I saw WASP in Dallas this past Friday. It was the first show on their current tour. As has been mentioned earlier the show is divided into two parts, the first being The Crimson Idol album in its entirety and the second being about a half hour of "greatest hits".
All in all I thought this was a very good show. The band was very tight in their performance and very true to The Crimson Idol album. Blackie seemed to be in fine form vocally and was very emotive and expressive as he sang. This first set was also accompanied by a visual presentation (black and white) that ran for almost the entire duration depicting the current dynamic the given song being performed was portraying (family strife, substance abuse, attempted salvation through music, etc.). Rather interestingly, there was no band interaction with the audience until the first set concluded with Blackie saying "we'll be back in a few minutes". I have to conclude that they had to keep this first set moving along at the exact pace of the video presentation that accompanied the songs as it was essentially a "mini-movie" for lack of a better description.
The second set, the "greatest hits", saw no video presentation but an even more energetic performance by the band. Only a half hour or so was allocated to this set so don't expect to hear a lot of songs which is a bit unfortunate. Dallas got a total of 6 songs, one of which wasn't a greatest hit but a new song from their forthcoming album entitled "Dominator". Among the other five songs were "L.O.V.E. Machine", "Wildchild", and "Blind in Texas". You'd think I could remember the names of 6 songs but this is clearly and indication my memory is on the way out.
Other observations from the show:
W.A.S.P. instructed the venue to permit no photography whatsoever and asked that security immediately toss out anyone found taking pictures.
Notably absent was the Terminator-esque mike stand Blackie has used on the past several tours.
Oakland Raiders fans would be happy as Blackie chose to wear number 84, which is the jersey worn by Jerry Porter. Interesting choice (more on that later).
The were some hardcore W.A.S.P. fans in the crowd who actually showered (perhaps "sprinkled" is a better word choice) the stage during the greatest hits set periodically with raw meat. As I was in the front row it was interesting to see this up close but the band didn't seem to mind it at all.
After the show about 20 or so fans lingered hoping for pictures and autographs with the band. After waiting for about 30 minutes we were informed by the tour manager that we'd get our wish, with one band member at a time being led out from the venue to the fans and eventually to the tour bus. Blackie, though, deviated from this process a little bit though. After having chances for pictures and autographs with the other three members of the band (who were all very cordial) we were told that Blackie would soon be brought out but instead wants to go to the tour bus to "get situated" and then he would make himself available to those of us who remained. We were then told to line up along the tour bus and Blackie would sign one thing per person but that no photos would be permitted. Blackie actually remained on the bottom step of the tour bus and did his signings there. He didn't seem to interact a much with the fans at all. He wasn't rude by any means -- it almost seemed like an introvert suddenly thrust in front of a crowd that he wasn't really comfortable with. When my turn came to meet Blackie and get one of my CD booklets signed I commented on his wearing of number 84 and that one doesn't see too many Joey Porter jerseys around here. He paused for a moment and managed a slight grin and said that he "wasn't wearing that for Jerry Porter" and "84 was the number I wore in high school". Good stuff. I ought to be on 60 Minutes.....
All in all I thought this was a very good show. The band was very tight in their performance and very true to The Crimson Idol album. Blackie seemed to be in fine form vocally and was very emotive and expressive as he sang. This first set was also accompanied by a visual presentation (black and white) that ran for almost the entire duration depicting the current dynamic the given song being performed was portraying (family strife, substance abuse, attempted salvation through music, etc.). Rather interestingly, there was no band interaction with the audience until the first set concluded with Blackie saying "we'll be back in a few minutes". I have to conclude that they had to keep this first set moving along at the exact pace of the video presentation that accompanied the songs as it was essentially a "mini-movie" for lack of a better description.
The second set, the "greatest hits", saw no video presentation but an even more energetic performance by the band. Only a half hour or so was allocated to this set so don't expect to hear a lot of songs which is a bit unfortunate. Dallas got a total of 6 songs, one of which wasn't a greatest hit but a new song from their forthcoming album entitled "Dominator". Among the other five songs were "L.O.V.E. Machine", "Wildchild", and "Blind in Texas". You'd think I could remember the names of 6 songs but this is clearly and indication my memory is on the way out.
Other observations from the show:
W.A.S.P. instructed the venue to permit no photography whatsoever and asked that security immediately toss out anyone found taking pictures.
Notably absent was the Terminator-esque mike stand Blackie has used on the past several tours.
Oakland Raiders fans would be happy as Blackie chose to wear number 84, which is the jersey worn by Jerry Porter. Interesting choice (more on that later).
The were some hardcore W.A.S.P. fans in the crowd who actually showered (perhaps "sprinkled" is a better word choice) the stage during the greatest hits set periodically with raw meat. As I was in the front row it was interesting to see this up close but the band didn't seem to mind it at all.
After the show about 20 or so fans lingered hoping for pictures and autographs with the band. After waiting for about 30 minutes we were informed by the tour manager that we'd get our wish, with one band member at a time being led out from the venue to the fans and eventually to the tour bus. Blackie, though, deviated from this process a little bit though. After having chances for pictures and autographs with the other three members of the band (who were all very cordial) we were told that Blackie would soon be brought out but instead wants to go to the tour bus to "get situated" and then he would make himself available to those of us who remained. We were then told to line up along the tour bus and Blackie would sign one thing per person but that no photos would be permitted. Blackie actually remained on the bottom step of the tour bus and did his signings there. He didn't seem to interact a much with the fans at all. He wasn't rude by any means -- it almost seemed like an introvert suddenly thrust in front of a crowd that he wasn't really comfortable with. When my turn came to meet Blackie and get one of my CD booklets signed I commented on his wearing of number 84 and that one doesn't see too many Joey Porter jerseys around here. He paused for a moment and managed a slight grin and said that he "wasn't wearing that for Jerry Porter" and "84 was the number I wore in high school". Good stuff. I ought to be on 60 Minutes.....
