

Stage Antics ...

A look at the many stage antics Blackie and the boys have got up to over the years The real W.A.S.P fans know the music is the most important thing, but throughout W.A.S.P's career there is no denying that the stage show plays an important part too! Blackie once said: "I was always bored to death by bands that got onstage in T-Shirts and jeans, and stood in one place all night. Hell, the people could have more fun by staying home and playing the albums in the comfort of their living rooms. I'd rather be dead than stand onstage like that. All I can say is that you think you've seen some wild things already, just give us time, you won't believe your eyes" This quote was said around 'The Last Command' era, and how right he was, especially when you look at the Kill Fuck Die tour. W.A.S.P - THE EARLY TOURS (1982-1984) Pic 1: Blackie performs his rack act!

Pic 2: Blackie covered in blood from the skull he had just drunk from

Pic 3: Chopping up raw meat..... Pic 4: .....Then throwing it out to the audience! On the first tour Blackie would slit the throat of a woman tied to a rack. It would happen half way through the song 'Tormentor', where he would reveal a girl strapped by her arms and legs, half naked, her face covered with a black hood on a huge wooden rack with metal spikes. Blackie would then pretend to cut her throat. Although this stage antic was popular with the fans, it got W.A.S.P banned from alot of places, some they still can't play (Las Vegas for example). A tamer version of the rack act can be seen in the film 'Dungeonmaster'. Blackie would also bring out a box of raw meat and start chopping it up with an axe (or sometimes his chainsaw cod piece), he would then throw it out to the audience. Blackie once said that a few fans who had caught the meat wanted him to autograph it - he asked what they would do with the meat? The fans couldn't reply! The fans would also return gifts to W.A.S.P - whilst on tour fans threw a number of strange items on stage....A dog's brain, hogs head and a moose's hind quarters!!! Blackie didn't mind recieving these gifts, he once said "its not that I really mind, but what I wanna know is, how do they get these things in the arenas in the first place" Other stage antics included eating worms (earlier shows), showering the crowds with feathers and of course drinking blood out of the skull. When W.A.S.P were playing a gig at the TROUBADOUR in Hollywood, they asked the Red Cross to put a trailer outside and anyone who gave blood got in for half price and anyone who didn't give any got in for free!!!! The response was good, but none of the blood was excepted, due to Blackie's stage antics! W.A.S.P played around with pyrotechnics alot too - we believe Blackie has a passion for fire , however things do go wrong. Once when they were doing a show, Blackie lit the W.A.S.P sign, that hang behind the drum kit, not realising that a spark had flew onto his hair. The fans loved it and thought it was part of the show - they were shouting 'Burn Blackie Burn' as Blackies hair was on fire! Blackie's cod piece for this tour was his chainsaw blade one. The same one which appears on the Animal (I Fuck Like a Beast) record. The blade runs all the way under, and of course it was impossible for him to sit down. THE LAST COMMAND TOUR Left Pic & Right Pic: The giant severed heads! The Last Command tour saw less blood and no rack. However there were four massive heads of each of the band members, the heads severed (like the illustration in the Last Command inner sleeve). They didn't do anything like the giants skull from the last tour (which W.A.S.P could walk in and out of, and lazers came out of their eyes). They were a good stage prop though, wonder where they went? The flag on the drum kit says 'Who Dares Win". Blackie swapped his chainsaw cod piece for a more sensible one, but the chainsaw blades remained on his arms. It was once said he had cut himself badly around 3 times with his costume, once in Finland he had sliced his finger to the bone. Blackie once quoted that the other members were more scared to approach him, than he was wearing the stuff, he said "They're the ones that have to worry about it - not me. They've learnt boy. They see me coming and it's like the parting of the red sea" THE ELECTRIC CIRCUS TOUR Left Pic & Right Pic: Blackie with his exploding cod piece

Middle: The 'Circus' Stage show The Electric Circus tour saw less of what W.A.S.P were originally about (blood, meat, etc), and saw more of a visually appealing stage show, with much more pyrotechnics. The whole stage was turned into a circus. The backdrop acted has a huge red and white canvas with lights flashing. Behind the drummer were steps, where the band could run up and down. The cod piece on this show, was swapped from a chainsaw one to a jewelled adorned exploding one. Didn't someone once say 'If you play with fire you burn?'.....Anyway during a show in Dublin. Blackie's exploding cod piece kind of (um!.)exploded the wrong way, leaving Blackie almost Serprano!! He burnt the tops of his legs and his bottom, and could only lay on his side. He said he was still going to continue using the stunt and said "I was in great pain, but I guess thats showbiz!" MONSTERS OF ROCK,

Castle Donington, U.K August 22nd 1987

Left Pic: Blackie climbs up to reveal the woman

Middle Pic: Blackie slits the ladies throat

Right Pic: After the ritual with Blackie covered in the woman's blood The Monsters of Rock show at Castle Donington was W.A.S.P's first ever festival. It was also the first time the 'rack' was used since the first tour. In the middle of the show Blackie reveals a topless woman, tied to the stage scaffolding, her face covered with a black hood, he slits her throat - the crowd applaud! But according to Blackie they had originally made other plans for their Donington appearance:- 'The Corpse-Grinder" Blackie told a U.K rock magazine:- "What happens is we do the rack, cut the girls head off, slam the doors of the rack, and everyone thinks its done. But during the next song I open the doors, cut her down, throw her over my shoulder. This hideous box rolls out from the other side of the stage, I throw her in and hit a button, and it spits her all over the audience" This act was not aloud to happen, because of obvious reason (the PMRC) and Bon Jovi's manager did not want W.A.S.P to take the attention away from the headliners. At the end of the show W.A.S.P causes £2000 worth of damage, by trashing the stage with their guitars and amps. Q} The reason for all this bad behaviour? A} Doningtons custom to throw bottles of piss at the band. Click here for Stage Antics page 2 - Back - .