Alcatraz Line up: 2018

The first thing that comes to mind when you say ‘Dee Snider’ is obviously Twisted Sister – and the other way round as well. That’s only logical because the flamboyant frontman embodied the vitality and spirit of this legendary band. The consummate showman always had the fans eating out of his hand, something Alcatraz Metal Fest has been fortunate enough to witness on two occasions. But there’s much more to Snider than Twisted Sister. Following a commercially very successful spell in the eighties with the multi-platinum releases ‘Stay Hungry’ (1984) and ‘Come Out and Play’ (1985), the success of one of the founders of the glamrock / hair metal scene gradually started to wane. Dee decided to retire Twisted Sister and immediately formed a new band called Desperado but the new outfit never scored an official release. Exit Desperado and enter Widowmaker, a band that never hit the big time despite two excellent albums. The charismatic singer then opted for a career as a radio maker and author, finding the time along the way to put out his first solo album with ‘Never Let The Bastards Wear You Down’ (2000) and appear in several feature films. Still, Twisted Sister and Dee Snider remained inextricably linked and every once in a while he would round up the posse and hit the stage. They didn’t play a whole lot but every time they did the roof came off. Following the untimely demise of drummer A.J. Pero in 2015, Twisted Sister bowed out with the ‘Forty and Fuck It’ farewell tour and their final gig on the European continent at the 2016 edition of our very own Alcatraz Metal Fest. And still... those who thought that Dee would curl up on the couch and enjoy his well-deserved retirement were soon proven wrong. Mere months after Twisted Sister’s curtain call, Snider released his third solo album ‘We Are the Ones’. And Dee Snider the stage animal was still hungry: with the Dee Snider Band he revived his solo career and this summer he’s going to give us another taste of his rock ‘n’ roll medicine.