Is it too early to claim the best show of 2023? Probably, but I’m going out on a limb to say that W.A.S.P. delivered the number one contender in the metal category.
Yeah, maybe I should preface that with “old school” metal, but from the looks of the sold-out crowd at the Roundhouse last weekend, W.A.S.P. has crossed over to a new generation. And why not? The songs hold up incredibly well, and the fact that Blackie Lawless has tackled numerous trends and continued to remain relevant over forty fucking years is a testament to the sound and the antics that are very often imitated but never replicated.
I feel like everyone knows who W.A.S.P. is—even if you weren’t a metal fan, they have touched you or influenced you in one way or another. The poster child for shock metal in the ’80s, paving the way for Mason, Zombie, Slipknot, and countless others took controversy and explicit imagery to a new level. Their 1984 “hit” single “Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)” was banned in many countries while also becoming arguably their biggest hit. (It’s an incredibly catchy number, by the way, which you’ll be happy to know that after a long absence, it’s back in the set, and it fucking rips.)