Rob Affuso joined his former SKID ROW bandmate Sebastian Bach on stage in September 2019 at Sony Hall in New York City to perform the band’s classic song “Makin’ A Mess”. He previously reunited with Bach to play SKID ROW songs on at least two other occasions — a 2011 show in Poughkeepsie, New York where Affuso played “I Remember You”, and a 2016 show in the same city where he played “Rattlesnake Shake”.
Asked in a new interview with the “Metal From The Inside” podcast if it’s fun for him to get up on stage with Bach from time to time and perform some of these songs again, he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Of course it is. It’s also nerve racking, to be honest, because they’re up there doing it every night, and I have to remember these songs that I recorded 20 years ago, or 30 years ago. But it’s great. And it’s always great to see him. And it’s always great to see the other guys. We’re now all over the country in different places — I’m on the East Coast, Sebastian‘s on the West Coast, Rachel‘s [Bolan, SKID ROW bassist] in the middle of the country, in Nashville, Snake [Dave Sabo, SKID ROW guitarist] goes back and forth from there to New York, Scotti‘s [Hill, SKID ROW guitarist] in L.A. So I don’t really see those guys very much. Sebastian does reach out when he comes through the New York area, or anywhere in the Northeast, and see if I wanna come by, which is really cool. I appreciate that.”
Affuso — who left SKID ROW in 1998 and claims to be “the only former member that keeps in contact with all former SKID ROW bandmates and is still good friends with them all” — said in a 2016 interview that he was hopeful that the classic SKID ROW lineup could rekindle its friendships and reunite for a tour and possible new album. “I am friendly with all four other guys,” he said. “I’ve worked hard at it. I spent a third of my life with these guys and I felt that I shared an immeasurable amount of things with them and they will always be very, very dear and important to me. Human relationships are very important to me. Those relationships with these guys were very important, so I’ve tried to nurture the best I can with each of them some form of relationship, however it looks. As far as everybody… I’m really not in a position to talk about that. I think everybody has had their piece and their say, and I think that there’s things that probably should have been said a long time ago and weren’t. And, you know, I’m not sure if I’d ever… I’d never say never, but, you know, I mean… I would certainly love to see it, but we’ll see what happens. I don’t know.”
In June 2019, Bach issued an “open invitation” to the other members of SKID ROW‘s classic lineup to “get onstage and jam” during the vocalist’s tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of SKID ROW‘s debut album. A few days later, during an interview with Finland’s Kaaos TV, Sabo confirmed that he would not accept Bach‘s latest overture. “I’m working with my band,” he said referring to SKID ROW‘s current lineup. “This is SKID ROW, and this is what I do.”
Asked by Rolling Stone if he thinks his former bandmates are offended that he put his invitation out there publicly, Bach said: “No. I think it’s an ego thing. They don’t like when I get attention, and they don’t get attention. It’s always been like that. I can already see them getting mad, because I’m selling out shows, and they’re not part of the show, and blah, blah, blah.”
Bolan said last year that SKID ROW‘s current lineup was planning to embark on a special tour in 2021 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its “Slave To The Grind” album.
