W.A.S.P. - Are still brilliant!!!

June 28th 2014

Dessel, Graspop Festival, Belgium

****

Being taken back to my childhood in Belgium!

Graspop Metal Meeting

W.A.S.P. **** (Main Stage 2) are a band that I have loved since I was a kid but never ever seen live before so I was really looking forward to their set at the Graspop Metal Meeting. And what a set it was going to be full of our favourite classic material minus 'Animal (F**k like a Beast)'... well we can't have it all can we. It so awesome to finally see Blackie Lawless in the flesh who was a hero of mine back when I was ten. The anticipation for their performance builds up and as their intro plays everyone is ready for the W.A.S.P. boys.

Opening their set with short versions of 'On your Knees' and 'The Torture never Stops', both songs taken from the bands self titled debut album grapple you into jumping around screaming every lyric from the minute they start. Yes these songs are simplistic but you need no more than they deliver and their is some killer guitar work on them provided by Doug Blair that first played with the band back in 1992. Their cover of The Who's song 'The Real Me' is a good filler but it's songs like 'L.O.V.E. Machine' and 'Wild Child' that really brings their performance to life and shows them off as the legendary Rock / Metal band they are.

The thing I always liked about W.A.S.P. is like Motley Crue and Motorhead they mix up Metal and Rock together in one neat package so they appeal to everyone who likes heavy music. Also I always thought they had slight Industrial tendencies and where far ahead of their game musically. They show off thier Classic Rock edge with the brilliant 'Sleeping (In the Fire)' which is a track that is so well put together, with a guitar solo that simply just's launches out at you and makes you orgasm. Soft Rock fans in the audience will love their live version of 'Forever Free' while mainstream Rock fans will dig 'I wanna be Somebody' which is a sing-a-long classic.

You can hear the words "I wanna be Somebody!!!" echo around the field as the band seem to be having fun on stage. Yes they have aged a little but everything is almost note perfect and they still move around the stage like they were back in the 80's / 90's. For fans of the album 'The Crimson Idol' they are treated to a medley of material from it plus a couple of the classic singles, so this totally made me happy. I think we have all run around the house in our underpants doing air guitar to 'Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the new Morgue)', this was a track from a moment in time.

I saw it on Top of the Pop's I was instantly in love with so it's really nice to hear in a field in sunny Belgium. And yes I am singing every word of it. The band play this song to perfection before ending their set with a well driven version of their song 'Blind in Texas'. I have to say it was well worth the wait, and I can't wait to see them again because they are simply brilliant. If you never got the chance to listen to W.A.S.P. when you were younger or you weren't around, then I strongly advise you do. This band are a very important one to the Classic Rock genre, well for me anyways.

W.A.S.P. - Setlist
---------------------------
On your Knees / The Torture never Stops
The Real Me (The Who Cover)
L.O.V.E. Machine
Wild Child
Sleeping (in the Fire) / Forever Free
I wanna be Somebody
The Crimson Idol Medley (Invisible Boy / I am One / The Gypsy meets the Boy)
The Idol
Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the new Morgue)
Blind in Texas

Review and Photo's by Dave Deadsy