props at all to the nincompoops at the festival that made our jobs that much harder.

“Oh, I’m just getting started. No, you gotta hear this. Really.

“But first, I must sing songs of praise. Praise to Mitch Lafon, rock journalist, local Canadian and overall, one fine gent. Mitch was my liaison for the day, and I don’t know if I could have gotten along without him! He is a true gentleman, a solid professional and the kind of guy that you always want on your team. He made the madness bearable.

“Let’s begin with the 2.5 hour drive from the hotel, shall we? Apparently, there is some regulation for bus drivers that dictates that if you have more than ten passengers, you cannot drive through the Ontario city limits. We’re a rock bus…so of course, we went to (what else?) ELEVEN. Our driver took us on a scenic route from Montreal to Quebec, by way of Vancouver. We offered to duck down into the seats… we offered to pay the fine…we offered to throw one of us off the bus into a ditch (not saying who!)…to no avail. It was a long hot trip that drove some of the crew to madness, in the form of a somewhat obnoxious puppet show using trash bags. My sock was banned from participating. I’m not over that yet.

“We arrived on site - short by two crew due to tragic and sudden deaths in their respective families - and immediately divided up their responsibilities as we now had a very small window of time to get a lot done. My first order of business was to obtain credentials. We call them credentials - in layman’s terms - backstage passes….wristbands….day laminates… whatever it is that will allow us to move freely about the stage and dressing rooms without hassle. And of course, we were short. So the first order of business involved some hardcore schmoozing to try to score a few extra wristbands. The band NEVER wears these, by the way, but they always need to have them in case they want to drop by catering, swing by the stage, etc. Mitch da man helped us out once again.

“So far, not bad. But the next order of business: the dressing rooms. Over the years, Twisted Sister has had some very fine accommodations. And on occasion, they have been provided dressing rooms so remarkably sub-standard that they cannot be utilized. On this occasion, they directed me to “the Chateau.” The building was certainly beautiful on the outside, and once inside, it appeared quite comfortable and lush. Until a few more steps in.

“Twisted needs privacy before the show. At this place, it seemed like everyone had credentials and it was giant drunkenfest in the lobby leading to TS’s dressing room. Notice the active word ROOM. Typically, we get a dressing for the band (preferably two), plus a room for crew and production, and a room for Dee. Before you start screaming prima donna, Dee needs that room so that he can stretch out, exercise and vocalize to get himself warmed up before stagetime.

“How they thought we would fit 15 crew, 3 video guys and 5 artists in a hot, stuffy 10×10 room is absolutely astonishing. Even worse, were the provisions that they left for us. Now mind you, we have a very simple rider. It’s not fancy…it’s not ridiculous or difficult…and it’s actually quite flexible. Typically, we have a well-stocked fridge of juices, soda, coconut water, sports drinks, non-alcoholic and very small amount of regular beer and wine. There is typically a simple arrangement of fruit, cheese and meat trays and various snacks plus we usually go through 2-3 cases of water.

“In this dressing room: we had a dozen small water bottles. Five bags of chips. Three granola bars. A couple of tiny toffee candies. And a pack of something…I think it was gum. No mirrors. Some hand towels. Not even enough furniture for all five band members to sit down. And no access to a restroom. The toilet was down a flight of stairs, down a hallway…around a corner…and it was one toilet for about 300 drunk people. Insult to injury? Our name was spelled wrong on the dressing room door. SERIOUSLY???

“That’s not good. But I can work with that—I’ve managed to do more with less.”

Read the full report at TwistedSister.com.

(Pictured above are Twisted Sister's actual dressing room (nice job on fulfilling the rider) and their pre-show warm-up room at Amnesia Rockfest 2016)

 

The first Metal Meltdown concert series event kicked off at The Joint at the world famous Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas on May 30th, 2015. Legendary, multi-Platinum selling rockers Twisted Sister performed an explosive 90-minute concert of their biggest hits spanning their 40-year career. The show was dedicated to the honour of Twisted Sister's iconic drummer, A.J. Pero, whose tragic, sudden death just two months prior to the filming of this event shocked the music world. The band announced that not only were all the remaining concerts being performed in 2015 dedicated to the memory of A.J. Pero, but that 2016 would mark the 40th and final year of the band’s legendary live performances. They recruited renowned drummer and friend of A.J. Pero, Mike Portnoy (The Winery Dogs, Dream Theater, Avenged Sevenfold) to take the reins, and his very first Twisted Sister appearance was captured by the Metal Meltdown camera crew.

Twisted Sister fans will now get to witness that special concert produced by the award-winning production company, Rock Fuel Media in association with Loud & Proud Records. Directed by Brian Lockwood (Bon Jovi, Metallica, Motley Crue), Metal Meltdown - Featuring Twisted Sister Live At The Hard Rock Casino - Las Vegas features that complete concert, as well as Rockshow, a bonus documentary that takes fans through the band's 40-year ride from local club outcasts to world domination with exclusive interviews, archive footage from the ‘80s, photo gallery. It was mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound. Set for release July 22nd, the retail package includes both BluRay and DVD formats as well as an audio CD. A video trailer can be found below.

As Twisted Sister guitarist JayJay French explains, “The decision to continue performing all the summer shows in 2015, not to mention the concert that this performance celebrates, was in jeopardy over the days immediately following A.J.'s sudden death. We needed time to re-group and re-focus. Everyone was great. All the promoters of the huge European summer festivals that we were set to headline and Barry, the producer of this concert said, ‘We understand. You all (meaning the band) have to do what makes you comfortable. Whatever the band decides has to be honoured and respected.’

“In the end, I believe we did what A.J. would have wanted us to do and Mike Portnoy was a very big part of that decision in both an emotional and artistic way. This performance captured herein just two months after A.J.'s death really was about our way to help memorialize the great A.J. Pero. The front four (Dee, Eddie, Mark and I) have had no one but A.J. behind us since 1982. This concert has A.J.'s influence permeating through our bloodstream in ways that I will never forget and when we cut to A.J.'s drum solo on the rear projection screen, We were all emotionally overwhelmed. Not since our reunion for NY Steel in 2001 (to honour and raise money for the families of the NYC police and fire department who died on 9/11) have I been moved to tears."

Award-winning producer Barry Summers of Rock Fuel Media commented, "Twisted Sister was the first live club band I ever saw in 1979 at Emmett’s Inn in New Jersey, and they literally blew my mind. We actually revisited Emmett’s and filmed a scene for the Rockshow documentary. It has been a real dream come true to produce this amazing concert film for such an iconic and influential band. The tribute to A.J. Pero makes this film that much more special. We’re excited to give the fans the highest quality concert film and live recordings ever released in the year of Twisted Sister’s final farewell.”

Other bands filmed in Las Vegas as part of the Metal Meltdown include Extreme, Skid Row and Great White. Stay tuned for details on those releases.

Metal Meltdown Featuring Twisted Sister Live At The Hard Rock Casino - Las Vegas tracklisting:
 
“What You Don't Know”
“The Kids Are Back”
“Stay Hungry”
“The Beast”
“Shoot ‘Em Down”
“You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll”
“I Believe In Rock ‘N’ Roll”
“Under The Blade”
“I Am (I’m Me)”
“We’re Not Gonna Take It”
“The Fire Still Burns”
“The Price”
“Burn In Hell”
A.J. Pero Tribute
“I Wanna Rock”
“Come Out And Play”
“S.M.F.”

Trailer: