Skid Row
Slaughter
Mohegan Sun Arena
February 13, 2016

Def Leppard recently had to cancel their tour due to an illness with lead singer Joe Elliot. Mohegan Sun had an 80’s party planned throughout the casino, so over the last week and a half they set up an invitation-only show tonight, featuring a co-headlining bill with Slaughter and Skid Row. This is Skid Row’s first performance since parting ways with former-TNT singer Tony Harnell.

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Slaughter

The night started off with Slaughter. Their set was energetic, filled with hits like “Mad About You” and “Up All Night.” Lead singer Mark Slaughter sounded fantastic with his signature voice. The whole band played great, but drummer Zoltan Chaney was a sight to be seen. Constant arms flailing, spinning drumsticks, hitting cymbals with his feet, jumping around and a bunch of other crazy antics, he was one of the most entertaining drummers I’ve seen!

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Skid Row

In December, Skid Row parted ways with former-TNT singer Tony Harnell, less than a year after joining forces with him. No announcement has been made as to a replacement, but rumors started going around that the band was rehearsing with I Am I/ex-Dragonforce singer ZP Theart. Tonight those rumors turned out to be true.

At the start of the show, no mention was made about who ZP was, so some of the uninformed around me were wondering just who was on stage. ZP did a great job on the Skid Row classics, doing them justice without trying to be a clone of Sebastian… He very clearly still sounded like ZP.

Bass player Rachel Bolan sang lead vocals for a cover of The Ramone’s “Psycho Therapy.” Before the song, he spoke to the crowd about how they got this last minute call, and so their first call was to London, to their friend ZP to see if he could do it. Next they called Slaughter to see if they could do it, and here we all are.

“Monkey Business” featured an extended dueling guitar solo jam between Snake Sabo and Scotti Hill that had the crowds captivated. The band left the stage, and returned for an encore of their ballad “Quicksand Jesus,” and then finally, they tore the house down with “Youth Gone Wilde.”

ZP sounded great and looked like he was having the time of his life playing with one of his early influences. At times early on he looked a little uncomfortable with his stage presence, but as the night went on he found his pocket with the band. Nothing was said as to his role going forward with the band. Will he do more shows? Is he temporary or long term? This remains to be seen, but if you have the chance to see him with the band, I recommend taking it!

Setlist
Slave to the Grind
Big Guns
Piece of Me
18 and Life
Riot Act
In a Darkened Room
Psycho Therapy
I Remember You
Monkey Business
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Quicksand Jesus
Youth Gone Wild