THE CIRCUS, HELSINKI

17′TH OCTOBER 2012

REVIEW AND PICS BY MARKO SYRJALA

American heavy metal band, W.A.S.P., has been annual visitors in Finland during the last decade and this year was no exception. Since there’s no new album to promote, this tour was built upon the bands 30’TH Anniversary. The ads said that this tour is going to be the biggest spectacle W.A.S.P. has ever created and the message was well received since all four shows in Finland were practically sold out a long time ago. About 1500 eager people arrived to The Circus and they were ready witness the spectacle.

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STEVE RILEY

INTERVIEW AND LIVE PICS BY MARKO SYRJALA

L.A. Guns are best known as being one of the veterans of the Sunset Strip’s hair metal scene. The band formed in 1983 by guitarist Tracii Guns and after several line-up changes they found the right members and the classic line-up then consisted of Guns, vocalist Phil Lewis, drummer Steve Riley, bassist Kelly Nickels and guitarist Mick Cripps. Their late 80’s/early 90’s albums COCKED AND LOADED and HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES were highly successful. The 90’s proved to be a difficult time for L.A. Guns, as it was for many metal and hard rock bands. A great number of line-up changes and unsuccessful albums followed but the band finally got back on track with the 2001 album MAN ON THE MOON which once again included Guns, Riley, Cripps and Lewis back together. The next album WAKING THE DEAD followed in 2002 but although that album had many great reviews, and the band had some good tour offers, Tracii Guns decided to quit and concentrate on his brand new project Brides of Destruction which also included Nikki Sixx from Mötley Crue. The band lost their record deal and already booked tour but decided to carry on with a new guitar player. Stacey Blades (ex-Roxx Gang) stepped in and the album TALES FROM THE STRIP was released in 2005 and since then the band has been actively touring across the globe. The current version of L.A Guns includes: Lewis, Riley, Blades and the latest addition bassist Scotty Griffin.  The band arrived to Stockholm on late October and then we had an honor to sit down with Mr. Riley and hear the latest news and other interesting stuff as well… Read on!

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WHERE ANGELS SUFFER

INTERVIEW AND PICTURES BY MARKO SYRJALA

Transcription assistance by EvilG

Where Angels Suffer (WAS) is a new band featuring former W.A.S.P. members drummer Stet Howland and guitarist Chris Holmes. The band is completed by vocalist Rich Lewis (Animal), and bassist Steve Unger (Metal Church). The original line-up also included another former W.A.S.P. member Randy Piper but he split with the group earlier this year and he’s now been replaced by Ira Black (Lizzy Borden, Metal Church) The band was formed in 2010 and they released the debut album PURGATORY in the spring of 2011. Where Angels Suffer did their first ever European tour on last August and in Sweden we had the pleasure to sit down with Howland and Lewis and learn more about the band and its future plans as well as some old stuff… Read on!

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W.A.S.P

Return To Babylon European Tour 2010

Chris Laney – support act

Kulturbolaget

Malmoe

Sweden

17/10 – 2010

Reviewed and live pictures by: Anders Sandvall

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BLACKIE LAWLESS

Legendary U.S band W.A.S.P. would stir up quite a bit of controversy in their mid 80’s heyday thanks to their explicit lyrics and over-the-top stage show, which many deemed violent and sexist. That controversy would fade in time as the band tamed a bit and many more controversial acts came long, but not before putting the band on the map of the rock world and creating a ton of free publicity. The band released its self titled classic debut in 1984, and wouldn’t stop or even slow down despite some highly disruptive lineup changes and slowly fading album sales. The band has been relentless in their album releases, almost never letting up or even taking a bit of a breather. Their latest effort, 14’th studio album, BABYLON, arrived stores just a couple of months ago. Although this band has faced many ups and downs in its long career they now seem to do extremely well especially here in Scandinavia. In Finland alone, band now sold out four shows and performed altogether in a front of over 6000 WASP maniacs, that’s not so bad on these days isn’t it? In Helsinki we had a chance to sit down with the bands founder and mastermind Blackie Lawless and discuss many current topics including: the new album BABYLON, The Crimson Idol Anniversary –tour, the past, the future, the current global situation, politics and Blackies’ thoughts about retiring… Read on and learn!!

INTERVIEW BY MARKO SYRJÄLÄ AND MATTI MARTIKAINEN

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W.A.S.P

Beast Of Babylon World Tour Europe

Kulturbolaget

Malmoe

Sweden

3/11- 2009

Review and live pictures by: Anders Sandvall

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W.A.S.P. LIVE – THE CRIMSON IDOL FALLS

Metro Theatre, Sydney Australia

8 April 2008

I don’t normally waste my time writing less than positive reviews, but after the initial disappointment of the night, anger has set in.

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24.9 2006

Live at House of Culture, Helsinki FINLAND

Blackie Lawless formed WASP in the early eighties together with Randy Piper, Chris Holmes and Tony Richards. The band’s first EP “Animal “F*** Like A Beast” was released in 1983 and it was an instant success world wide. The band established a reputation as a ferocious live act, thanks to having naked beauties in a torture rack on stage and throwing raw meat into the audience during the show. The self titled debut album included such classics as “I Wanna Be Somebody”, “L.O.V.E Machine”, “Sleeping In The Fire” and “Hellion” which all are true heavy metal classics. In the following years the band released the albums “The Last Command”, “Inside The Electric Circus” and “Headless Children” before they went on hiatus around 1990. “The Crimson Idol” was released in 1993 with Blackie being the only original member. 1997 saw the release of “K.F.D” and a brief re-union with Chris Holmes. Since then WASP has released two live albums, five studio albums and has been almost constantly on tour. Although their record sales are far from the glory days, people still are interested to see them play live.Tonight’s show at House of Culture was sold out with the sales of 1500 tickets and on the current tour the band sold altogether almost 6000 tickets in Finland.

REVIEW AND PICTURES BY MARKO SYRJÄLÄ 

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W.A.S.P. – Blacker Than Ever
Metal Lords Release a Best of For Their Fans

Interviewed in May 2000 by Keith McDonald

W.A.S.P., one of the legendary bands to come out of the 80?s scene recently released Best of The Best Volume 1 via Snapper Music. With 13 albums to their credit, W.A.S.P. has sold millions of albums spawning an army of loyal fans around the world. They?re known for their electrifying live shows and raw, aggressive music, so the time seemed  right to unleash this beast. I had the chance to speak with founding member Blackie Lawless who filled me in on what?s been going on and what lies ahead for the band.

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W.A.S.P. The Interview
Interviewed in December 1998 by David Lee

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Monday, August 30, 2004

The Commodore Ballroom

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Review and All Live Pics by Lord of The Wasteland

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