W.A.S.P.
Sunday, May 14th, 2023
Ljubljana / CUK Kino Šiška / Slovenia
Some days just hit different. Days you can only call mandatory metal communion. This was one of those events that triggered a full-on pilgrimage of metal fans heading toward the Slovenian capital. From the south (basically the whole Balkans), from the north (Austria), and — let’s hope — maybe even a few cheated music lovers from Italy managed to make it. Strange intro, right? Doesn’t make much sense yet. Who the hell got cheated? Let’s take it slow.
We’re talking about the arrival of American glam shock metallers W.A.S.P., fronted by the one and only Blackie Lawless. Straight into Ljubljana. On a marathon tour celebrating W.A.S.P.’s 40th anniversary. So why exactly were the Italians cheated? Both Italian dates ahead of Ljubljana — Padua on May 12th and Milan on May 13th — were force-cancelled at the last minute. The reason? Severe back pain that’s been dogging Blackie for a good chunk of the tour. He used both Italy days for a rushed surgery, after which they rushed him back to Berlin (and thankfully back on the road). The Ljubljana show was saved.
And the Ljubljana show was? One of the special ones on the tour. Sold out. It was also W.A.S.P.’s first-ever appearance in the Slovenian capital. Before this, they’d only played Slovenia once — on October 16th, 2006 in Maribor, where Metalsteel opened for W.A.S.P., while Rockline caught that same tour not in Maribor but in the Italian town of Roncade near Treviso, on October 22nd, 2006.
Images Of Eden were supposed to join W.A.S.P. in Ljubljana, but after the Oslo, Norway show on April 26th, 2023, W.A.S.P. unceremoniously axed them from the tour overnight — officially for unknown reasons. So W.A.S.P. arrived in Ljubljana on their own. The atmosphere was brilliant. Bordering on sensational. That doesn’t happen every time. These kinds of metal moments come around maybe a handful of times a year, if that. Everyone showed up. Every last ‘rat from the basement.’ Not a soul was missing. A wild celebration was in the cards. The plaza in front of Kino Šiška started filling up gradually from six in the evening onward, doors opened and beer started flowing through the taps. A sea of faces you hadn’t seen in years. Phenomenal energy. Everywhere you looked. The whole place buzzing with anticipation. People had thrown on everything they owned. Some were even jangling as they walked. Sharp dressed. The way you dress when you’re heading to a W.A.S.P. show.
The show officially kicked off at half past eight in the evening. A little later than that. The packed venue was bursting at the seams. It was insane up front. The stage backdrop blazing in celebration of 40 years of the band. Every song backed by themed projections. Visually the stage felt even bigger than usual. Blackie’s legendary microphone — that iconic combo of chopper, bones, and skulls — looked more theatrical than ever. And when the long-awaited silhouettes finally appeared on stage to take their positions, it was clear the old warhorse was moving toward his skeletal mic a bit more gingerly than usual. A herniated disc takes its toll. The Ljubljana show was, in fact, only the second concert in Blackie Lawless’s career that he’d perform entirely seated. The first time was on May 11th, 2023, in Lausanne, Switzerland, where W.A.S.P. also had to cut the set short due to Blackie’s unbearable pain. The man settled onto a tall bar stool, took his trusty ESP LTD AX-50 in his lap, naturally didn’t forget to pull on his tall white fringed boots, and — as always — came properly painted. This time he truly looked like he was sitting on a throne built from skulls.
The band hit hard, as they’ve been doing for years. Opening with a medley of four career anthems you’d want played all the way through — though anyone who’s followed W.A.S.P. concerts for the past 20 years knows that’s not on the cards. On Your Knees. Hard to think of a better opener for an hour of evening metal mass in the company of W.A.S.P. The crowd went mental. Everyone airborne. Expectations met the moment iconic Blackie and the crew stepped on stage. A few pints flew through the air — but at an angle that thankfully fell short of the stage, so everything stayed within the bounds of sanity. This isn’t Slayer, this isn’t Motörhead. Relax. And there was no shortage of women in the crowd, as is fitting for a W.A.S.P. show. W.A.S.P. are a very specific kind of magnet. Blackie’s voice alone, and of course the music. Those riffs. They just cast a spell on you. Despite all these iconic guitar phrases that rank among metal’s greatest evergreens, after all these years W.A.S.P. remain not just a finely-honed shock theatre act, but a band that delivers a full bag of fun and positive energy. Led by the essential Wild Child, followed by L.O.V.E. Machine, with The Crimson Idol holding a special place in the night’s setlist. W.A.S.P. opened from it with the ballad classic The Idol. No bones about it — that’s one of the most striking ballads not just in the W.A.S.P. catalog, but in all of metal. It still hits with gut-wrenching power. That unique atmosphere the album is famous for — and which still stands out in the W.A.S.P. discography today — lingered on as the band didn’t skip the mightily epic The Great Misconceptions Of Me, followed by the shrapnel burst of Chainsaw Charlie (Murders In the New Morgue). And then we were already at the end of the main set with Blind In Texas!
