Alongside KK’s Priest in Anaheim, California, Blackie Lawless and W.A.S.P. brought a stunning show, with a set list focusing almost entirely on their first four albums.
W.A.S.P.
The DigAlert Grove Of Anaheim, California – 31 October 2026
Words And Photography: Matt Roberts
Before I continue, I have a confession to make. As a lifelong follower of hard rock music (my first gig was Uriah Heep at The Liverpool Empire in November 1976, almost 50 years ago to the day), I have to admit I have never seen W.A.S.P. live in the flesh. Nor, for that matter, KK’s Priest. Inexcusable, I know.
So, as the clock strikes 9:30 pm and the lights dim, my curiosity was peaking. Taking their places in front of the drum riser with their backs to the audience, the first thing that strikes me is the size of frontman Blackie Lawless.
He is huge, dwarfing bassist Mike Duda and guitarist Doug Blair, who stand either side of him.
Turning to face his audience, Lawless cuts a menacing figure. Eyes lined black and with more foundation than a Vegas showgirl, he is bedecked all in black bar a natty pair of white, tasselled leather boots and white leather knee pads. Hopefully worn more for aesthetic purposes than to show his intention of doing multiple Premier League-style knee slides later in the set.
He strides to his pulpit at the front of the stage, a gothic, metallic, skull-topped structure that houses his microphone and later in the set acts as a climbing frame, as his bandmates burst into the instantly recognisable riff of Uriah Heep’s Easy Living, taken from the Inside The Electric Circus album and being aired publicly on this tour for the first time.
Bearing in mind my Heep was my first ever gig 50 years earlier, it is as though, with the choice of opening song, he is sending me some kind of subliminal personal message. ‘Hey muthafucker, where’ve you been all these years.’ Spooky.
Mr. Cool, a demo from Lawless’ pre-W.A.S.P band Sister, which later evolved into Cries In The Night from The Last Command album, is also aired live for the very first time on this tour and is preceded by a spot of storytelling from Mr Lawless.
Regaling how a former Sister bandmate had sold the song he had written as an 18-year-old to a production company without his knowledge for $5,000, he explains how when W.A.S.P. decided to do an alternative version of the song, retitled Cries In The Night, the same company sued him for over $1 million.
A shout from the audience of “Fuck them” is clearly heard, to which Lawless retorts, “Yeah, well, that’s how I felt too. Sometimes in life things ain’t going to go exactly the way you want them to. But once in a while the planets will align and with that comes sweet, sweet revenge!”
The stage set is decorated with circus-style flyers in acknowledgement of the band’s third full-length release, Inside The Electric Circus and a huge backdrop stating simply the premise of the tour, W.A.S.P. – 1984 To Headless, adorns the back wall.
When it drops to the floor five songs into the set, I sense someone in the road crew is going to be in for a bollocking before realising it is all intentional. It exposes three huge screens that proceed to accompany each song with promo videos from back in the day. At one point, Lawless points to the screen before turning to the crowd and mouthing, “That’s me.”
As if we did not know.
During The Headless Children, an AI-generated Adolf Hitler flashes on the screens with the words ‘Never Again’ blazoned across him, and as the song comes to an end, a life-sized electric chair appears stage right and proceeds to fry the effigy of the Führer that is sitting in it.
When everyone in the room is finally convinced he has perished, Lawless bids the audience good night, and he and his bandmates promptly disappear into the wings.
What the? We are only 45 minutes into the set at this time. But thankfully, within a minute, they return for what must be one of the longest encores in history.
I Wanna Be Somebody and L.O.V.E Machine, arguably two of their most famous tracks, are first up and serve to increase the excitement levels for the remainder of the night.
Lawless oozes charisma and is undoubtedly the centre of attention. It is hard to take your eyes off him whilst drummer Aquiles Priester is the closest thing to The Muppets Animal I have seen in a long time. A massed frenzy of hair and arms flailing behind a kit that houses four, yes, four, bass drums.
Whilst Lawless has openly admitted to the use of pre-recorded backing tracks to enhance the sound in W.A.S.P.’s live performance, accusations of lip-syncing by the frontman have also been made. If that is the case, then I would suggest he embarks on a new career as a ventriloquist because, watching closely, I saw not the slightest reason to suggest this was true.
His voice has always had a unique element to it, and tonight he hits every note. Quite remarkable for a man who celebrated his 70th birthday just prior to the beginning of the tour.
Lawless’ transition to Christianity has also been a much-publicised aspect of his career and, upon the conclusion of I Don’t Need No Doctor, his bandmates depart the stage to allow him to single-handedly play the intro to 2015’s Golgotha.
To hear him singing “Jesus, I need you now” to a house full of Metalheads, fans of a genre more associated with claiming allegiance to Satan, is quite a moment.
The set concludes with two more classic cuts, Wild Child and Blind In Texas from 1985’s The Last Command, and it is during the latter that Lawless climbs to the top of his pulpit and observes his congregation with arms outstretched.
An impressive display of balance, if ever I saw one.
And that is it. The end of a brilliantly entertaining evening of classic Heavy Metal. Quite fitting that, as the audience leaves the venue into the warm Californian night, the heavens once again open in a torrential downpour.
You can read the KK’s Priest review here.
