W.A.S.P.

With Armored Saint

Big Night Live
Boston, Massachusetts
November 16, 2022

Photos & Review by Tom Bogus

BOSTON, Mass. – After not touring in the United States for over a decade, the legendary band W.A.S.P. returned. I was lucky to catch them at the sold out Big Night Live in Boston. Sharing the stage with W.A.S.P. were the heavy metal pioneers, Armored Saint.

Armored Saint has been around since 1982. They had disbanded when singer John Bush went on to sing with Anthrax in 1992. The band reformed in 1999 and have been releasing albums since. Their current lineup is John Bush on lead vocals, Joey Vera on bass, Jeff Duncan on rhythm guitar, Phil Sandoval on lead guitar and Gonzo Sandoval on drums. Unfortunately, singer John Bush came down with some type of illness that’s affecting his “nasal and chest” area causing him to sit out a couple of nights. Fortunately, long-time friend and vocalist Jason McMaster (Dangerous Toys/Dirty Looks/Broken Teeth) came to the rescue and filled in on vocals for the evening. He’s already helped Accept earlier this year filled in for vocals for Accept frontman Mark Tornillo for a number of shows while he recovered from a viral infection.

Armored Saint came to the stage at 7:30 PM with singer John Bush and he addressed the audience about his health and introduced Jason McMaster. Once John left the stage they kicked into “Reign of Fire” from their 1991 album Symbol of Salvation. Jason sounded pretty good considering he has a different vocal sound than John Bush. The band was great. They sounded very tight and clean. They changed up the set to accommodate Jason and stuck with the older songs such as “Can U Deliver”, “Long Before I Die”, “Nervous Man” and “March of the Saint”. They played a solid 45 minute set and ended with “Madhouse”.

ARMORED SAINT photo gallery

At 9:30 PM W.A.S.P. took to the stage, opening with a four-song medley of “On Your Knees”, “The Flame”, “The Torture Never Stops” and “Inside the Electric Circus”. The first three songs were from their 1984 self-titled debut album and the 4th was the title track from their 1986 release Inside The Electric Circus. The backdrop of stage was covered with several carnival freak show tapestries, giving the feeling they are performing at some type of demented carnival. Aquiles Priestera drums were to the rear of the stage, bassist Mike Duda was to the left, guitarist Doug Blair was to the right and at the front of and center of the stage stood Blackie Lawless singing from his iconic mic stand he calls Elvis.

After the medley, Blackie Lawless spoke briefly with the audience as the crew took some of the tapestries down to reveal three TV screens that played the old music videos of the band. The band went on to play “L.O.V.E. Machine”, “Wild Child”, “The Idol”, “The Great Misconceptions of Me”, “Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue)” and ended with “Blind in Texas”. The stage went dark and the band left the stage. After about two minutes, tv screens started to play videos about the PMRC hearings from 1980’s in which W.A.S.P.’s song “Animal (I Fuck Like a Beast) was targeted and was referred to one of the “Filthy Fifteen” songs. The band came back for two song encore, starting with playing “Animal (I Fuck Like a Beast) and seamlessly merged into The Who’s “The Real Me” and closing the night with “I Wanna Be Somebody”.

Overall, the whole show was great! W.A.S.P. sounded unbelievable. My only wish for a that they played more songs. I hope they continue to tour so maybe in the future they will play a longer set with more songs.

W.A.S.P. photo gallery

Setlists:

Armored Saint:
1 – Reign of Fire
2 – Nervous Man
3 – Long Before I Die
4 – Symbol of Salvation
5 – Chemical Euphoria
6 – Win Hands Down
7 – Can U Deliver
8 – March of the Saint
9 – Mad House

W.A.S.P.:
1 – On Your Knees / The Flame / The Torture Never Stops / Inside the Electric Circus
2 – L.O.V.E. Machine
3 – Wild Child
4 – The Idol
5 – The Great Misconceptions of Me
6 – Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue)
7 – Blind in Texas

Encore:
8 – Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)/ The Real Me (The Who cover)
9 – I Wanna Be Somebody