Twenty years ago today, MuchMusic was born - Canada's first music video network went on the air for the very first time. Simultaniously, that very same day, in an unrelated and ultimately more impactful event, an underground 'occult' band from southern California called "W.A.S.P." releases their debut self-titled album.
Flash forward fifteen albums and twenty years (well, minus a few hours) and you'll find me, my wife, the rest of the guys from Scarecrow Balcony and about 900+ diehard W.A.S.P fans packed into the illustrious Commodore Crystal Ballroom to witness the band's Neon God tour - their first Vancouver performance in over 15 years.
The set was non-stop ENERGY. For over 90 minutes, the band didn't let up long enough to let the audience breath, let alone take a breather themselves! Blackie Lawless played rhythm guitar for the set, (which surprised me - I had only ever seen him play bass before) and sang impecably while tirelessly bouncing around and inciting the already energetic crowd into a frenzy - Not too shabby for a guy that turns 49 in 4 days!
Ah, then there was Blackie's mic stand... a 1,000 lb steel skeletal frame with arms raised high as if it were gripping the handlebars of a chopper. This spring loaded maniacal metal masterpiece not only held up a mic for Blackie, but it made a great perch for him as he belted out a few songs from the latest album while lathering up with glowstick juice - a freaky site under the black lights! Freaky, but very powerfully effective - in fact, as much as the other cities may have complained, I can totally see why W.A.S.P. recently cancelled a few sold out shows simply because the stage wasn't high enough or strong enough to support the mic stand. Don't get me wrong, without the neon encore, it still would have been a helluva show - I figured I had my money's worth after the first six songs, but those last images were what put it over the edge, making it one f**k'n AWESOME and infinitely memorable experience.
I also ran into two old singers from my past at that show... it was so cool to see these guys again - first was Dan, who sang with Typhus - not while I was in the band, but shortly after. He recognized Carole and I right away - great guy - good to see him again. The second was none other than the very first singer of the very first band I was ever in... back in Chilliwack - I must have been 20, and Harley was 17 or 18 - we rehearsed in his garage, and did songs like Paranoid, Sweet Child of Mine, Wild Flower, Hard to Handle, Rock you like a Hurricaine, Enter Sandmand, Smells like Teen Spirit - basically all the shmoltz that came out in 1991, plus all our earlier favorites... We never actually performed anywhere, but we sure did practice a lot. I played lead guitar for the first and only time in that band, and the my favorite guitar and amp, the ones I still prefer and use to this day, I bought while in that band. Wow. That was thirteen years ago - talk about memories! It was really cool seeing Harley again.
So anyway, I know that's not much of a show review, but it was a super awesome time - I had such a great night, I'm still pumped now - at work the next day, some 5 hours after getting home from the show (LOL!) - my ears are ringing like a moe-foe, but I'm still psyched! After a couple of legacy band letdowns (like Skid Row and Quiet Riot...) it was such a relief to see one of the bands of my youth still kickin' it 120%.
Last night, while standing at the bar lineup, a kid started talking to me about how he has loved W.A.S.P since he was fourteen, and has waited 10 years to see the band- I chuckled and said, yeah, I first heard W.A.S.P. when I was fourteen too, and got my first album of theirs later that same year ... I've totally been wanting to see them since then - of course, that was TWENTY years ago, and it was their first album. I bought the next 6 albums after that, but still never saw them until now. Yeah, I suppose talk like that could make a guy feel really old... but not after watching Blackie kick ass all night, and not after realizing that he was my age now, when I was saving up my paper route money to buy his 2nd album.
Posted by Calvin at August 31, 2004 07:58 AM