Anticipation. Some think of the old ketchup commercial when they hear the word, others might think of when they were awaiting their first child. But many like me had the immense feeling of anticipation for months when the dates for the 40th-anniversary tour for W.A.S.P. were announced.
After not playing a full tour of the United States in over 10 years, Blackie Lawless who is the founder and front-man of W.A.S.P. announced on January 12th “For over 10 years we have not toured on U.S. soil. But starting October 28th, 2022… we return. 10 years I’d want, 10 years I’ve cussed, 10 years I’d lust to return…. To my homeland… and be a Wild Child, a Love Machine, to be Blind in Texas, On Your Knees and Headless.”
He also stated that they would be bringing previous tourmates from decades past in Armored Saint. The two bands go all the way back to their first show together in May of 1983 in Los Angeles.
Prior to the Orlando stop, to say this tour hasn’t been a huge success would be an understatement. Most of the dates in the past and in the future have been sold out to the surprise of promoters. Most of them in the past thought W.A.S.P. would not be able to sell tickets anymore in the States and boy were they wrong to the chagrin of Blackie. “Promoters didn’t think this band could sell tickets anymore,” he told Appetite for Distortion. “We were being offered stuff that wasn’t very good, and we didn’t want to do that because the production that we wanted to do was way bigger.
Well on Saturday night at the Plaza Live, the packed house was served up a 3-hour sonic blast full of nostalgia and metal starting with Armored Saint who took the stage about 30 minutes late due to meet and greets, etc. with W.A.S.P. Most of the fans were ok with the later start especially after some information was divulged about a controversial topic these days in playing to tracks but I’ll address that later.
Armored Saint came out to “Deliver the Goods” by Judas Priest and started off their set by playing “Reign of Fire” from Symbol of Salvation. The album was released in 1988 and I consider their best and as close to a perfect hard rock metal album as there is. I know, what a fanboy, but it’s true and others do agree.
From there, Armored Saint played their first of the two singles that were released from the Punching The Sky album in 2020 with “End of the Attention Span.” Such a great song that defines our society today.
Vocalist John Bush was his usual powerhouse self and showed no ill effects from his recent bout of whatever that had him miss a few shows.
The rest of the band was completely booming off the ceilings of the old theatre. Drummer Gonzo Sandoval and his Drums of Thunder were just that and his playing was causing rattling up in the rafters and made the floor shake.
The next song was a bit of a surprise to me “Nervous Man” but then Armored Saint went to another fan favorite in “Last Train Home” from Symbol. By this time, the whole theatre was packed as the line around the building was huge on arrival and people waited and partied old-school style in their cars until the line dissipated a bit. Some of us were getting worried that the show could have been oversold but thankfully there wasn’t a Fire Marshall in sight.
It was great to see the metal community joined once again in a packed house and thankfully the venue opened the doors up especially in the balcony because it was Africa hot in there and it was sucking some energy out of the crowd.
After “Chemical Euphoria” and “Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants” Armored Saint’s dual axe attack was in full battle mode during the title track from the highly underrated Win Hands Down album. Guitarists Phil Sandoval and Jeff Duncan took turns shredding the leads while Joey Vera pulsated the bass in perfect time with Gonzo on the back line. It’s a great song that takes you on a journey and it shows a fully revitalized band back at their songwriting peak.
An Armored Saint show would not be complete without them playing their first-ever single in “Can You Deliver” from 1983’s March of the Saint. Armored Saint closed their set with a trifecta from this album with the title track up next and then with what The Plaza was on Saturday night with “Mad House.” After a rousing round of applause with horns in the air, the band walked through the security/photo pit area and gave high fives to the crowd as sweat dripped from their flesh. It was another high-level veteran performance from a band that gives it their all and is a tough act to follow.
After a 30-minute set change over which is pretty standard these days and with fans with banners hanging high and low, Blackie Lawless and W.A.S.P. hit the stage like a swarm. They started the set with a medley of four songs “On Your Knees” “The Flame” “The Torture Never Stops” and the perfect theme for the night and stage show with “Inside The Electric Circus.”
