W.A.S.P. / Dragonforce
8 & 9 May 2004
Rock City, Nottingham & The Astoria, London

I was going to skip reviewing these two gigs, given Johan`s on the road report, however I decided I`ll try and stay away from the behind the scenes stuff and comment on the gigs and my own experience.

The actual presentation and songs played by both bands at both gigs was pretty similar. For Dragonforce`s part, I believe they switched their first two songs between the two gigs. Forgive me for not being certain but at Nottingham I`d spent the afternoon having a few pints to steady my nerves, and then post 4.45pm to drown my sorrows at Huddersfield Town missing out on automatic promotion. Still they`re still in the play-offs and it`s not over until the fat lady sings and thankfully there were none of those at either gig!

I digress, but it does have a bearing, on my own experience as with alco-fuel on board, Nottingham proved very ROCK, but feeling it`s effects, London was much more subdued affair for me. This actually worked out well as I got to enjoy a similar experience from two very differing perspectives.

Pre-gig Saturday, the infamous GP, Tom and I discovered the Robin Hood shop in Nottingham was a Dragonforce fans treasure trove, and had to stop ourselves from buying more than the few plastic and foam swords we acquired. So, anyone that spotted the swords being waved during Dragonforce`s Nottingham set, yes, that was us.

By contrast in London, having seen Dragonforce numerous times, we chose to watch them from a completely new viewpoint, with a bird`s eye view from the balcony. This gave us a great chance to see all that was going on on-stage, though I`m kicking myself for having gotten the beers in at the moment apparently Herman fell over!

Sound wise for Dragonforce, Nottingham won hands down, with a great mix. London, meanwhile was dominated by the bass, drums and vocals. Switching to his solo settings, Herman`s guitar would become audible, but it wasn`t until last song Valley Of The Damned that either Sam`s guitar or Vadim`s keyboards had any kind of presence. A real shame.

At both gigs, the raised podium, on which Blackie Lawless` mic stand would be attached later, proved a great stage prop for Dragonforce. Whether it was Herman and Sam stood side by side on it peeling of twin guitar leads, Z.P. standing legs akimbo sweeping his hand over the audience or even Adrian enjoying the limelight and who was a real presence at both gigs. Vadim and Dave are obviously somewhat limited in their movement. However, Vadim`s trademark hair sweeping from side to side, added to the dizzying onstage movement and Dave is an absolute powerhouse on the drums, with his blastbeats destroying all in their path.

Four songs doesn`t seem many, but in Dragonforce`s case that does equate to a 30minute set and the choices of two songs from each album was good. Dragonforce have always been fun to watch, but at these early stages of the Sonic Firestorm tour it is apparent that they are becoming a much slicker proposition. New drummer Dave has now been fully accepted into the fold and there`s a real sense of them being a solidified band and this long tour with W.A.S.P. is perfectly timed for them to build on that.

It`s clear from the reception at the start of both gigs and that at the finish that they`ve picked up a good few new fans and their headline gigs in September are shaping up to be one`s not to miss.

Dragonforce Set List (order slightly different at each gig):
Black Winter Night / My Spirit Will Go On / Fury Of The Storm / Valley Of The Damned

I can`t believe that these were my first two experience`s of W.A.S.P. live. I remember when taking my formative steps into metal, videoing late night ITV programme The Power Hour back in about 1986 and repeatedly watching W.A.S.P.`s Wild Child video. They were an important band to me back then, though I started to over look them when I took my journey into thrash.

So finally I got to see them. Well, Blackie anyway, as elsewhere it`s been a revolving line of musicians, but the current line-up certainly does justice to their legacy.

Blackie`s mic stand forms the focal point, for this otherwise fairly stripped down stage-show but it`s versatility certainly adds to the show. Resembling a skinless Terminator crossed with a set of motorbike handles the base is spring loaded allowing Blackie to climb aboard and swing around on it.

With a discography stretching back over 20 years, song selection is always going to prove difficult and controversial. The die-hards want to hear some material from later albums, whereas others, like me, want to hear the classics. The classics certainly got the nod this time with only a few choices from recent albums.

One easy way to pack in a few songs is a medley. I`ve made my feelings known before on medleys and my dislike for them, though I have to confess the opening barrage of On Your Knees, Inside the Electric Circus, Hellion and Chainsaw Charlie worked very well. This was spoiled slightly in London by one idiot who managed to land a beer in Blackie`s head, though it was good to see the same guy forcibly removed later in the set.

At Nottingham we were quite close to the action and were frankly being deafened by the ridiculous loud PA, which was distorting and detracting from the actual songs. As a result I`d chosen to wear my noise reduction plugs in London which allowed me to discover the band could actually play. Guitarist Darrell Roberts in particular was a revelation with his excellent lead work showcased on an emotive What I`ll Never Find.

Actually, the aforementioned song proved a massive contrast to Blackie singing about his "pictures of naked ladies, lying on their beds!" during the infamous Animal. This also saw bassist Mike Duda spinning round like a Whirling Dervish. Duda also provided the occasional lead vocal with Blackie pointing directly at him in emphasis.

The menacing My Tortured Soul proves the most dramatic point of the set, with Blackie perched right on top of his mic stand swaying about in the dark. As the song progressed Blackie began to appear from the dark as he daubed himself with luminous paint which was picked up by the UV lights. First each arm was revealed then he rubbed the paint across his face making him seem like a demonic zombie.

I`ve read many comments on the W.A.S.P. forum of people wanting The Who cover, The Real Me, dropped from the set, but for me it proved to be a high point of the set. I think W.A.S.P. have really made this song their own and it also gives Stet Howland a chance to show off his powerful drumming ability

I Wanna Be Somebody provides the obligatory sing-a-long and at the London gig seeing the GP raised from his subdued state un-provoked and singing along to this I will never forget. That`s the infectious effect of this song and it is rightfully a metal anthem.

This finished the main set at both gigs and coming back, the encore started with a semi-acoustic medley of songs, which I have to say didn`t appeal to me much, but I know it did go down well and provided a break of pace to the set. The rock`n`roll of Blind In Texas closed proceedings both nights.

There`s been a lot of bickering on the net about the pairing of these bands on this tour and who was better. From my viewpoint they`re both metal and their differing styles made for a good varied evening. I enjoyed both bands in completely different ways and believe both benefits from each others presence. It`s a bit cheesy to say, but the real winner on this tour has been metal as the turn out`s, have been particularly strong and hopefully will encourage more bands to trek beyond London in the U.K..

W.A.S.P. Set List (order slightly different at each gig):
Overture (Intro tape) / Medley (On Your Knees / Inside the Electric Circus / Hellion / Chainsaw Charlie) / L.O.V.E. Machine / Animal / Wild Child / What I'll Never Find / Sister Sadie / My Tortured Eyes / The Real Me / I Wanna Be Somebody / Medley (The Idol / The Gypsy Meets The Boy / Sleeping In The Fire) / Blind in Texas