Twisted Sister
Best Buy Theatre
New York City, New York
29 April 2011
Tony Pijar

Twisted Sister sightings in the US are extremely rare nowadays. However, a one-off benefit show was put together to raise money for the Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Research Foundation. Guitarist Jay Jay French’s daughter has had this disease for several years and, thankfully, has progressed. However, much work needs to be done in this area.
As the lights dimmed and the familiar strains of AC/DC’s “It’s a Long way to the Top” faded, the chugging intro to “What you don’t Know” sliced through the audience. Cue the larger than life Mr. Dee Snider, inarguably one of the greatest front men ever. He grabbed his trademark pink mic stand and shouted “Good evening! Welcome to our show…!” And off we went! The anthemic “The Kids are Back” and “Stay Hungry” followed in quick succession. Jay Jay and Eddie Ojeda were in fine form, and the titanic rhythm section of Mark Mendoza and AJ Pero anchored the Twisted ship throughout the evening. “Sin After Sin” and “We’re Gonna make it” made welcome returns to the live set – both arguably the heaviest songs penned by Snider. “The Fire Still Burns, “The Price”, “Captain Howdy”, and “Burn in Hell” were aired to ecstatic response as well. “You can’t Stop Rock N Roll” and “Shoot’em Down” were greeted like long lost friends and, of course, two of the greatest rock anthems ever written, “I wanna Rock” and “We’re not Gonna Take it” raised the roof, with special guest ex-New York Yankee Bernie Williams joining the band on guitar. Encores “Come out and Play”, “Tear it Loose”, and “perennial set closer “SMF” hit home.
As the last echoes of “SMF” blared through the house, I wondered if this would be the last time we’ll see Twisted over here…So many memories dating back to 1981-82 sneaking into the New Haven Agora to see the band in its embryonic stage cutting its teeth, prepping, and preparing to conquer an unsuspecting music world. Don’t miss them when they hit the European festival circuit this summer!