Wow, what a day this was for me! From my car not working and having to take the bus and from me forgetting to charge my camera again and I couldn’t walk because I strained my calf, I was determined to see this concert no matter what. (Thanks Taita for doing photography on short notice).
The good thing was I was able to reflect about my youth and riding the streetcars all over Toronto. "Where did all those amazing rock venues go?" I thought to myself?
I did actually see a mural of Jimi Hendrix and look around the streetcar and was wondering do any of this people enough know who he is.
I knew going to this show I would hear some stories. "Hey man, remember when Metallica and Armored Saint opened for W.A.S.P. in 1985 at the Concert Hall?" one guy asked. I do remember but never went to it. "Hey buddy, remember when W.A.S.P. played at The Phoenix Concert Theatre in 2008?" No, I said but damn seeing them do songs off “The Crimson Idol” would’ve been wicked.
It was so cool meeting Aquiles Priester during the day and giving him one of the This Day in Metal shirts.
After meeting him, outta nowhere comes Joey Vera. And again I was in shock as he’s one of my idols. It takes a lot to get me to smile, ya know.
So finally at 7pm Armored Saint hit the stage. I was late going through security and missed the first two songs. Damn but once I heard John’s amazing voice it didn’t matter. Wow I honestly forgot how much I loved this band as a teen and it was awesome to hear them live.
I just got in to see the band finish “The Pillar”. There was John jumping around the stage. I knew the night was gonna be good! Great song guys.
Next up was "March of the Saint". Love the intro to this song. After that it’s just an all out metal attack! Loved singing along to this.
Next up was the power ballad “Aftermath” from “Delirious Nomad”. Love this song even more hearing it live. Adding this to my Spotify playlist.
Incredible so far, the band continue with “Book Of Blood” and “Win Hands Down”.
Obviously the band couldn’t do a show without playing “Can You Deliver”. And fuck they sure did. Toronto we love you! No Toronto loves Armored Saint. 👊🤘🏻
The band finished with “Reign Of Fire” off “Symbol Of Salvation“. Great tune to finish their show.
Next time this band is in town I won’t be missing them. Amazing show! Though not on the same label I would love to see a Armored Saint/ Metal Church tour!
Setlist
- End of the Attention Span
- Delirious Nomad
- The Pillar
- March of the Saint
- Aftermath
- Book of Blood
- Win Hands Down
- Can U Deliver
- Reign of Fire
The near sell out crowd was waiting patiently and singing along to Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” waiting for W.A.S.P. to get onstage. My only suggestion would be having a curtain before coming onstage. We could see the stage being setup which I thought would’ve been better had the band been on stage before the opening note.
The band opened with “I Wanna Be Somebody“ which had the crowd singing along to the lyrics. Again next with “L.O.V.E. Machine” same thing. The band always had those catchy songs to sing along to.
The band next played “The Flame” and “B.A.D.” followed by one of my favourite songs off the album “School Daze”. Always loved singing along to this song. Who doesn’t?
At the start of the next song “Hellion” the band shared some old videos on the screen with Chris Holmes and Randy Piper in the band. Though I really wanted to see Chris in the band again it wasn’t gonna ruin my night.
Up next the lights went off and the video screen came on again at the start of “Sleeping In The Fire” and at the end Blackie and Mike Duda left the stage leaving drummer Aquiles Priester and guitarist Doug Blair onstage where he burst into an extended guitar solo. I loved how the lady beside me was super excited as I was. She was just in her own world singing along and rocking out. Would love to see a duet of this song with Melissa VanFleet and Blackie. Someone make this happen.
Before playing “On Your Knees” Blackie was joking around how the band has always opened shows with this song. But you know you need to play the album in chronicle order so that’s why it was performed now.
The band next played “The Tormentor” and “The Torture Never Stops”. After that the band left the stage for a brief pause.
Unfortunately I had to leave before the last few songs. My leg couldn’t take it anymore. Off I went home thinking damn that was so worth going to.
Listen as much as I wanted to post a video from the show I find it important we go out and support these bands and see them live. Don’t miss these opportunities before it’s too late. Wonder what Tipper Gore thinks of this band still? To me it’s just great music and harmless. Chill Tipper!
W.A.S.P. Setlist
- I Wanna Be Somebody
- L.O.V.E. Machine
- The Flame
- B.A.D.
- School Daze
- Hellion
- Sleeping (In the Fire)
- On Your Knees
- Tormentor
- The Torture Never Stops
- Encore:
- Inside the Electric Circus/ I Don’t Need No Doctor/ Scream Until You Like It
- The Real Me (The Who cover)
- Forever Free/ The Headless Children
- Wild Child
- Blind in Texas