Keeping Blackie company on stage in 2023 is a stellar lineup of musicians. The inseparable, ever-loyal bassist Mike Duda, the phenomenal guitarist Douglas Blair, and the killing machine behind the drum fortress Achiles Priester, who once cut his teeth, among others, with Brazilian progressive metal heavyweights Angra. Even with Blackie nailed to a bar stool for the duration, he didn’t need to strain himself in the slightest to send the crowd completely over the edge. The sheer charisma of this towering musician — who carries the reputation of being one of the most ‘delinquent’ and unpredictable characters in the metal world — is so overwhelming it can genuinely hypnotize you. With the drive generated by the powerful riffs of an equally powerful W.A.S.P. repertoire behind him, nothing could go wrong. And nothing did.
Including the pre-recorded intro — The Doors classic The End, which W.A.S.P. have been using for years — an extended break, and the mandatory encore, the show clocked in at just over an hour. Call it an hour and ten minutes. But that’s already standard practice — the W.A.S.P. standard, going back at least twenty years. Anyone who knows the band knows this well. So there was no room for disappointment. Legends are legends, and as a loyal devotee you accept certain things as part of the deal.
You should also know that most of the vocal lines were pre-recorded. Blackie was only live on the mic for the encore. Before Animal (F**k Like A Beast), he explained, among other things, that he has God to thank for still having such a well-preserved voice after all these years. Believe it or not — or as Buldožer would say: “We’ll live to see it, won’t we?” Either way. The energy was there. Right here, right now. And a packed house wasn’t about to resist it. Not even when W.A.S.P. blew the crowd into orbit for the finale with the classic I Wanna Be Somebody. People got their money’s worth, and the merch table was steadily running dry — which only confirmed that W.A.S.P. had achieved their goal. With the Ljubljana show they delivered top-tier, unforgettable entertainment. It lasted just over an hour, but if you add in the revelry before and after the concert, all the joy and laughter, the sense of fulfillment and the sheer flood of positive energy that swept through Kino Šiška that day and flowed freely among those present well into the night — this truly was one of those days. When we all become one. When all the walls come down and we become a brotherhood, united by a magic that transcends everything. The magic of metal.
Whether W.A.S.P. will keep playing in the years ahead is something only time will tell. For now, they have a full slate of North American dates confirmed for the rest of this year. After that, we’ll see. It’s clear that a lot will depend on Blackie’s physical condition.
Author: Edita Klemen & Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Setlist:
1. On Your Knees / The Flame / The Torture Never Stops / Inside the Electric Circus
2. L.O.V.E. Machine
3. Wild Child
4. The Idol
5. The Great Misconceptions of Me
6. Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue)
7. Blind in Texas
—encore—
8. Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)
9. The Real Me (orig. The Who)
10. I Wanna Be Somebody
V mojih letih mi razprodani koncerti niso več tako zelo ljubi, ker to pomeni gnečo, je pa prizorišče pred koncertom res nekoliko spominjalo na zlate čase v osemdesetih. Po pravici povedano sem bil kar malo presenečen nad množičnostjo obiska, še bolj pa nad huronskim vzdušjem med koncertom. Velik plus. V drugi vrsti sta se celo dve metalki stepli.
Prva vrsta pa je je bila kot v Nemčiji. Občutek imam, da je norela vsa dvorana, razen tistih v prvi vrsti. Ne razumem, da se da tipom priti v dvorano tako zgodaj, da potem slonijo na ograji.
Seveda pa je to norenje drugačno, kot v mlajših letih. Takrat smo vsi pritisnili naprej in je bilo kot v kotlu, vojna. Pri 50+ pa to seveda ne gre več, zdaj vsak nori na svojem mestu, in če se že kdo buta ob druga, ga vsi besno odrivamo.
Sicer sem jih pa nazadnje gledal pred 5 in pol leti na Dunaju, takrat so igrali v celoti Crimson Idol – zdi se, da je Blackie v tem času izgubil kakih 20 kg. Končno pa sem dočakal v živo Blind In Texas, zame najljubši W.A.S.P. killer. Se pa strinjam glede balad – morda so nekoliko spregledane, ampak zame je Blackie mojster številka 1, kar se tiče balad. Všeč mi je njegov princip, ki se ga drži pri večini balad – najprej nežen uvod, končajo pa se vedno z dolgim outrom, s solo kitaro in ponavljajočimi bobnarskimi prehodi. In med vsemi baladami je kraljica The Idol, ki izraža prav neverjetno bolečino.
Nekoliko pa sem pogrešal kakšno pesem več iz Headless Children – to je bil moj prvi W.A.S.P. album, ki me je navdušil. V tistih letih nisem bil prav velik fan, zgodnje albume sem vzljubil šele kasneje, Headless Children pa me je sezul od prvega trenutka. Se mi zdi, da v njihovi diskografiji zavzema podobno vlogo, kot Another Perfect Day pri Motorhead. Nekakšen outsider, v glasbenem smislu pa masterpiece.
