Does W.A.S.P. Stand For “We Are Screwing Promoters?”
Posted by Bram Teitelman on Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 10:09 am
In their ’80s heyday, W.A.S.P. was known for their shocking theatrical stage show. After their second show cancellation in one week, the most shocking thing they could do now is actually play a show. Following last week’s cancellation in New York, fans were turned away from last night’s show in Allentown, PA at the Crocodile Rock without any explanation.
Frontman Blackie Lawless defended the New York cancellation on the band’s Web site, essentially stating what had been said before. 50 of the 500 fans at the Gramercy Theater had bought VIP packages for $50, guaranteeing them a meet and greet with the band. Apparently, Blackie freaked out when told about this, and demanded the fans be given back the$25 extra they’d been charged. When the promoters refused, he pulled the plug on the show.
If Crocodile Rock was a Live Nation venue like Gramercy Theater, it would be understood why he might have pulled out of the show. However, Crocodile Rock looks like it’s booked independently, and not only were tickets only $12.50 in advance, it doesn’t look like there was any VIP package offered. A post on the band’s message board suggested that he canceled the Allentown show because the venue wanted too much of a percentage of the merch sold.
Regardless of why he pulled out of the Allentown show, there’s really no way around it: canceling two shows in less than a week on the day of the show is a dick move. We gave him the benefit of the doubt for the New York show since he said he was essentially sticking up for his fans. But 50 fans out of 500 basically means that he was looking out for only 1 out of 10 fans (btw, W.A.S.P. sold 500 tickets in New York? Whoa!). If he comes back to NYC, the majority of those 500 probably won’t buy tickets again, and ditto for Allentown. We thought he’d lost it all the way back in September when he compared Obama to Hitler , and this isn’t winning him any points in the “Blackie Lawless isn’t a total nutcase” category.
Tags: Blackie Lawless, W.A.S.P.




March 16th, 2010 at 5:23 PM
Blackie always cancls a show when he knows the venue will be half-empty. WASP is at best a retro act, and when you refuse to play your most popular song, you can only expect less qnd less of your graying fan base to show up. The jig is up – why can’t Blackie just lay down his guitar and be domne with it already? Unfortunately for him, his fading novelty is all he’s got. It’s not like he’s going to start a new career at his age (he’s a godawful “writer”) Still, if you can’t stand the heat…
May 23rd, 2010 at 11:21 PM
I am ultra depressed that Lost is over. I can’t believe we are watching the last segment tonight. What are we going to do each week. Nestor Carbonell is so hot! I am going to miss him. What will J.J. Abrams cook up next?
June 27th, 2010 at 8:49 AM
hello all