SLAUGHTER

I first heard about Slaughter in 1995, when I was 15 years old. A friend of mine kept playing Stick It To Ya over and over, and eventually Slaughter became part of my teenage soundtrack. At the time, I was a huge fan of Skid Row, Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith, Bad English, FM, Van Halen, Riot, and many other hard rock bands. But Slaughter found a special place in my heart. I even had a Slaughter poster on my bedroom wall. As the years went by, more posters joined it, including The Wild Life and Fear No Evil. I jokingly called that part of my bedroom “Slaughtar”, a combination of Slaughter and altar, because that’s how much I loved those bands. Thirty-one years later, I found myself standing in the photo pit at the Washington State Fair, not only watching Slaughter, but photographing them.

When I received the approval to photograph the band, I became emotional. That moment carried a lot of history. I had listened to this band when I was 15, and now I held my camera, ready to photograph them live. When Slaughter walked onto the stage, I honestly wasn’t sure what to do first: take pictures, sing along, or stop and appreciate that I was finally seeing them in person. Fortunately, there was plenty of time for all three. From the beginning, the band brought the kind of energy that makes hard rock so much fun to experience live. Mark Slaughter sounded great, delivering the songs with a strong voice and an energy that never let the performance slow down. The connection between the band and the audience was also obvious throughout the show.

The Washington State Fair’s Grandstand was a great setting for a night featuring two legendary bands. The lighting was particularly impressive, creating beautiful moments on stage and making the photographers’ work much easier. The organization and the venue setup also made the experience smooth, with plenty of parking and easy access around the fairgrounds. Mark Slaughter and Dana Strum kept sending guitar picks into the audience throughout the show, and every time one flew, the crowd reacted immediately. People reached, jumped, and did everything they could to get one.

Behind the drums, Jordan Cannata was impossible to ignore. His energy and interaction with the audience were incredible, and his drum solo was one of those moments that make you stop and watch even when you are there with a camera in your hands. At one point, he stood on the drum throne and played one cymbal with his foot while continuing to play the rest of the kit. It was technically impressive and visually unforgettable. Mark also gave the audience a guitar solo of his own, showing his technique and musicianship and leaving the crowd watching closely.

For me, every song was special, but ‘Mad About You’ had a different kind of impact. I’ve listened to that song for years, and the drums have always been one of the things that stand out to me. They are so powerful that I can almost feel them in my chest whenever I hear the song. Standing there in the photo pit, hearing it live, was no different. In ‘Fly To The Angels’, the audience began turning on their cellphone lights, creating a sea of small lights throughout the Grandstand. Behind the band, the screen displayed a full moon over Washington State, shining above the stage. For a moment, the entire scene became something completely different, beautiful, and almost cinematic.

The band that had once been represented by a poster on my bedroom wall, the band that became part of my teenage years and even had its own little “altar,” was suddenly right in front of me, and somehow, after all those years, I wasn’t just watching them. I was there to photograph them.

SETLIST
‘Mad About You’, ‘Burnin’ Bridges’, ‘Spend My Life’, ‘Eye To Eye’, ‘Real Love’, ‘Fly To The Angels’, and ‘Up All Night’

TWISTED SISTER (FT. SEBASTIAN BACH)

After the amazing and energetic performance by Slaughter, I had a feeling that the energy of the night had been set for what was still to come. When Twisted Sister came onto the stage, the crowd went crazy all over again. Some fans had dressed up in full ’80s glam-metal style, complete with big hair, and their excitement was impossible to miss.

For me, though, this moment felt much more personal. When I was a teenager, I used to sing in a local band. We never had an official name, but we regularly played at a bar near my house. We performed songs by Iron Maiden, Helloween, Skid Row, Judas Priest, and one Twisted Sister song: ‘The Price’. I never could have imagined that many years later I would be standing in front of a stage in Washington, camera in hand, photographing the band whose song I used to sing as a teenager.

Sebastian Bach is a fantastic addition to the band; his energy, charisma, authenticity, and connection with the audience were impossible to miss. From the moment he stepped onto the stage, he seemed completely comfortable, and the crowd responded to him immediately. But one of the most enjoyable things to watch was the interaction between Sebastian and the band. They weren’t simply standing next to each other performing songs. They played with each other, joking, smiling, teasing, and having fun. At times, it honestly felt like watching brothers who had known each other forever, simply enjoying themselves on stage.

You could see how much fun they were having, and as someone standing there with a camera, I enjoyed those moments as much as the music. They looked at each other, exchanged a smile or a joke, and then jumped right back into the performance. It felt spontaneous, natural, and completely genuine. The lighting throughout the show made those moments even more special from behind the camera. The stage was beautifully lit, with the lights constantly changing around the musicians and creating some incredible visual moments.

One of the most powerful moments of the night came when Jay Jay spoke about September 11 and asked the audience for 15 seconds of silence in respect for those who lost their lives. After all the noise and energy of the show, the sudden silence was remarkable. An entire venue that had been singing and shouting moments before became completely quiet. Sebastian also took a moment to respectfully remember musicians who are no longer with us, including Ozzy Osbourne, Chris Cornell, Kurt Cobain, and others. Then came ‘I Remember You’ by Skid Row – WOW! Hearing Sebastian Bach sing the Skid Row classic was one of those moments that connected the present with my own past. Skid Row was one of the bands I used to perform with my teenage band, so hearing that song live, in this completely different chapter of my life, was something I won’t easily forget.

Jay Jay made a special announcement. He told the audience that this was the first time Washington was seeing Sebastian Bach officially performing as the lead vocalist of Twisted Sister. It felt like an important moment to acknowledge. And Sebastian certainly made his presence felt. His voice, energy, charisma, and ability to connect with the audience gave the performance its own character, while the interaction between him, Jay Jay, and the rest of the band made the entire show feel incredibly alive.

Close to the end came the song everyone knew was coming: ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’. The choice was no surprise, but it didn’t need to be. The audience was ready. As soon as the opening notes filled the venue, thousands of voices joined Sebastian Bach, singing along to a song they clearly knew by heart. The chorus quickly became one enormous sing-along, with the crowd taking over the vocals at times. Before and during the song, there was also a meaningful acknowledgment of Dee Snider and the role he has played in making the spirit of this song, and Twisted Sister, what it is. Sebastian respectfully mentioned Dee Snider and recognized his importance to the band and to the song’s history. That moment mattered, especially because ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’ is so deeply associated with Dee’s voice, personality, and the rebellious spirit he brought to it.

Jay Jay also made a powerful observation about the song’s legacy, noting that while people may come and go, this song will continue to be played and remembered for generations. Standing there and watching everyone singing together, I couldn’t help but think about how far that music had travelled—from the 1980s to that night in Washington, and from my teenage years to me standing there with my camera. This was one of the best concerts I have ever experienced, and certainly one I will remember for a very long time.

SETLIST
‘You Can’t Stop Rock ‘N’ Roll’, ‘The Kids Are Back’, ‘Like A Knife In The Back’, ‘Ride To Live, Live To Ride’, ‘Under The Blade’, ‘The Beast’, ‘Burn In Hell’, ‘The Price’, ‘I Remember You’, ‘I Wanna Rock’, ‘Youth Gone Wild’, and, of course, ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’.