Have you ever thought why many 'mainstream' 80s Metal bands do still have the ability to play live in front of large amounts of fans, while limited are the 'current' outfits than can succeed in so? 'Shock' heroes W.A.S.P. were back in Athens for the third time in three years and I could not believe my eyes seeing the Gagarin 205 Club nearly 'overloaded' with fans of every age. The band had in-prior cancelled most dates off their summer 2006 tour due to frontman Blackie Lawless' health issues - their Rockwave Festival appearance was affected, eventually - and I was not sure how many fans would give 'extra' cash to see them being nasty onstage. How wrong was I...
Irrelevant - as always - music by the venue DJ, expensive prices for W.A.S.P. memorabilia in the merchandise 'booth' and lots of anticipation from the audience was the initial 'data' me and Yiannis D. got walking inside the club. The quartet's upcoming album - ably entitled Dominator - has not yet hit the stores and it was rather possible for a tune or two to be heard ('dream on'). Another 'issue' was if and in what level had Blackie overlapped his 'heart malfunction' problems. All these, while waiting for nearly an hour for the lights to go dim.
The typical - lately - The End (a classic Doors tune from their 1969 debut) intro did blow out of the venue's speakers and then Blackie and Co. hit the stage with their 1984 On Your Knees classic. Enlisting Doug Blair - the touring guitarist for 1992's Crimson Idol tour - plus Mike Dupke (Erik Sardinas) behind the kit, the band grabbed us by the balls and did not show any intention of letting us go. Blackie - a tall guy, really - may be in his 'fifties' but showed enough mood to deliver a bright performance in the beginning.
A setlist consisting of - mainly - 1984-1992 classics was the band's offering for the next 75 minutes. With Wild Child, The Headless Children, I Wanna Be Somebody and Arena Of Pleasure(!) the temperature did 'climb' in dramatic levels while Sleeping In The Fire and The Idol did act like the 'chilling' intermezzo. For me, it was 1985's Widow Maker (or - most correctly - a 3' 00 piece) that made all old-school W.A.S.P. followers raising their fists up high. I wish Blackie would (for once) organize an 'obscure classics' tour setlist in the future...
Two encores featured respective songs; first it was a full Chainsaw Charlie (Murders In The New Morgue) 'violent' version that set the club on fire, then an annihilating take of Blind In Texas placed everybody outta order. Leaving the stage in a vast applause, I was ready to start depicting crucial facts for this event:
- Blackie was exhausted enough, from the middle of the show and on. Surely due to his recent health trouble, it is of wonder if this is the reason why W.A.S.P. do not perform for more than 75-80 minutes the last years. His throat was not in an excellent shape, but enough were the times we all recalled 'this voice' with awe...Rather typical in his moves for those having seen the band live again in the past, he definitely 'dominated' the rest.
- Mike Duda (bass) must be the most valuable supporter of Blackie the last years. Non-stop dancing, brilliant playing, positive energy and 'party' attitude are only some of the credits I can give to him.
- Doug Blair was rather active onstage, with his 'bitreaux' guitar spiting fire in most tunes. Ace Frehley-like at times, he did his job professionally; a rather smart move from Blackie was this, to enlist an old friend in the W.A.S.P. camp. Mike Dupke, in addition, marked a pounding performance - a rather different technique, related to his predecessor Stet Howland - and gave the band the desired heavy 'volume'.
- The sound was - in general - just good but the audience's response was thunderous! This can be justified due to the potential W.A.S.P. have to 'update' their supporters (to explain this report's first paragraph intro). Hence, teens got crazy with Wild Child and Blind In Texas plus Widow Maker and Arena Of Pleasure were the highlights for some others.
By observing faces, it was clear that Blackie did fulfill his intentions mainly for 'newbies' in the crowd that night. Having already seen the band performing live in the past, no serious changes would someone examine. You can't rate feelings, but facts can give an 'objective truth' for this event. Now, I'm really curious how Dominator will sound like...