Tvoji komentarji delujejo večkrat, kot bi mi bral misli. Celo isti favourite W.A.S.P. album imava zelo verjetno skupen. Headless Children. Klasika! Mogoče mi je dodatno toliko bolj pri srcu zaradi Kena Hensleya, ki gostuje na naslovnem epu tega albuma (kdor me pozna, ve da sem nepoboljšljivi Uriah Heep fanatik). Se pa tukej vedno težko odločam med The Crimson Idol in Headless Children, koga dati na prvo mesto.
Super so tile tvoji komentarji Matija. Tudi ti bi moral kdaj kakšno koncertno recenzijo napisat, ker si profesor za rock in metal. Vem vem, čas čas. Vse nas ta čas ‘baše’. A dovolj je če se nam pri 50+ uspe občasno preleviti v otroke stare tam 17-18. let. To je ogromen privilegij v svetu, kjer nam z absolutizmom legalnih dekretov in brez volje ljudstva dnevno odvzemajo svobodo in pravice.
Že na The Mission koncertu sem dobil tak občutek ‘osebne pootročenosti’ (seveda je atmosfera komplet druga – a gre se za un feeling, ki ti v živo, tako ali drugače, prikliče osemdeseta), W.A.S.P. devet dni kasneje so pa v tem oziru sploh delovali nostalgično.
In pol pozabiš na vse… na koncu celo noriš za trzalicami. Kot kompletno ‘blesavi’ 20 letnik. 😀
Ja in okol Another Perfect Day se prav tako ne bi mogel bolje strinjat z opisom. Z največjim užitkom poslušani MOtorhead album (z moje strani). Ob Bastards.
“Vedeti morate tudi to, da je večina linij nasnetih. Blackie-ja so priklopili na mikrofon (v živo) šele v dodatku. Pred Animal (F**k Like A Beast), ko je razložil med drugim tudi to, da se lahko zahvali bogu, ker ima po vseh teh letih še vedno tako dobro ohranjen vokal.”
Je to preverjena stvar ali tvoje osebno mnenje? Blackie priznava, da so zbori v refrenih nasneti, ostalo naj bi bilo pristno, v živo. Meni je bilo več kot sumljivo, da je bil Blackie večinoma v senci, vsi reflektorji pa na Aquilesu. Če je odpel v živo, svaka mu čast.
Drugač pa ja, vedeli smo, da lahko čakamo 10 komadov, brez mučnega soliranja v “Misconceptions” je blo vsega skupaj verjetno 45 min muzike. The Idol je meni (razen balade Hold on to my Heart in rez težke razturačine Chainsaw Charlie) močno precenjena plata, še posebej v luči dejstva, do so isto zgodbo leto prej povedali že Savatage s plato Streets.
Drugač pa “v piko” recenzija koncerta, res je blo noro. Škoda, da je zarad korone odpadla predvidena turneja, na kateri naj bi špilali samo komade s prvih štirih plat. Headless Children je resno zapostavljena, koji klinac morajo z nje špilat prav The Real Me, ki je cover?
Za konec pa še par besed o Aquilesu, ki je zame brez dvoma #1 power metal bobnar. Po moje se pri WASP na smrt dolgočasi, ampak položnice je treba plačat, ne? Pol pa v vse komada tišči noter vložke dvojnih bas bobnov, ga je prav užitek/smešno poslušat. Car!
Hvala za vabilo. Pred davnimi leti sem sicer pisal recenzije za Paranoid, ampak veliko krajše od tvojih. Tudi reportaže sem nekoč objavljal na svojem blogu, ampak samo za Rock Of Ages festival, od 2009 do 2012. Ampak blog sem že davno tega izbrisal. Pisanje takih zadev je časovno zelo zahtevno, in nimam prav veliko časa.
Je pa res, da so nekateri koncerti res zanimivi. Eden takih letos je bil letos denimo Corky Laing’s Mountain v neki vasi bogu za hrbtom nekje med Lipnico in Gradcem. Nekaj zanimivih me pa tudi še čaka, recimo Greta Van Fleet v Bologni.
Za trzalice se pa več ne borim, čeprav rinem v prve vrste. Zbiranje rekvizitov pa prepuščam sinovoma, ki sta pri tem zelo uspešna – ko sta bila še osnovnošolca, so jima glasbeniki kar v roke dajali rekvizite. Zdaj sta skoraj odrasla, ampak veliko ujameta, ker sta seveda hitrejša od konkurentov srednjih let, da ne govorimo, da veliko lažje najdeta trzalice, ki padejo na tla 🙂
Ja, itak. Štekam. Da ne boš mislu. Sem parkrat že hotu zapret stran. Ampak mi jo je na nek način škoda, pa nekak teram dalje….
Itak vse kar imamo v Sloveniji od zapisov o glasbi na nek način životari in se ne razvija, stagnira…. propadat itak ne more, ker tako ali tako ne more nič propasti, ker pravzaprav ničesar ni. Pridni in konsistentni so pa samo na Paranoidu.
Tud sam vse težje lovim čas in energijo. Sploh zadnje leto.
Dokler bo šlo, bo šlo. 😀
Se pa veselim tvojega komentiranja tudi v bodoče. 😀