WASP / Hurricane Party
5 November 2004
London Astoria
Given a mere six months ago WASP passed through the UK with heavy weight support in the shape of Dragonforce, it was a bit of a surprise that this time round the three UK dates would each have different local supports. In the case of London, it was only finally on the afternoon of the show that the venue were able to confirm that Hurricane Party would have that honour.
Although not the sort of rock I usually listen to, Hurricane Party had impressed me when supporting Skid Row and evidently the boys had been working hard as their professionalism had clearly shifter up a gear since then.
Opening with Killer, the band were immediately throwing rock star shapes and bouncing around the sizeable stage. Vocalist Richie Hevenz, with his black mane resembling Ian Astbury in his Sonic Temple days, has that suitable smoky edge to his vocals which works so well with Hurricane Party`s sleazy brand of rock and roll.
Bassist Rob Randell and guitarist Johnny Rocker (great name!) looked like they were having the time of their life and their enthusiasm was scoring points with the crowd. Meanwhile lead guitarist Robbin Hirshfield was given a chance to show his abilities with a solo to close Big Rock Show.
Typically what`s needed as an unannounced support is to get up there and hit the crowd with what you`ve got and that`s just what Hurricane Party did with their short set. Their logo back drop, erected above drummer Chris Rivers, neatly left nobody with any doubt about who they`d just seen and having scored the opening slot on Europe`s forthcoming return to the UK, things look bright for the band`s future.
Hurricane Party set list:
Killer / Days Full Of Night / Roadstar / Liar / Last Survivor / Big Rock Show / Let`s Get Started / Steam
Maybe the lack of pre-advertised support was one factor, but predominantly I`m guessing it was down to the fact that WASP had only recently toured that the Astoria was much lighter on numbers than at the last sold out show in May. We had noticed a similar pattern when Anthrax played to a packed Astoria to return soon after to a less than heaving crowd. It seems if a band hasn`t toured for a while, the casual fans will come out, but having had their fill, don`t come back. The one thing with this is though is that those here are truly here for WASP, which was evident by the hysterical cheering as Blackie Lawless` distinctive handle-barred mic stand was unveiled.
The band had advertised the fact that about 50% of the set list would be different to the last shows and as before a medley opened proceedings, though this time Inside The Electric Circus had been book-ended with Helldorado and Hate To Love Me.
Before launching into L.O.V.E. Machine, Blackie clearly stated that WASP had come here tonight to kick some ass and he wasn`t kidding. The recent lengthy European tour had clearly bonded the band tighter both on a playing level and in terms of the intensity of their performance. Where before the sound was at times awash with fuzz, tonight it was clear and confident.
Bassist Mike Duda was constantly spinning around on the spot whilst Darrell Roberts stalked the stage. Blackie Lawless limitations in being able to move whilst singing are overcome by him swinging around on his mic stand, though when not singing he was sideways skipping around the stage and generally far more active than when I had seen him before.
Roberts took an extended solo spot during Wild Child, whilst the crowd took over with a chant of "F**k like a beast", prior to Animal. With so much momentum built up, Come Back To Black from new album Neon God Part 2 took a bit of the edge away. I must confess to not being a fan of the Neon God albums. To my ears it sounds like Blackie has written these albums alone, probably using a drum machine, which seemed apparent from the lack of effort required from Stet Howland during this very linear song. Consequently the songs sound too clinical and boring to my ears and with a band playing so well together, I would hope that the way forward is to get together in a practice studio and work as a unit.
Things were back on track again with the welcome inclusion of The Headless Children whose up-tempo ending saw some great guitar interplay between Lawless and Roberts. Likewise, The Idol was a popular surprise for the crowd with Roberts once again given an opportunity to show his skills.
Kill Your Pretty Face took the place of My Tortured Soul as the moment were Blackie climbed on top of his mic stand, swaying around menacingly whilst smearing himself with fluorescent paint, highlighted by the UV lights.
I`d noted before that a lot of the WASP faithful have been quite critical about the continued inclusion of The Who`s The Real Me, but being a bass player myself, I love to hear Mike Duda get the opportunity to take on the mighty Ox`s rolling bass lines. There were no complaints however as I Wanna Be Somebody ends the main set.
The slow building Raging Storm starts the encore, again from Neon God and again not one of my favourites, though Blind In Texas ended the set on a suitably high note.
WASP set list:
Medley (Helldorado / Inside The Electric Circus / Hate To Love Me) / L.O.V.E. Machine / Wild Child / Animal / Come Back To Black / The Headless Children / The Idol / Never Say Die / Kill Your Pretty Face / The Real Me / I Wanna Be Somebody / The Raging Storm / Blind In Texas
LINKS:
WASP
Hurricane Party
|
