To celebrate the 40th anniversary of their incendiary self-titled debut, W.A.S.P. have taken the album on the road at last, playing it in full and in sequence for the first time. After plundering and pillaging their way across the U.S. last year, Blackie Lawless and his latest crew of evil henchmen have brought the show to Europe, landing on June 10 at Le Forum in Vauréal for a long-overdue French assault.
W.A.S.P. is the record that built the legend: a furious, no-holds-barred statement from a hungry young band hell-bent on shocking, disrupting, and conquering the L.A. metal scene. Released nearly 41 years ago, it remains a cornerstone of American heavy metal: theatrical, aggressive, and packed with enduring songs. Beneath the saw blades, raw meat, and fake blood were hooks and anthems lie "I Wanna Be Somebody," "L.O.V.E. Machine," tunes that would become live staples for decades. But the real thrill, all these years later, is hearing the rarely played deep cuts finally get their moment: "The Torture Never Stops," "The Flame," "Tormentor..." The shock factor may have dulled, but the music has only grown sharper, now burnished with the kind of patina that time alone can give—if not respectability, then undeniable classicism.
Yes, The Crimson Idol may still be Lawless’ most conceptually ambitious and best-produced work, (metal’s answer to Quadrophenia or The Wall) and it too has had its turn in the spotlight over the past decade. This tour isn’t about operatic fables of sin and redemption: it's about blood, guts, bile and aggression. It's about the album that lit the fuse.
Now pushing seventy, Lawless still sounds phenomenal. His voice strikes the perfect balance between rasp and melody; gritty enough to drip with venom, but never at the expense of tunefulness. The band is tight, as they have to be, locked to a click track to stay perfectly synced with the massive video screens that loom behind them. Special mention to drummer Aquiles Priester, an absolute monster behind the kit: precise, powerful, relentless. Long time associates Mike Duda on bass and Doug Blair on guitar were also flawless, bringing unflinching energy and adding urgency to those decades-old songs.
The video screens themselves are a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand, they’re a poignant nod to the band’s history, displaying original footage of the classic lineup as a kind of living tribute. On the other, it creates a strange dissonance: you’re watching the current band while ghosts from the past flicker in and out behind them. It’s not enough to break the spell, but every so often, it does pull you out of the moment with a brief, distracted “wait, what?”
But really, there’s little to fault in a show like this. The full debut album from top to tail, followed by an encore packed with cuts from Inside the Electric Circus and The Headless Children including hits like "Wild Child" and "Blind in Texas." For 80 action-packed minutes, W.A.S.P. opened a time portal and transported this suburban rock club straight back to the ‘80s, in all their carefree excess and gory glory. Beyond mere nostalgia (although there was plenty of that,) it was a celebration of everything rebellious, provocative, and loud. You know, rock ’n’ roll.
SETLIST:
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W.A.S.P. @ Bataclan, Paris - November 5th, 2012
