Artist:   W.A.S.P., Susperia & Sister sin

Venue: Carling Academy, Newcastle

Date:  15 April 2007 

In October last year we saw WASP return to Newcastle after some 20 years and I said then, let's hope is not another twenty before Blackie Lawless and Co return to this city.  Sure as eggs is eggs, the band are back a mere six months since their last show to show us what they're made of once again.  This time it’s part of a short tour, with a new album 'Dominator' due for release just as this UK stint of the tour is coming to an end, the band are giving us a taste of things to come, as plans to promote the album later in the year are already promised.

But first it's time for a Scandinavian assault by two very different bands who are both making their debuts in the UK for this tour.

First up is the female fronted sleaze hard rockers Sister Sin who hail from Gothenburg Sweden.  Led by the charismatic Liv this band are definitely old school rock.  They open up their short but impressive set with ‘Hostile Violent’ and instantly I liked this band, they have the look, they have the attitude, and they have the songs.

With Liv dominating the stage she comes across as a Swedish Doro Pesch with her balls to the wall vocals.  The set continues at a lighting pace as the band go straight into ’Writings On The Wall’, before really going to town on the excellent ‘Minor You Major Me’, followed quickly by the equally impressive ‘Eye To Eye’ and ‘Pusher’, as Liv shows what a powerhouse vocal talent she really is.

The band definitely have their roots firmly in old school hard rock and glam, and it's none more prominent than when the band put their own spin on a classic Motley Crue song as they rip it up with their own version of ‘Live Wire’, with guitarist Jimmy shredding for all his worth and Liv head-banging along like a true metal queen.

The band finished off the set with ‘White Trash’, another full on old school rocker that really gets the crowd going and rounds off a great set.  Let's hope we see these guys back on our shores in the not too distant future.

Next up are Norway’s Susperia.  If Sister Sin are old school then Susperia are most definitely new school, as they brandish their hard edged, no holds barred metal assault on a unsuspecting crowd.  I think that I was one of the few in the crowd who knew all about these guys and what they are capable of musically, but I certainly wasn’t expecting them to give one of the best live performances by a support band I'd seen in a long time, which is exactly what they did.

With the band opening up with ‘More’, the first of many from the bands new album ‘Cut From Stone’, this five piece set out their stage from the off, with frontman Athera coming across as a cross between James Hetfield and Henry Rollins with his awesome vocals and huge stage presence.

The thunderous metal just kept on coming as the band went into ‘Distant Memory’ with the very impressive guitars of Cyrus.  The band delved a little into their back catalogue with the first of three songs from the bands ‘Unlimited Release’, before returning to the new opus for a mind blowing version of ‘Under’, and a bone crushing version of ‘The Clone’.  Next the band really showed their metal as it was back to 'Unlimited' for a the guitarfest that is ‘Devil May Care’.

By this time in the set the band couldn’t do any wrong, as they had totally won the majority of the crowd over and as they went into the title track of the new album ‘Cut From Stone’, heads were definitely rocking. 

The band finished off with the final track from ‘Unlimited’, the thumping double kick assault that is ‘Home Sweet Hell’, which rounded off an altogether superb set. 

If you haven’t checked out the new album then I'd recommend you do so and if you think the album is impressive, make sure to the check them out live as the album doesn’t do the live show justice.

Now for the main event WASP.  With only six months between shows the venue is still near capacity for a band that for me is Blackie Lawless.  I’ve often said he is one of the best heavy metal lyricists around and isn’t given the credit he deserves for his song writing abilities over the years.  The theatrics may have been part of early WASP but now it's all about the music, and ever since the Crimson Idol album Blackie has grown as a song writer and his observations of the world are second to none.  He is a true patriot and is Stars And Stripes through and through, and with the latest album 'Dominator', he projects his feelings about the futility of the Iraq war and his feeling of the Bush administration.  But enough of the politics, let's get back to the show.

As the house lights went out and the first few chords of The Doors classic 'The End' play out across the PA, the whole crowds mind-set was to raise roof from the off, and as the silhouetted figures of the band stood on stage and the intro faded out, Newcastle once again showed their appreciation for one of rocks legends as shouts of "BLACKIE!!!" rained out from the crowd.  Now it was finally time to welcome the show.

Things got underway with ‘On Your Knees’ and from this point on the crowd was Blackie's to do with as he pleased, as they were totally at his command.  It was straight into the classic ‘Electric Circus’, which still rocks every time I hear it.

As Blackie sat aloft the now familiar mike stand, he viewed his adoring fans like a demy god watching over those who worship his very being.

The set continued with 'Hate To Love Me' from the Unholy Terror album, which went down a storm, as did another classic ‘L.O.V.E Machine’.  The it was time for a few words from Blackie himself as he promised a few songs from the new album, but before all that it was time for ‘Wild Child’.  The first of the only two tracks from the new album Dominator to feature tonight was the rocking ‘Take Me Up’, which once again shows Blackie's song writhing prowess, as with the classic stuff this new track went down a storm.

This short tour is all about giving the fans what they want and what Newcastle wanted was the classics, and that's just what they got as the set continued with ‘Real Me’ and one of my all time favourites ‘The Idol’, which gave guitarist Doug Blair a chance to really show his skills with his illuminated stained glass fronted guitar.

Now it was time for the crowd to sing along with the monster ‘I Wanna Be Somebody’.  As the chorus came around the crowd were one voice as they sang along totally unprompted, which seemed to knock Blackie back a bit, (now that’s power!), with that the band left the stage for a short while and almost instantly the crowd were baying for "BLACKIE!, BLACKIE!" and it wasn’t long before the band returned and Blackie gave us a short speech about the new album and his views on Liberty and Freedom and the war in Iraq and what we can do as a country to stop this futile war.

As the first few lines of 'Johnny Came Marching Home Again' came across the PA, it was time for the second song of the night from the new album Dominator, the heart felt lyrics of 'Heavens Hung In Black' have to be heard to be understood, but tonight the crowd just wanted to rock and rock they did .

With all the political rhetoric out of the way it was time for another classic and as the sound of a chainsaw was heard we all knew Charlie was in town as the band went back to the Crimson Idol for ‘Chain Saw Charlie (Murders in the Rue Morgue), which just ignited the crowd into a frenzy, and if that wasn’t enough, things got really hot as Blackie announced the band would be back in October!  The band then rounded off another superb show with what else but ‘Blind In Texas’.

I thought the show last October was good but this one surpassed even that and with the announcement of more shows later this year, you know I’m gonna be there!  I might even get to more than one, you never know.

 

 

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