We Are Sexual Perverts — that was how they introduced themselves in the early 1980s. Since then the acronym W.A.S.P. has been familiar to every heavy metal fan. In those years this project was constantly at the centre of controversy. The band's shows were provocative from the very start — accusations of immorality were levelled at what happened on stage; audiences were shocked by scenes of sadism, naked women, and the giant vocalist with saw blades sewn to the sleeves of his leather outfit. Yet for thousands of people the "Perverts" were true idols. The dark humour, colourful shows, and above all the charismatic frontman won over an enormous number of hard rock fans. From a visual standpoint W.A.S.P. could be called a glam band — but listening to the music you understand that isn't quite the case: elements of glam are present, but overall it is heavy metal — fairly simple and straightforward in the early years, but very memorable. At certain points their popularity broke every conceivable record. Many people started listening to hard rock through this band.
Among the most successful works in the band's catalogue, particular mention is due to W.A.S.P. and The Last Command (1984/85), as well as The Headless Children, The Crimson Idol, and Still Not Black Enough (1989, 1992, and 1995). The only member of the band who has never left the lineup is the collective's leader Blackie Lawless — a near-two-metre giant who marked his fiftieth birthday in 2006.
Among all the "veteran" heavy metal bands, perhaps only DIO can claim systematic studio activity in recent years — DIO and W.A.S.P. However, in concert Blackie focuses on the band's hits from the time-proven albums; moreover, since the late 1990s the theatrical spectacle that characterised the live shows was permanently discarded by Lawless himself. Today only a decorated microphone stand is used in performances (when the stage permits).
W.A.S.P. had already been to moscow — at the start of December 2004, so many people came to the concert at the Gorbusha Palace of Culture that the hall simply couldn't contain them all; many remained in the foyer. When it became known this year that the venues were to be the Tochka and B2 clubs, many were rather surprised and feared the concerts would be dangerously overfull.
That the current concert's setlist would consist only of older material and would be quite short was generally known in advance — yet on 11 November I headed to the Tochka club with considerable anticipation. I had been worried in advance about enormous queues and cramped conditions inside, as sellouts at Tochka have been the norm of late — but I was very mistaken. There was no sellout; the hall was full but not packed to capacity. This was perhaps because many had opted for the B2 concert the following day.
The concert began with a delay of over an hour and a half — long enough for everyone who wanted to enter to make it inside. The audience, exhausted by waiting, reacted to any sound coming from the stage direction. Finally, at 20:40, it happened: the stage was bathed in dark red light, music began to play, and soon three people were standing on stage — one of them towering significantly above the others — the drum kit occupied too. All three stood with their backs to the hall, then the lights intensified and the band launched into "On Your Knees" from the very first album, flowing directly into "Hate To Love Me" from the relatively recent album Unholy Terror. First impressions: the sound is listenable, the vocal is at a high level, the new guitarist slots in organically on stage — though technically, to put it mildly, he isn't perfect. As for the lighting: immediate disappointment — the stage was very, excessively dark, bathed in dim red for nearly the entire concert. Regarding Blackie Lawless himself: his exploits are behind him. On stage stood a very tall (additionally elevated by high-heeled boots) and very heavyset elderly man whose behaviour could not be described as particularly active. "L.O.V.E. Machine" and "Wild Child" continued the concert — indeed only hits were being played. Something can be said about the audience straight away: I was honestly surprised that the overwhelming majority were people averaging 25–27 years old; forty-year-olds were very few. A very considerable portion of those present knew the band's lyrics no worse than Blackie himself. There were no attempts to get on stage, though the security standing on the stage was so zealously protecting the musicians that any such possibility was precluded before it could arise. Blackie himself reacted to the audience rather weakly, and this was the case from the very start of the concert — as if the magnificent reception from his fans gave him no pleasure at all. "Widowmaker" was a gift from the band — this song is rarely played at concerts. Then the slow "Sleeping In The Fire" and immediately after it "Arena Of Pleasure" from arguably the band's finest album, Crimson Idol. The sound balanced out; all instruments could be heard clearly alongside the vocals — clearly enough to hear wrong notes from guitarist Doug Blair, serving in this role for the third time in the band over the past 14 years. But if not for him... the whole affair would have been utterly dull. Blackie embodied terrible pomposity, while the guitarist in contrast worked with the audience; twice during the concert he remained alone on stage playing a solo while Blackie and the bassist kept time backstage. The feeling was odd, but it looked colourful. The keyboard parts were also present — clearly pre-recorded. The guitarist and bassist handled vocal duties on many of the choruses. "The Headless Children" from the album of the same name (1989) continued the concert. The second-to-last song in the main set was my favourite composition in the band's catalogue — the brilliant ballad, one of the finest in rock music in general: "The Idol" from the 1992 album Crimson Idol. This piece is extraordinarily beautiful; Blackie's vocals in the opening were simply divine — and all would have been fine had the guitarist not played something completely incomprehensible and strange where a solo should have been. Almost without pause Blackie announced the band's main hit "I Wanna Be Somebody" — the verse sounds, and on the chorus Blackie steps back from the microphone as the entire hall without exception sings the well-known chorus lines that essentially repeat the song's title. The band left the stage. For a band with 13 studio albums, in a genre called heavy metal rather than grindcore, ending the main set at the 57th minute is, to put it mildly, peculiar. Yes, Blackie is no longer young — but UDO, who came at the start of 2006 and performed a set of twenty-plus songs, is also not young, and has far from trivial health issues; I'll say nothing about DIO, who had long since passed sixty but was giving two-hour concerts.
The break lasted five minutes, after which to the hall's acclaim the band performed an extended version of "Chainsaw Charlie" running nearly eight minutes; having exited for another four minutes, the band returned once more to close the concert with one final hit: "Blind In Texas."
Objectively speaking, most people, judging by their expressions, were satisfied — though there were those who made no effort to conceal their irritation at Mr. Lawless's behaviour and the indecently brief setlist. It was simply painful to watch a legendary rock musician completely disregarding his audience. Yes, he sings excellently, as before, and performs adequately — but the concert was one of the most soulless and featureless I have ever witnessed in my life. I recall the concert by that same Ronnie James Dio, and specifically the finale, when the clock showed the third hour of the concert had arrived, and this elderly, rather short man shook hands with the front rows once more and announced: "and now a song about me and about you, about everything we do and everything that defines us... We Rock" — how perfectly that phrase suited him, like no one else. As for Blackie — I don't even know what phrase would suit him; snobbery toward your own audience at a concert is unforgivable. The impression left by the concert was thus very significantly diminished — which is all the more regrettable when you consider what magnificent songs were being played.
As it emerged the following day, the band played fifteen minutes less at the B2 show — meaning the total time on stage amounted to one hour.
Report by Alan
Special thanks to SPIKA MERCHANDISING for the accreditation provided
Setlist: On Your Knees Hate To Love Me L.O.V.E. Machine Wild Child Widowmaker Sleeping In The Fire Arena Of Pleasure The Headless Children The Idol I Wanna Be Somebody —encore— Chainsaw Charlie (extended version) —encore— Blind In Texas