In an interview, Lawless stated that his time as a child living near Tampa, FL was the inspiration for the stage design on this tour to be likened to a 1930s-era dark carnival (there is a town near Tampa named Gibsonton that is known for off-season circus performers to live in and around).
Lawless said he was fascinated watching the performers practice (mostly trapeze artists), “…So the whole idea of the circus has been something that’s really been part of my makeup. He continued to say that in addition to the carnival setting, the stage design would also encompass “…part Road Warrior and part voodoo ceremony.”
Circus signs hung from scaffolding and the lighting rigs as video screens played images and videos with red and blue lights emblazoning the stage, W.A.S.P. took the crowd on a journey to the past with the next track in L.O.V.E. Machine. This was the first of many times that the whole crowd joined Blackie in singing the chorus. This was a perfect lead into arguably their most well-known song in “Wild Child.” This was a huge song on MTV and it blared through many a car window in the mid-’80s.
The set slowed down a bit with Blackie Lawless’ opus in “The Idol” which transitioned to “The Misconceptions of Me.” Both songs dive into Blackie’s past with his family and various tribulations in life and you feel like you are on a musical roller coaster. It’s so powerful and to see it live once again after so many years and with such conviction was impressive. Especially seeing that Blackie is 66 years old and handling most of the vocals with guitarist Doug Blair and bassist Mike Duda handling harmonies and backups.
A big scuttlebutt during the early tour stops was the accusations that Blackie was using lead vocal tracks during the show. Prior to the show a fan asked Blackie if they were using them and he said “To answer your question, yes, we are using backing tracks,” he responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “You wanna know why?
“When we go into a studio — and let me clarify that statement; that’s me singing — but when we go in a studio, we do choruses, we double, triple, quadruple the vocals,” he continued. “So my feelings were when I listened to live YouTube [recordings of our shows] and we weren’t doing that, it sounded thin. When we started supplementing it, it sounded better. “Now, in defense, I guess maybe what you’re asking is, is it fair for a band to go out and use only those? No, that is not fair.
“Like I said, I take a lot of pride in what I do, for the lead vocals that I do, but when it comes to vocals or when it comes to orchestration…
If you were looking for it, you could tell that they were using some backup vocals, but it didn’t matter or take away from the show. It just made the sound a bit fuller, especially on the next song “Chainsaw Charlie,” which is about W.A.S.P.s’ early record contract dealings, etc.
This song encompasses everything about hard rock and metal, dual guitar leads from Blackie and Doug Blair, booming drums and bass and powerhouse vocals, and last but not least, a revved-up chainsaw.
During “Chainsaw Charlie” Blackie, started rocking his immense microphone stand he affectionately calls Elvis back and forth to the beat of drummer Aquiles Priester. Elvis has a microphone attached to it with a terminator skull-like head, crossbones, and motorcycle handlebars and foot pegs that Blackie uses for different levels of elevation.
It is arguably the most recognizable microphone stand you will see except for maybe Steven Tyler’s with his bandanas.
W.A.S.P. closed out their main set with another fan favorite in “Blind in Texas” and took a brief break where the video screens showed text regarding censorship and played the audio with the battle with the PMRC. This was the introduction to “Animal,” the controversial song that was the second one to have a label on it from the group. The PMRC put a list of songs they deemed controversial and problematic to the youth of the times. Their list was called the Filthy Fifteen.“ This list had the opposite effect as teens went and bought some of the albums just because of the stickers.
W.A.S.P. combined “Animal” with their version of the Who’s “The Real Me” which had considerable radio airplay and up until this point It seemed like no one had left the venue as I was moving throughout the crowd for different vantage points.
Every fan in the stands knew what the finale would be with another huge rock anthem in “I Wanna Be Somebody.” The chorus blasted from the stage to the crowd and back with Blackie smiling. He engaged with the crowd during the performance when he got off of Elvis and he proved once again that W.A.S.P. is a viable entity in the United States.
The kids who loved the songs back in the 80s now bring their kids and they love and sing the songs also. Will there be additional W.A.S.P. tours in the upcoming years? Only Blackie knows that answer, but from the looks of the crowd and the smiles as they left the venue, most if not all, will buy another ticket and be welcomed back to the Electric Circus.
