Live | W.A.S.P. – Rockhal – Luxembourg

12 June 2025

Thursday, June 12, I was invited to W.A.S.P.’s show at the Rockhal in Luxembourg. Since this venue is 1 of my favorite live venues and W.A.S.P.’s first record has racked up many spin miles on my record player, it was obviously a no-brainer to go.

Under the banner “Album One Live World Tour 2025”, the band surrounding vocalist/guitarist Blackie Lawless is touring Europe at the moment. And while there are quite a few people who care that the band has backing tracks running along, the Rockhal was quite full. Almost sold out even. And among the mostly older rockers, there were even some enthusiastic teenies and 20-somethings to be found.

TIMELESS CLASSICS

And fair is fair, when you can kick off a show with timeless classics like ,,I Wanna Be Somebody’’ and ,,L.O.V.E. Machine’’, the evening is already almost perfect.

The band is fiery and in tune with each other. Bassist Mike Duda, lead guitarist Doug Blair and drummer Aquiles Priest form a fat solid foundation and the enjoyment of playing shines through. Singer/guitarist Lawless also seems to be in a very good mood today and he uses the entire stage to move around. That must feel like a relief, since the 2023 tour had to be cancelled halfway through, due to injuries, which included a herniated disc and a broken vertebrae, required surgery and intensive rehabilitation. At least that rehabilitation seems to have come good, and now the tour can finally take place.

AT THE GATES OF HELL

The sound in the Rockhal was almost perfect, but Doug’s guitar could have been a bit louder. This was especially noticeable when he played alone, but otherwise there was nothing to complain about. Also, the lights were fine tonight.

Apparently, I was not the only one at the show who knows the songs from album `One’ [also known as ‘Winged Assassins’ in Europe] through and through, because there was a loud roar during almost the entire set. Yes, the speeches in between were somewhat over-rehearsed, but given the enormous heat, some spontaneity came out of Lawless’ mouth as well. “Yes people it’s hot and I see a few standing with the fan in their hands, but believe me, here on stage it’s like we’re standing at the gates of hell in terms of heat.”

THE BIGGEST HITS

The biggest hits were played in chronological order and songs like ,,School Daze’’, ,,Hellion’’, ,,Sleeping (In The Fire)’’ with extra-long outro solo & ,,On Your Knees’’ were certainly celebrated by the audience in attendance.

No, the fire, blood and theatre of yesteryear was no longer there, but the songs in themselves are still so good that you don’t miss it. In addition, the video wall behind drummer Aquiles showed footage of past live performances and clips. Would have been perfect if these had been in sync then too.

After ,,The Torture Never Stops’’, the band left the stage with a thank you goodnight. Which did cause confusion among the mob in attendance. But by the first notes of ,,The Big Welcome’’, fans knew they had arrived at the ‘Inside The Electric Circus’ era.

W.A.S.P. – THE CONCLUSION

For ,,Wild Child’’, a nice extra part was added where Blackie starts the song alone with guitar and vocals in a ballad form only to transition after the first chorus to the iconic guitar riff that starts the song, to play it in its full length.

With ,,Blind in Texas’’, this best of the W.A.S.P. 80s show comes to an end after all. And was it good? Definitely. Did people enjoy it? Yes they did. What more could you want as a fan? The band delivered a great show in Rockhal Luxembourg and let’s not whine about whether or not there is something in the background, because 9 out of 10 bands do that nowadays.

W.A.S.P. anno 2025 was on fire!

SETLIST W.A.S.P.

I Wanna Be Somebody
L.O.V.E. Machine
The Flame
B.A.D.
School Daze
Hellion
Sleeping (In The Fire)
On Your Knees
Tormentor
The Torture Never Stops

THE ENCORE

The Big Welcome
Inside The Electric Circus/ I Don’t Need No Doctor/ Scream Until You Like It
The Real Me/ Forever Free/ The Headless Children
Wild Child
Blind In Texas

All photos by Raymond Helebrand