WASP FROM 1984 TO 'HEADLESS' TOUR with guests KK's PRIEST at HOB LV

4 days ago

3 min read

Old school metal took over the House of Blues inside Mandalay Bay for the W.A.S.P. 1984 TO HEADLESS TOUR and fans turned out and packed the venue. The tour is a chronological celebration of W.A.S.P.’s first four studio albums, which spanned from 1984 to 1989, culminating in their landmark album The Headless Children.

KK’s Priest was the support for the Headless Tour, and came out blazing with "You Got Another Thing Coming" to really set the crowd on fire. This band is ex-Judas Priest guitarist KK Downing's reinvention, and also features ex-Judas Priest vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens, who joined in the mid 90's when Rob Halford took a solo reprieve (see Rock Star ) along with AJ Mills on guitars, Anthony Walls on bass and Sean Elg on drums.

Judas Priest was my fav band when I was growing up and I have seen them more times than I can count, and KK’s Priest is right up there with them for me. I love that they play old school JP from back when Downing was still in the band, in addition to KK's Priest songs. After kicking off with three Judas Priest classics, then it was a turn to KK's own with "One More Shot at Glory".

The set ricocheted from JP songs to KK's, with a highlight was "Victim of Changes" where Downing and Ripper really shined. KK Downing is a metal guitar god, and with AJ Mills playing beside him it was hard not to flash back to the glory days of Judas Priest with the twin guitar combo that made the song legendary. The band closed out their set with "Raise Your Fists" from debut album Sermons of the Sinner ,and the crowd made it so.

KK's Priest recently recorded and released a brand-new 2026 version of the 1974 Judas Priest classic "Never Satisfied" (Exciter Records)to mark the 50th anniversary of Rocka Rolla. The updated track give a new life to the song Downing originally co-wrote with Al Atkins half a century ago, this time featuring Ripper Owens on vocals. More on this release and the band HERE.

I was excited to see W.A.S.P. - I don’t remember the last time I even saw them live. This tour was bringing songs to the fans from forty years back, from their debut W.A.S.P. (1984), to The Last Command (1985), Inside the Electric Circus (1986), and The Headless Children (1989). A giant screen above played videos of the band from years back, and dead center was the infamous large mic stand nicknamed Elvis, waiting for the ringmaster Blackie Lawless to arrive.

And arrive he did. Blackie Lawless was joined by Mike Duda on bass, Doug Blair on guitar and Aquiles Priester on drums for a 80's revival that started with W.A.S.P.'s cover of "Easy Livin" (from Electric Circus) and quickly followed with a classic "Fistful of Diamonds" and the fans went crazy. "The Flame" kept the momentum, and then a interesting "Mr Cool", a song Blackie said he "wrote when I was 18 years old and sold it for $5000" and the song has only been played live for this tour.

The show was broken into two sets, and the second half was where we really got the big hitters - " I Wanna be Somebody", "L.O.V.E. Machine", and "Inside The Electric Circus / I Don’t Need No Doctor". This was the meat of the show, and the crowd was screaming every word. Blackie sounded great and the crowd was loving reliving the 80's and the early years. The finale of "Wild Child" and "Blind In Texas" really brought down the house.

This show really brought back the 80's metal heyday, with classic hard rock from an era that is still endures. More on W.A.S.P. Nation and the tour HERE.