PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Brandishing a new line up of lead vocalist Mitch Emms and Tao Grey, The Treatment energetically open up the stage nicely. The newcomers have settled in well with Tao complimenting Tagore on guitar and Mitch calling upon his extensive performance skills to entertain the crowd. Fist pumping, mic stand swirling and rallying the crowd with cries of oi,oi,oi, he manages to receive a great response from the audience. The band is driven by their charismatic bass player Rick Swoggle Newman who is a joy to watch as he gurns, struts and endlessly poses; he clearly enjoys performing. The set list is short and sweet with seven songs fitted in a half hour set consisting of catchy track ’ I bleed rock an roll’, ‘emergency’ and new track ‘Beautiful’. The Treatment are back, stronger than ever before.
There’s no surprise at all that tonight, legendary rockers W.A.S.P. have a sold out event on their hands. Fans adorning the band t-shirts pile in like a proverbial swarm at a lightning speed. In a blink of an eye my previous great view of the stage is scuppered, leaving me pinned up against the barrier to the stairs with no option but to make new friends with the giggers next to me as all personal space has been well and truly violated.
There is no time (or space) to breathe, as a siren intro and various lights indicate that either there is a fire or the band is due to go on stage, luckily for me it is the latter. The stage features two screens displaying past images of the band, for those who are expecting past antics of giving the crowd a meat shower the images serve as a reminder just how far the band have come over the years. The last remaining original band member being lead singer Blackie Lawless emerges sporting white tassel boots and a self named adorned t-shirt to a roaring crowd. His scream of ‘Are you ready Nottingham’ rallies the troops further into frenzy. The set list flirts between classic tracks from the band’s debut self titled album, ‘L.O.V.E. machine ‘Hellion’, and ’I don’t need no doctor’ while sneaking a few newbies in such as the religiously influenced ‘Golgotha’ and the impressive power ballad track ‘Miss you’. (originally from the Crimson Idol sessions).
Lawless has an enviable ease at conversing with the crowd, he relays an encounter of a young naive interviewer who asked him – if an album takes an hour to listen to, how come it doesn’t take an hour to make? He goes on to divulge that three years ago while at Rock City the new song ‘Last runaway’ was envisioned while performing. Now that’s a real honour for the legendary Nottingham live music venue.
The band disappears for the anticipated encore ritual wishing the crowd a good night and discarding guitar picks, a towel and even a bottle of water into the crowd. Who are the band kidding? At the early time of nine thirty there’s plenty of play left in the evening yet!! The teasing first chords of ‘Wild child’ are played to a begging crowd whose reaction shows that this is the one most fans have come to hear. The crowd surfing now begins, initiated by the second encore ‘I wanna be somebody’ sparking a flurry of kicking bodies, quickly distinguished by the security team descending on it within a heartbeat. This goodbye though is the real deal, the band say thanks and the lights beam on to full, closing the doors to a fitting send off for the rock royalty.
W.A,S.P. Set list
On your knees/inside the electric circus/the real me/L.O.V.E machine/last runaway/crazy/arena of pleasure/miss you/hellion/I don’t need no doctor/Golgotha, encore1/chainsaw Charlie encore2/ wild child/ I wanna be somebody
Photos by Sean Larkin
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