Live Review: W.A.S.P. - KK's Steel Mill, Wolverhampton
18th March 2023
Support: South Of Salem
Words: Cat Finch
Photos: Tim Finch
This evening has been a long time coming, for this is yet another tour happening years after being originally booked thanks to the dreaded pandemic. We are at the world famous KK’s Steel Mill tonight, the West Midlands premiere music venue for W.A.S.P.’s long awaited 40th anniversary tour.
As two thousand fans pack into the Steel Mill it is down to Bournemouth five piece South of Salem to warm up the rowdy rockers in attendance. They get things started with a bang, with the high octane number ‘Let Us Prey’ missing 80’s hard rock and metal perfectly to prove their life left in that style of heavy music.
The pace for the whole set stays high, the south coast quintet firing on all cylinders through ‘Made To be Mine’, ‘Demons are Forever’ and ‘No Plague Like Home’.
As the evenings only support act they are given their time to shine, and they make the most of it, perfectly suited to this bill the youngsters have no doubt won over a sway of aging rockers tonight as the whole room pumps their fists, claps their hands and bangs their heads along to closer ‘Cold Day In Hell’.
Back over forty years ago W.A.S.P. were formed out fo the ashes of the band Circus Circus by Blackie Lawless and co. and tonight’s 40th anniversary stage set nod’s back to that time (amongst other things) with the full set up set resembling a circus big top of sorts. Sitting loud and proud centre stage is ‘Elvis’ the daunting skeletal figure of Blackie's mic stand.
As the intro dies down the band take to the stage, Mike Duda (bass), Doug Blair (guitar) and Aquiles Priester (drums) ahead of the appearance of Lawless himself – which comes with the crowd going wild.
The opening segment of the set is a medley mixing ‘On Your Knees’, ‘The Flame’, ‘The Torture Never Stops’ and ‘Inside The Electric Circus’ four tracks from the bands early years and spanning a good fifteen minutes, despite it being a medley very little of each track is left out.
With the crowd suitably warmed up it’s time for the big guns ‘Love Machine’ leads into the huge ‘Wild Child’ which has two thousand Yam Yams and Brummies singing in unison. And the pace doesn’t let up ‘The Idol’, ‘Chainsaw Charlie’ and ‘Blind in Texas’ follow on.
We may only be fifty minutes and seven songs into the set (if you count the medley as one) but we have already reached the encore. With the crowd going wild and begging for more Blackie and co leave the stage and let the anticipation build whilst the crowd wonder what they may return with.
After the chants for "W.A.S.P." die down they return and it’s the surprise, and welcome, return of ‘Animal (F*ck Like a Beast)' that greets us. A Song they have not performed in many years due to Lawless’ no longer favouring its lyrical content, yet the whole fan base welcome it back. Whilst Lawless may still retain those feelings about the lyric’s – he doesn’t sing certain parts of the song – the crowd make up for it by filling in the gaps and marking it a special moment to hear live once more.
Closing out with ‘I Wanna Be Somebody’ the hour long show and sell out crowd prove the demand for W.A.S.P. is still high. Blackie rounds things off and climbs atop Elvis and welcomes the fans adoration with open arms.
All photo credits: Tim Finch Photography
