Event:	W.A.S.P.: European Tour 2015
Written by:	Bad English
Published:	14.10.2015

W.A.S.P. - a American super band (yes, they are) - and Northern Sweden? Make any sense? Sure it does, because the band played here twice (should have been three times; remember when Blackie broke his leg and their appearance at Kirunafestivalen was canceled, and they were replaced by Sabaton?). The first time the band played in Luleå was 30 Years Of Thunder in 2012. Now, after three years, they came back.

I arrived at the venue an hour and ten minutes before the show, perfect for a chilly autumn day. I wasn't impressed by the merchandise. The selection was poor; just flags and t-shirts, all expensive and uninteresting, with no sign of the actual Golgotha album. So I chilled out with Erdinger Dunkel, because it was the only thing from my "kinds of beer to drink" list there. I listened to so-called ''traditional'' metal hits on CD and looked around at the other metalheads there. While at the concert, two main things came into my mind: warm-up bands and the set list.

There were no warm up bands, like last time. I have heard that in Estonia, Latvia, Hungary, and Slovenia some people are pissed when they see warm-up bands; after all, they are the same bands they see every weekend, since the local scenes are poor. Here in some way I like that there are no warm-up bands. You see the main band that you went to see, and don't have to listen to some small, boring band that you don't even like and would never care about; but on other hand, it would be nice to see more live music.

Setlist: Well, I saw this band for the second time and the songs were ''classics,'' so I wonder what is the purpose of seeing the same band every year with the same songs when maybe they change 2-3 songs. Cristina Scabbia from Lacuna Coil had the same problem; in one interview posted on Blabbermouth, she explained that she is bored of the same bands every year, the same festivals gigs, that she wants to see new bands. It's like having ten Iron Maiden live albums. If you play them and hear all ten different versions of "The Trooper," there's no way you'd care to see the band live. When you are in the middle of action, when the band starts playing, when you can headbang, you basically forget that question; but two versions of the same song are two versions of the same song, and if I were to hear ten, I don't know how I would feel.

I didn't see the sound check; maybe it was before opening? Like every one of my concerts, the first song was so lame. The sound was horrible, and even for me, knowing this band so well, it was impossible to tell what song it was; but it was fixed fast and the rest of gig was great. Generally it had good quality vocals and sound, but in the middle of one song there was some glitch that made a ''ghghghhgh" type of sound three times. There was another error with a video starting too early, before the actual song started, but it was also fixed. The band played videos, promotional stuff, and employed some visual effects. Another thing I don't like is when bands don't speak to the public, and Blackie said few words and also didn't introduce the band. The worst thing in every single concert, and why I hate being in front of the stage, is water; as many frontmen do, Blackie threw a bottle with water into the air. It's like rain and I hate rain and being wet. I don't pay money for it, since I am not a fanboy, but a poser.

The concert was simply kickass, and the band also played three new songs: ''Last Runaway,'' ''Miss You,'' and ''Golgotha,'' all of which were much heavier than on the studio album. If the studio versions were so heavy, it would be a kickass album (that is, even more than it is now). Live, those songs were really good. The song ''Crazy'' from the previous album, Babylon, was also performed, which was something of a surprise, since we all know that the killer hit from that album was ''Babylon's Burning.'' Even the Chuck Berry cover, ''Promised Land,'' was great, but this choice of song to play live surprised me.

Also, the band in some kind of a way wanted to promote The Crimson Idol, but the rest were classic songs from the old days; seems like that's what fans want to hear? The running time was approximately 90 minutes.

Conclusions: after a brilliant show and positive emotions, the only thing I want add is that I wish I were able pick out my own set list and have the band perform it for me. They have many good songs, but I am an album freak; I listen to full albums, not hits, songs, singles whatsoever, so I am a hard man to please.

Setlist: (using my memory, and not in any order): "Inside The Electric Circus," "The Real Me," "L.O.V.E. Machine," "Golgotha," "Last Runaway," "Crazy," "Miss You," "I Don't Need No Doctor," (the last two I remember well) "Wild Child," "I Wanna Be Somebody"


Special thanks to ScreamingSteelUS for proofreading and help.