Former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach has fired back at critics and self-proclaimed vocal experts who pick apart his live performances from the safety of their living rooms. In a fiery statement covered by Spotlight Report, Bach made it clear he has little patience for “armchair experts” who underestimate the physical demands of performing rock vocals on stage.
Bach Calls Out “Vocal Experts”
Bach expressed his frustration with online commentators who critique his singing without acknowledging the grueling conditions of live shows.
“I see videos of guys, that call themselves ‘vocal experts’ or ‘vocal instructors’ or whatever, and these idiots watch a video of me on stage, like at Wembley Stadium, running around with no shirt on in 100 degree weather and I’ll do a note like in my concert footage and they’ll sit in their chair and like, go, like sitting in their chair watching it on YouTube, singing ‘ahhhhhhh’ as if that’s the same f*cking thing as me running around on stage in the summertime!” Bach said.
The Real Challenge: Singing Entire Songs
Bach emphasized that the real challenge of live performance isn’t simply hitting a single note in isolation — it’s maintaining energy and vocal power for entire songs, often under difficult circumstances.
“I don’t get to sit down and like, watch and go see, I can do that. You can’t do shit. And another thing is you don’t just do one note of the song. The challenge is to sing the whole song! I Remember You, and then at the end, there’s a scream, and you better be ready for that!”
The Demands of Touring Life
The veteran vocalist also pointed out the physical and mental strain that touring musicians endure, which many critics fail to consider.
“So spare me sitting there like this. ‘God. Oh, sht. I can beat that.’ Like. No!, you have no clue what the hell it is that I do sing the whole fcking song. Then hit the scream at the end in 100 degree weather. No sleep, jet-lagged. You know, it just makes me laugh. Like, it’s just so funny that people think that they know how to get on a stage and rock for an hour and a half or two hours,” Bach stated.
“A Dying Art”
Bach concluded his passionate remarks by defending the craft of live rock performance, calling it a disappearing art form.
“It’s a dying art, and you can’t sit in your living room and your air conditioning watching it on YouTube, thinking… you have no f*cking clue about what it is to get up on that stage and do it every single night. It’s not physically or mentally easy to do. And there’s so many of these so-called ‘vocal experts’ that I could kick them right in the balls!”
Legacy of a Heavy Metal Frontman
As one of heavy metal’s most recognizable voices, Sebastian Bach has spent decades earning his reputation through intense, high-energy shows. While online critics continue to debate his vocal performances, Bach remains unapologetically committed to the stage — and to defending the physical demands of true rock performance.
