WASP, 40th anniversary tour, 17.05.2023, Arenele Romane

WASP. Arenele Romane. 40 years tour. Fun fun fun!

It’s been a while since I saw WASP live at OST fest, where I was feeling like crap and didn’t get to enjoy the show very much. So I was looking forward to a better experience, where I could appreciate the band properly. And thankfully, I got it. I had a bit of a cold so I had to contain myself not to yell too much (very difficult matter for me) and there was a constant loom of rain over us, but hey, it was fun. And it actually stopped raining before we left for the show and only started to rain again when we got back home. That was more luck than I could’ve hoped for.

The evening started with Revolter, a young Romanian band that sounded pretty good. The boys weren’t intimidated by the magnitude of the band they were opening for, nor by the lukewarm reception they unfortunately got from the audience, and they delivered a good show, full of energy and excitement.

And then after a small delay and a lot of impatience, the unmistakable voice of Blackie Lawless was heard from the backstage, probably giving the final details to his crew, so we got ready for the legends from WASP to appear on stage.

It was an extremely entertaining night, with a lot of jumping, dancing, headbanging and singing along. I was lucky enough to be in the front row of my section, so I could see everything just right and had enough room to manifest. My husband nicknamed me “gambolina”, for all the horsing around I was apparently doing.

Less lucky was Blackie, who suffered an injury that led to a herniated disc, that led to the doctors stressing he needs to cancel the tour or at the very least sit during the shows. So he delivered the entire concert from an impressive skull-themed throne, but was still full of his unmistakable energy and did his best not to disappoint the crowd. He took the time to appreciate the venue, which I also love and unfortunately find too poorly kept for how awesome it is. He also talked beautifully about how grateful he is to the fans for supporting them for 40 years and to God for still preserving his voice after all this time.

His voice. I had heard a lot about how bad it is nowadays, but honestly I didn’t see it. Yeah, he went around all the high notes, but the man is 66 years old. Most people are retired at that age. Instead, there he is, rocking while in severed pain, still enjoying himself and still delivering those iconic raspy vocals he’s so known for. The idol was just absolute bliss. And after reading more about how serious his hernia is, my respect for his resilience and dedication is sky high. Having went through nerve pinching myself, which is far less serious than what he has, but still incredibly painful, I don’t know how he could even sit on that chair and sing. He is an absolute fighter.

Unfortunately the show was very short, only a little over an hour. For an anniversary tour and a stand alone concert it was a bit unfortunate for the fans. But considering Blackie’s medical situation, I think we should be grateful we even got this, considering he had been advised to cancel all-together.

In any case, it was a very pleasant evening, full of energy and liveliness and I’m happy I got to be there, especially since lately I’ve been to live shows so rarely. It was also special because Wild Child and L.O.V.E. Machine were two of the songs that my husband wooed me over with back when we had just started dating, so those tracks brought back a lot of memories. Not to mention that it was just the two of us. You know, some couples leave the kid with grandma for a romantic dinner, others do it so they can headbang freely. Wouldn’t have it any other way.