The Glitterati, WASP Gig Review

Opening up for WASP isn’t easy, because the majority of WASP fans are there for one reason. Any band attempting such a feat and wanting to survive, have to be good. We had spoken to Leeds rockers, The Glitterati, prior to the gig, we’ve never seen them play live, but they were such a great bunch of guys we were willing them to get a good reception and put on a great show.

And they delivered with style!

They have the confidence and swagger that has “American Rock” stamped all over it, and a sound reminiscent of Guns ‘n’ Roses / Velvet Revolver. Their raucous brash performance took us by surprise, with conversations around the venue suddenly stopping, and all attention rightfully directed at Rock City’s main stage.

We suspect that the band members may have contracted a case of the “David Lee Roths”, zipping about over the stage, interacting with the audience, making sure that the show wasn’t just about posturing to punchy guitars, but about entertainment. The sound was astonishing and for a while we totally forgot that they were the support act, and were actually disappointed when songs like Fight Fight Fight were finished, and they headed off stage to make way for WASP.

So we waited patiently. The Glitterati were one tough act to follow, and a few members of the audience questioned whether Blackie Lawless and co would be able to live up to the now higher expectations of the crowd, especially with some naysayers from the gigs in Greece a week or so earlier.

Admittedly the 7ft microphone stand is no longer a feature, and yes Blackie’s wild stage antics have tamed somewhat, but wow, simply wow. Everything in me should hate WASP’s musical creations, but instead, it’s quite the opposite. I’ve never known a band to take something so simple like a 12bar blues riff and turn it into a rock anthem of the magnitude in “Blind in Texas”. There’s something about Lawless’ delivery that’s just truly awesome, that makes what would be an average tune for any other band, into something entirely different.

And I should also mention this new band line up too. Lawless has often had Mustaine like tendancies to change the lineup of WASP over the years for a variety of reasons, but in Doug Blair, Mike Duda and Mike Dupke, I wonder if WASP now have the best lineup to date. I also believe that since the epic Crimson Idol, Lawless’ songwriting talents have actually gotten better.

The set opened up with “On Your Knees” and the “Real Me”, followed by “L.O.V.E. Machine and Crazy, so plenty there to keep the faithful WASP fans happy. Next up was “Babylon’s Burning”, and the idol is back better then ever. A fantastic song performed brilliantly, so much so that I’ll be heading out over the weekend to not only buy The Glitterati’s album, but WASP’s “Babylon” too. Other highlights, “Chainsaw Charlie”, “The Idol”, “Take Me Up”, “Somebody”, actually who am I kidding, it was all brilliant. However, “Heaven’s Hung In Black” was breathtaking, a quote from American President Abraham Lincoln when he saw the casualty reports from the battle of Gettysburg.

During the whole set, I haven’t seen Rock City truly rock like that for quite a while, the audience responded to an enthralling performance by a showman, an entertainer, and one of the best vocals in the business.