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Williamsville, NY- All old school rockers present? Good. Now “On Your Knees!” A very deserving crowd of approximately 200 WASP die-hards was enthralled in an all-out metal bombard courtesy of Blackie Lawless and his band inside Club Infinity this past Tuesday evening. Unlike previous WASP concerts, there was no blood, raw meat, porn, or 1000 lbs mic stands. Just straight forward, no-frills rock n’ roll.
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The show kicked off with, “On Your Knees” and was promptly followed with “Murders in the Rue Morgue”, “L.O.V.E. Machine”, “Wild Child” and, the ode to Tipper Gore classic, “Animal, F**k Like A Beast.”
Fans were getting restless as the time between the last opening band and the time Blackie sauntered on stage was a little excessive, however all was forgiven once the opening riff shot out across a sea of raised fists that punctured the dry ice that rose from the stage.
Blackie, notorious for his sometimes-pretentious behavior, actually displayed a pleasing, jovial demeanor throughout the set. He took some time to explain the inspirations behind such songs as “Crimson Idol” and “What I’ll Never Find,” and a more poignant story came prior to “Charisma,” a song off “Unholy Terror,” that was inspired by the evil surrounding 9/11. He credits being unable to rid his taste buds of the acrid smell of burning electrical wire from ground zero as being one of the many forms that evil took on that day. He also warned that President Bush is “tricking the hell out of all of us.” That served as Blackie’s political commentary of the evening, well, that and his comment about Tipper Gore still being lodged half way up his ass, even after all these years.
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Teasing the crowd with, “Now we’re gonna do some songs we haven’t done live too much” or “here’s some new stuff for ya,” the band would then break into WASP classics like “The Real Me” and “I Wanna Be Somebody.” Kidding aside, the band did throw a couple of slow-burning deep cuts into the mix with “Widowmaker” off The Last Command and combined the ending with a shortened version of “Sleeping in the Fire.” Guitarist Darrell Roberts’ fingers were in wicked form as they sped fluently up and down the fret board, particularly during the extended solo near the end of “Crimson Idol.”
The buoyant energy and bass stylings of Mike Duda further tightened the band’s grip on the audience right through to the show ending encore “Blind in Texas.”
Blackie Lawless, love him or hate him, he’s got songs and a persona that refuse to be ignored and, above all, he can still manage to pull off wearing a black spandex body suit and saw blades on his crotch! These days, it just doesn’t get more metal than that!
Check out upcoming tour dates at www.waspnation.com
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Check out our 2002 interview with Blackie Lawless here
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