W
W.A.S.P.: One of the most notorious bands of all time, they were one of the P.M.R.C.'s worst enemies in the eighties. Still shocking people today, they continue on with the support of a rabid fanbase. The band will be on tour in August and September 2001 to support their latest release, UNHOLY TERROR (2001).
Discography:
WASP (1984)
THE LAST COMMAND (1985)
INSIDE THE ELECTRIC CIRCUS (1986)
LIVE... IN THE RAW (1987)
THE HEADLESS CHILDREN (1989)
THE CRIMSON IDOL (1993)*
FIRST BLOOD... LAST CUTS (1994)
STILL NOT BLACK ENOUGH (1995)*
KFD (1997)
DOUBLE LIVE ASSASINS (1998)
HELLDORADO (1999)
THE BEST OF THE BEST (2000)
UNHOLY TERROR (2001)
Official Web Site: WASP Nation
WASP unleashes their Unholy Terror on
Hartford
I went
to see WASP tonight (September 2nd) at the Webster Theater in Hartford.
They lived up to their high standard of rock n’ roll mayhem.
The show drew a few hundred fans, pretty good for a Sunday night metal show
in Connecticut. They rocked, and the show and props were great. The
highlight of the props being Blackie Lawless’ new microphone stand,
which I am declaring the most METAL thing ever. It's a lot crazier
than the demon head one he used on their last tour. Imagine a row
of vertebrae leading up to a huge horned skull with a buzz saw blade through
it; skeletal arms reaching up to form ape hanger style handlebars-
oh yeah, and the whole thing was SEVEN FEET TALL.
They kicked
off the show with "Helldorado" and the crowd of die-hard fans
went wild. The energy in the room intensified as they blasted into
"Chainsaw Charlie" and Blackie Lawless encouraged the crowd to
clap their hands and sing along. Four video screens sat on both sides
of the stage, which played their old videos as well as movie clips throughout
the show. Blackie hammed it up a little bit by pointing to the video
screens, then pointing to himself and mouthing "That's Me!" to
the crowd. As usual Seth Howland's drumming and Mike Duda's bass playing
were excellent, as was new guitarist Darren Roberts, who gelled nicely
with the band. He was a good choice to fill the slot vacated by former
member Chris Holmes.
Blackie
continued to fuel the crowds fire by riding his giant mic stand like a playground
ride, his antics met by cheers from the crowd. They slowed down to
do "Sleeping in the Fire" with a guitar solo by Darrel Roberts
and then "My Tortured Eyes" during which, the stage lights went
off and Blackie put on glow-in-the-dark make-up. He looked particularly
demonic as he sat on top of his mic stand pedestal and glared down at the
crowd.
They continued
on with a wild, high energy set that included all the old classics and some
new favorites. They managed to play at least one song off of almost
all of their albums (all except Still Not Black Enough). After playing
"Animal" Blackie ran off stage and returned seconds later sporting
a flaming codpiece that shot sparks ten feet into the air. I was surprised
to see this, as I though he would never wear this again after the time it
misfired and burned his thighs. It was a sight to see and the crowd
went crazy.
Throughout
the show they threw their empty water bottles, guitar picks, drum sticks
and sweaty towels into the crowd. Two guys started beating the hell
out of each other over one of the towels, it took security almost five minutes
to break them up. I was up front, close to the stage barrier and most of
the items thrown came pretty close to me. The guy in front of me caught
a water bottle. I was thinking it would be kind of cool to get
a souvenir of the show. Now, at the end of every show Blackie drinks
blood out of a human skull and then throws it into the crowd. The
show is almost over and he's drinking the blood and I think “It would
be pretty cool to catch the skull”; he throws it, and I see the thing
flying in my direction, it falls to the floor and I look down….and
some guy had grabbed it. But the jaw had popped of when it hit the
floor and I got that! Yeah, it's pretty stupid, but I'm happy.
I now own a plastic jaw bone with stage blood on it. It'll join my
prized Scott Ian guitar pick I caught when I saw ANTHRAX.
The bottom
line is, WASP still puts on a great live show. If you're a fan defiantly
see them if they play your town.
