Last week Cuz, Nazz and I went to see W.A.S.P. at the Midway Music Hall here in Edmonton. When this show was first announced, I knew I had to go to this one. W.A.S.P. and KK's Priest, holy shit what a mid 80's heavy metal double bill. The tour was billed as 1984 To Headless with W.A.S.P. playing only songs from their first four albums, hell ya, count me in. It was the first four albums the 1984 debut self titled album W.A.S.P., The Last Command (1985), Inside The Electric Circus, and 1989's The Headless Children those were the good albums. It was after 1989 that I lost interest in the band, with lead guitarist Chris Holmes leaving the band.
Being a teenager in 1984 when W.A.S.P. released their debut album I was all over this band. They were loud, dangerous, controversial and my parent thought they were obscene, so of course I loved them. And with the release of the single "Animal (F**K Like A Beast)", was there another metal band pushing the limits like these guys, nope. Even more reason to like them. KISS was the first band I had an obsession with, but by the mid 80's KISS wasn't really relevant anymore, the make up was gone, the albums weren't al that great and along came WASP. The band was ugly, their live shows were notorious for blood, raw meat being thrown into the audience, a torture rack on stage with a topless woman, what wasn't their to like about a band like this for a teenager. So of course I had to have everything the band released, albums, singles, picture discs, seven inch singles, videos, t-shirts and I needed to see this band in concert. I had my chance in November of 1984 when the band was scheduled to play Edmonton's Northlands Coliseum headlining with Krokus and Fist opening but the show was cancelled. Talk about being disappointed. They never came back to Edmonton until 2004 and by then the only original member was lead singer Blackie Lawless, it was still a great show and I finally got to see the band live.
One of the things I loved about WASP back in the day was all the singles they released which you could only get as imports back then was that they always had cool B-Sides, and were usually cover songs. Songs such as "Paint It Black" by (The Rolling Stones), "Mississippi Queen" (Mountain), "Locomotive Breath" (Jehtro Tull), "Easy Livin'" (Uriah Heep), "The Real Me" (The Who), "I Don't Need No Doctor" (Humble Pie) version. Some singles had remixes, live versions of songs and some had songs that weren't released on the albums. It was always interesting to see what the B-Sides would be. With the cover songs WASP did and me being the metal head I was as a teen, it was always fun to go out and find the originals of these songs, you had to actually go buy these classic rock albums as there was no streaming in the 80's, so ya they introduced me to some classic rock. And back then I had to have every colour of vinyl and picture disc for the "Animal (F**K Like A Beast)" single.
A picture of my WASP vinyl collection.
One more story... It was in 1985 that I went to a local record shop (Sound Connection) and found this WASP t-shirt. Of course I had to have it. Would I wear it in public, probably not but nonetheless, I had to have it. I got home and showed my mom the t-shirt I got. Of course I only showed her the front but as I was walking away she called me back in to the room. What does it say on the back she asked. My answer "I don't know, I didn't know there was anything on the back". Well that didn't go over well. She told me I couldn't have the t-shirt and made me give it to her. A few months later while my parent were out, I snooped through their room and eventually found it and took it back. I showed my buddy Geoff the t-shirt, he asked if I was going to wear it to school. I didn't have the balls to do that so he said he would. I let him wear it but told him he had better not lose it. It didn't take long at school before he was hauled into the principles office for wearing an offensive t-shirt. They tried to confiscate it from him but he got up and left the office before they got the chance to take it. I got the t-shirt back and still have it to this day, and only been worn that once.
T-shirt.
I know, I know, get on with the show. Alrighty then. If you're still with me, thanks for reading.
We got to the venue a little after doors opening which was 7pm, holy fuck, the line up to get in was around the block. Did this venue even hold this many people, by far the longest line up I have seen to get into Midway. As we stood in line we noticed that this was a crowd of probably 90% guys. Damn we may not get in in time to see KK, not only that but we had to park four fucking blocks away. But I will say, the line up went quite quick and we got in to the venue in time to catch KK's Priest. And thank god for that as it was a big draw for this show as well.
Now KK's Priest is of course KK Downing (75 years old) the original guitarist for Judas Priest before leaving the band in 2011. KK Downing eventually formed KK's Priest in 2020 releasing two albums so far 2021's Sermons of the Sinner and in 2023 The Sinner Rides Again. Joining KK on lead vocals is Tim "Ripper" Owens who did vocals on two Judas Priest albums when Rob Halford left the band in 1992. Tim did vocals on the 1997 album Jugulator and the 2001 album Demolition.
When KK's Priest hit the stage the venue was packed already, I think there were as many people there for them as there was for WASP. The band opened with "You've Got Another Thing Comin'") then "Breaking The Law" followed by "Living After Midnight" all Judas Priest songs and holy shit did they sound good. Tim "Ripper" Owens was nailing it on vocals and KK sounded amazing and the band had the crowd in the palm of their hands. Everyone singing word for word and raising their fists in the air. Then there were some KK Priest songs which I didn't know very well but sounded like classic Priest. The whole band was even kind of dressed like Judas Priest Turbo era. Speaking of Turbo, they even did a song from that album "Turbo Lover" which kind of surprised me. Other classic Priest songs played were "Heading Out To The Highway", "The Sentinel", "Beyond The Realms Of Death" and "Victim Of Changes". Great song selection for what was pretty much the best Judas Priest cover band you will ever see. An hour of classic heavy metal.
It was now time for W.A.S.P. this would be my second time seeing them in concert and I was super looking forward to this show, especially with them only playing songs from their first four albums. Lead singer Blackie Lawless is the only original member in the band, just like when I last saw them back in 2004.
Before the show started Nazz, Cuz and I all guessed which song they would open with. Well much to our surprise, none of guessed it would be a cover song, that being the Uriah Heep song "Easy Livin'" from the album Inside The Electric Circus. Then into "Fistful Of Diamonds" from The Last Command album. Then "The Flame" and "On Your Knees" from the debut album. We were off to a great start. Blackie sounded great on vocals. There have been accusations of Blackie using backing tracks and lip syncing, from what I could tell he wasn't lip syncing at all. There were a couple of other cover songs played that being The Who song "The Real Me" and "I Don't Need No Doctor" by Humble Pie.
They even played a pre WASP song called "Mr. Cool" a song I had never heard before, so that was cool to hear. There were three songs played from The Headless Children album the title song, "Forever Free" and "Thunderhead". Blackie did sneak in one song that wasn't from the first four albums and I have no idea what the name of the song was.
For the encore we got "I Wanna Be Somebody" which was the song I guessed they would open with. Next was "L.O.V.E Machine" also from the debut album. They ended the show with two from The Last Command "Wild Child" and "Blind In Texas". The only disappointment of the night was not hearing "Animal (F**K Like A Beast)". That and it's really too bad that original guitarist Chris Homes wasn't part of this tour. The band has never been the same without him. Their set was just over an hour long. I'm not sure what the capacity is for Midway Music Hall but this was by far the fullest I've seen this venue for a show. My guess would be well over a thousand people. A great double bill of 80's era heavy metal. Good times!!!
T-shirt front.
T-shirt back.
