LIVE REVIEW
W.A.S.P.
O2 City Hall Newcastle - 26th September 2025
Photos: David Weddle @dweddlephotograpy
It is hard to believe it was 42 years ago that W.A.S.P. embarked on their very first World tour, hitting UK shores with their first ever time playing a show in Newcastle. Now the hellions have assembled again in the very same city, albeit in a different venue as the historic Mayfair is no longer around, to welcome back the legendary rockers.
This is a very special tour for fans and band alike and to commemorate the occasion W.A.S.P. have commissioned exclusive guitar picks for each UK date. The Newcastle variant heralding the famous blue star synonymous with Newcastle Brown Ale. These were given to everyone who came through the doors as a gift from the band. A nice touch.
This is a very special tour for fans and band alike and to commemorate the occasion W.A.S.P. have commissioned exclusive guitar picks for each UK date. The Newcastle variant heralding the famous blue star synonymous with Newcastle Brown Ale. These were given to everyone who came through the doors as a gift from the band. A nice touch.
Newcastle guitar pick - a nice gift from the band to the fans.
As the hall filled with fans if all ages you could feel the good vibes in the room, many of the fans seeing the band for the enth time but still as enthusiastic as ever.
Openers Armored Saint were on top form with frontman John Bush giving Newcastle a real wake up call, getting the crowd moving early on. With it being th band's first show in Newcastle they played a hard hitting set including 'March of the Saint' and closing up with 'Reign of Fire'.
What happened in between those two songs definitely gained new fans although there was plenty of people singing along, with 'Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants' standing out in particular. This isn't an Armored Saint review they were outstandingly good. Armored Saint were the perfect choice for an opening band and there was no doubt, in my mind at least, that the rest of the crowd felt the same.
Openers Armored Saint were on top form with frontman John Bush giving Newcastle a real wake up call, getting the crowd moving early on. With it being th band's first show in Newcastle they played a hard hitting set including 'March of the Saint' and closing up with 'Reign of Fire'.
What happened in between those two songs definitely gained new fans although there was plenty of people singing along, with 'Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants' standing out in particular. This isn't an Armored Saint review they were outstandingly good. Armored Saint were the perfect choice for an opening band and there was no doubt, in my mind at least, that the rest of the crowd felt the same.
With stage bedecked in carnival banners, the setup for the band's tour hasn't changed from their 2023 visit to the city, but hey, it's a cracking set so if it ain't broke etc. The famous mic stand Elvis stood proud in the centre of the stage, a very imposing figure, half skeleton and half motorbike, awaiting its master's voice. As smoke machines bellowed smoke across the stage and the front of house lights dimmed, you could feel the anticipation from the fans and as the band strode onstage that anticipation broke, changing to excited cheers.
Blackie Lawless - photo: David Weddle
The band opened with 'I Wanna Be Somebody', a staple of any W.A.S.P. gig and it went down a treat with the geordie faithful. In fact, as the premise of the gig was to play the first album in it's entirety, there is little need to list the entire set here. The band played the entire first album in track order including B.A.D., Helion and The Torture Never Stops. Blackie reminisced about his first visit to Newcastle, he said it was the first place he ever tried Indian food and he hasn't stopped eating it since.
The night was a really great celebration of a career defining album that has brought so much enjoyment to so many people over the last 4 decades. The band only broke from that format with their encore which was a whopping four songs technically but started with not one but two medleys, "Inside the Electric Circus / I Don't Need No Doctor / Scream Until You Like It", then onto 'The Real Me / Forever Free / The Headless Children'. Of course mega hit 'Wild Child' had the crowd going wild before Blackie took to the microphone to give a very heartfelt speech about the state of free speech in the UK and his experiences with censorship in the past, before finishing the night with another classic, 'Blind In Texas'.
All in all, it was a great gig. Blackie looked in great shape and the band all gave 100% which definitely paid off. A cracking night filled with nostalgia and hard rock, does it get much better than that?
All in all, it was a great gig. Blackie looked in great shape and the band all gave 100% which definitely paid off. A cracking night filled with nostalgia and hard rock, does it get much better than that?
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