Unfortunately we only caught the last few songs of Sinocence’s set, but the number of times we’ve seen the guys live in the past is probably in double figures now anyway. Still, we got to hear tracks such as Psycho and Making A Monster… Novocaine was a notable absence, sadly, but maybe we missed it due to lateness. All in all Sinocence were a more than worthy support choice for a gig like this, and held the crowd’s attention rather than sending them all to the bar to quaff beer.

Following Sinocence were Jaded, an all-female band from Boston. They’ve already toured with the likes of Skid Row and Tesla, so I guess they have impressed many a crowd in their time. Unfortunately for some reason we couldn’t really hear singer Julie Steel’s vocals very well, which makes it difficult to judge how good they were. Every other aspect of their performance was certainly all right, and even though I heard some man beside me declare it as “’80’s crap,” I’m guessing that most blokes in the crowd would have been pleased enough with all that PVC and leather the girls had on. And anyway, if aforementioned bloke wasn’t interested in seeing ’80’s rock, it does beg the question- what on earth was he doing at a W.A.S.P gig?
Besides the sound difficulties, songs such as Get Up and Knock It Back sounded good and they clearly have talent. Jealous? Us? Never. Well, if we could do that, we would… but instead we just criticize everyone else due to a complete lack of musical talent, so fair play to Jaded!

Onto the headliners, and as the lights went down, The End by The Doors began to play. It was a nice touch; very atmospheric and slightly creepy.
The band kicked off with On Your Knees from their self-titled debut, and the bulk of material played was from that album, along with songs from The Last Command, such as Widowmaker and The Headless Children; the title track of which was probably my highlight of the night, and judging by the noise the crowd made when it began, it was a pretty popular choice.

Blackie promised some old stuff, and the band didn’t disappoint. Some may have been disappointed by the lack of Animal (Fuck Like A Beast), but I think a setlist that included the likes of Wild Child, L.O.V.E Machine and the excellent Sleeping In The Fire (another of my favourite moments) would have impressed any fan, no matter what their favourite album was.

Of course, W.A.S.P have been on somewhat of a band member merry-go-round for the past few years, and while the drummer, and guitarists ably backed the frontman, all eyes were on a certain Mr Lawless. It’s fair to say he’s aged pretty well, can still scream with the best of them, and still looks sufficiently odd enough to scare small children… but mercifully he kept the arseless trousers at home this time. Now that really would have been frightening.

Obviously Blackie has a bit of a reputation for being an egomaniac, but after the response the Belfast crowd gave him, it’s easy to see how someone’s head could become a tad inflated. We were amongst the many people chanting his name… until he beckoned for us to be quiet, that is. And we’re not going to argue with Blackie, despite the comical glorified pogo stick with skull and crossbones he was using as a microphone stand. It kind of dwarfed the small Spring & Airbrake stage, but to be honest if there hadn’t been some kind of prop or set I might have been a little disappointed!

The setlist was all too short, with the last song being I Wanna Be Somebody. It got everyone singing along, as did the encore Blind In Texas. After that we did linger there a while longer in anticipation of the band coming out again for one more song, and most people seemed to be eager to hear more, but it wasn’t to be.

This was definitely a great gig. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I’d read the odd bad review of W.A.S.P gigs, but I thought it was fantastic. The band deserved to have two sell-out shows in Belfast, and if HMI weren’t in a state of constant poverty, I could have easily been persuaded to go to both performances.

Special mention must go to the headcase standing beside us, who made us laugh all night to the point of vomiting with his pitiful attempts at headbanging, his short curtains haircut, his big flammable winter coat, and his snogging of a weird girl in front of us. Cheers, whoever you were. You were comedy gold.

Overall, a great night!
7.5/10
Suzie