overlap

There's something ever so slightly disappointing in seeing something that's previously been fantastic go downhill - I've just got home from seeing W.A.S.P. who it turns out are one of a very select group of acts I've seen in the 80s, the 90s and now in this decade too. Perhaps the forerunners of Marilyn Manson in terms of outrage from people plenty old enough to know better, at their peak they were an outstanding live band, and one of the few where it seemed like what happened for the period they were on stage really mattered. Now, the ghosts of earlier incarnations are still in evidence, but here's the problem - when you're Tom Paxton at 70 or Tom Russell at 60, or even Tom Chaplin from Keane at twenty-something, you just keep turning up and doing your songs, and that's what people come for. But W.A.S.P. was always a high production value band, from Johnny Rod running around like a junior Jimmy Saville full of e-numbers to a decent outlay on pyrotechnics every show, and a few less tasteful stunts in between, the songs on their own are not the whole thing without performance and the show. It's not like there's a lot of subtlety in the material to fall back on or show another side of, after all. Blackie's just had a small heart complication which led to the cancellation of a couple of shows recently, and he's not getting any younger. Nevertheless, you have to applaud the spirit of a man just turned 50 who's 6 foot 5 anyway, and wears stack heels on his over knee length boots. You can see he's a little off the pace, the other, younger members of this version of the band do their bit to help out, but by the time I'd paid for the ticket and travel I ended up with less than two minutes of not oustanding performance per pound spent, and that doesn't rock my world on a value for money basis. Nevertheless, it was pretty much a greatest hits set so I knew virtually all the stuff they did, and it was the best show within striking distance on offer on my birthday, but I think this sadly joins my slowly growing list of stuff I probably don't need to see again. But to either confirm the prejudices of people who thought such music a dangerously corrupting force on the world's vulnerable children, or to offer an opportunity to mock the the more outlandish elements of rock stupidity, here's a picture of the only real element of spectacle on the current stage set-up - it's Blackie's custom combined microphone stand and climbing/zimmer frame. I pity the roadies who have to drag it from country to country. Eat your heart out, Julian Cope!