Rock legends W.A.S.P. are on tour in support of their latest release, The Neon God: Part One - The Rise. Their schedule had them blowing the walls down on a warm July evening, to a packed crowd, down at the H.O.B. on Sunset. I was lucky enough to get in and got to watch the insanity first hand.

The opening act was Sparrow Point; a San Francisco based metal band fronted by crazy frontman Kenny Stoned. This band put on quite a stage show with numerous props and costumes. For such a short set they had quite a lot going on stage with an actor who changed costumes to fit the theme of the music. At the beginning of the set he was "Uncle Sam" and then he changed into an Ogre who manipulated the puppet strings guiding the singer. The music was solid heavy metal with band membersCarter, CIP, True Margrit, and Mic providing music for the onstage antics. The band has a 3-song demo CD titled "Silence Makes A Sound" featuring tracks What's Next?, Brother, and Delusional and gives you a great taste of what the band is about. For more information on the Point go to www.sparrowpointtheband.com.

Fireball Ministry, featuring Rev. James A. Rota II/vocals, guitar, Janis Tanaka/ bass, Emily J. Burton/guitar and John Oreshnick/drums is a high-energy bunch of metal maniacs. I went to www.fireballministry.com to see what I could find out about the band. It seems the Rev. James A. Rota must be the preacher from the First Church of Rock and Roll and it's the bands mission to bring solid rock n roll to the deprived masses. Fireball Ministry’s latest release, "The Second Great Awakening," features exclusive artwork by cult comic artist Dan Brereton of "Nocturnals" fame and includes the songs "Master Of None", "Flatline" and "The Sinner" among others. The music is old school rock in the vein of Black Sabbath-Judas Priest and was delivered with high energy and skill of a band that's been together for awhile. Bass player Janis Tanaka was particularly fun to watch, banging her head furiously. The set was great and I'm sure they recruited many new patrons for their church.

It was packed tight by the time W.A.S.P. hit the stage and the insanity began. The band consists of frontman and rhythm guitarist Blackie Lawless, Frankie Banali/drums, Mike Duda/bass and Darrell Roberts shredding a mean lead guitar. With lights, smoke, explosions, musicians careening around the stage, and that crazy microphone stand, nobody puts on a more exciting stage show. W.A.S.P. history dates back about eleven albums but their latest release perhaps the most introspective to date. The new CD is an immense work, written on many different levels, and yet maintains the intensity for which the band is known. Songs like "What I’ll Never Find", and "The Raging Storm" were extremely difficult to write and by singer Blackie Lawless's own admission "tore him up" as he put them down on paper. If you consider yourself a thinking rocker then pick up a copy of the disc and listen to the story. If you want more info on W.A.S.P. then go visit www.waspnation.com and join the ranks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As seen in Rock City News