Although it had not gone more than half a year since W.A.S.P. last visited, Oslo, Rockefeller Music Hall was pretty packed once again, with a seldom enthusiastic crowd. Usually the mixing table separates this venue in two sections when it comes to head banging and waving of hands, but this night there were Animals all the way into the back wall toilets. The band seemed to be pretty geared up themselves, as they delivered a complete kick-ass experience.
The stage was complete with 3D backdrops, a Neon God figure hanging from the roof, and Blackie’s usual mike stand … the mood was set for the evening. The band surprisingly played many older tunes – no more than two or three songs from the Neon God albums, and although those albums are great and the crowd could very well have enjoyed more new songs, there was very little room for complaints. The only major issue was that the gig lasted for not much more than an hour, and with the amount of classics this band has, this is very short. Still, most 48-year olds could probably not cope with Blackie’s energy level for five minutes, let alone a full hour, so one should probably not complain.
Blackie was namely in good form as usual, when he rode the mike stand with the lights turned off, and only the backdrop and his neon painted face can be seen along with the thundering music, it’s impossible not to get carried away. Vocally he was also in top shape – and heroic singing made a song like “Raging Storm” a definite highlight, although it’s almost impossible to pick highlights from a set list like this (full set list at the bottom of the page).
The band – lead guitarist Darrell Roberts, bassist and human jumping pole Mike Duda, and drummer Stet Howland were as solid as expected, and especially Roberts impressed with his mix of Chris Holmes-inspired rawk, and blues/shred licks. The extended solo during “The Idol” was spot on, and he easily fills out Holmes’ shoes. The sound was also very good, at least when they got to fix the guitar sound which was a bit on the trebly side to begin with.
Setlist (in no specific order)
Medley: On Your Knees/Inside The Electric
Circus/Hate To Love Me
Wild Child
Animal (Fuck like a beast)
Kill Your Pretty Face
The Headless Children
L.O.V.E. Machine
The Idol
Come Back to Black
Real Me
I Wanna Be Somebody
Raging Storm
Blind in Texas
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