It’s hard to believe that it’s been forty years since American Shock Rockers W.A.S.P. first shook the foundations of the musical establishment with their hugely controversial single “Animal” and their blood and thunder stage shows.
Much water has passed under the bridge since then with only lead singer/guitarist Blackie Lawless remaining from those early days but tonight was to be a celebration of four decades of Shock ‘n’ Roll.
To many, W.A.S.P. never topped their bombastic debut album and tonight they lit the powder keg with an explosive medley featuring “On Your Knees,” “The Flame,” “The Torture Never Stops” from that classic album before ending with the title track from Inside The Electric Circus.
With a circus theme providing the backdrop to the stage show, Lawless stood behind a huge skeleton biker contraption which concealed him for much of the time but this didn’t stop the likes of “L.O.V.E Machine” and “Wild Child” being Grade A bangers.
With guitarist Doug Blair pulling the poses and cranking the riffs and Mike Duda on bass provided a high energy, visual counterpoint to the flanks either side of Lawless.
With a mid-set mini–medley of Lawless’s coup de grace, The Crimson Idol, featuring “The Idol,” “The Great Misconceptions Of Me” and “Chainsaw Charlie (Murders In The Rue Morgue)” losing a touch of momentum, it was left to the final third to slam back into gear with “Blind In Texas.”
Although Lawless vowed never to play “Animal” live again, he decided to bring it back for this special birthday celebration complete with some historical footage from those long gone times sounding suitably brutal in the process and the crowd responded accordingly.
The closing “The Real Me” and the anthemic “I Wanna Be Somebody” brought the show to an end in triumphant, fist pumping style with the crowd singing and partying like it’s 1984.
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