Tag: W.A.S.P.

W.A.S.P. Nation:

Blackie Lawless Talks About Breaking His Leg 10 Years Ago

Blackie Lawless:

I broke my leg about ten years ago, and I put on a bunch of weight. I did something really stupid. We lived out in the sticks. So, there was a couch and a love seat that I wanted to move. Where we live is all ranch properties, and so they’re all pretty big pieces of land. I had guys that were working up there, and they asked me if I needed a hand. I said, “Nah, I’ll do this; you guys keep doing what you’re doing.”

So, I got one of those kind of redneck trucks that’s jacked way up in the air, and I had this couch and love seat in the back of it. They didn’t weigh much; they were made out of suede. The love seat was on top of the couch, so the two fabrics, when they were together, were gripping each other, almost like Velcro. I get up in the back of the truck, and I go to move the love seat, and it doesn’t want to move. I thought, “Well, if you don’t want to move, I’ll make you move.” I reached over to grab it to manhandle it, and when I pulled it off, it hits me in the chest. Off the back of the truck, I go. Now, the truck is jacked up about five feet in the air, but I went backwards over the rail. So, I’m probably falling about eight feet. It wasn’t just that I fell on the ground, there was a pile of bricks all sticking up at different angles. I fell in that pile of bricks. I went to get up, and I couldn’t get up. I thought, “I’ll just lay here another minute; I’ll be ok.”

One of the guys there calls an ambulance. They get me in the ambulance, and I look up. There’s this netting, over the top, where they put it over people if they’ve got to airlift them in a helicopter. I asked the guy, “Will that netting support me if I reach up and grab it?” He said, “Yes.” Like I said, there’s cows and horses out there, so there are a lot of cattle grates. He had to drive over this cattle grate. He said, “Alright, I’m coming up on the cattle grate.” He’s driving 5 MPH. I reach up and pull myself up in a reverse push-up position, and my leg went backwards. Everybody knows I’ve got a set of pipes on me. I almost put his ears out. I screamed the loudest I’ve ever screamed in my entire life.

I am now the proud owner of an 18-inch titanium rod that will more than likely be with me for the duration. The Orthopedic surgeon comes in the next morning and says, “I’m not going to lie to you,” he says, “it’s going to be at least six months before you’re up walking around again.” Well, a year later, I was still not where I needed to be. Consequently, the weight came on, so you work to get it off.

W.A.S.P. NATION: Highwire Daze #145 is now online featuring an interview with Blackie Lawless!

You can read the entire interview @ this location. An excerpt from the conversation has been provided below.

You recently had a show out here at The Grove Of Anaheim. How did that one go and how surprised were you that it was sold out?

Blackie Lawless:

Well, it sold out in less than 24 hours. And it’s the dedication of this fan base, because what happened – about three years ago the fan base starting petitioning promoters around the country. And because of social media, they were able to get a strong base together. And it really wasn’t hundreds of them – it was thousands of them. And quite honestly, I’ve never seen a fan base do that before for any band ever. So, it’s remarkable.

On the 2022 stage show:

There are three videos that go on behind us simultaneously – and in some of them you’ll see what were promo videos from the original sources. But also, there’s a thing where when we do the song Animal, you’ll see the PMRC hearings that went on in Washington DC, because that is historical. We hadn’t played that song in so long, and we wanted a way to showcase it that had what we felt was a real meaning. And the idea that that song was originally a part of that list of what was called The Filthy 15 and the dog and pony show that surrounded the PMRC hearings. We thought it was the perfect way to showcase this.

In addition to behind us, you see all the other things we had been doing for 40 years – with the blood and the meat and all that stuff. It’s a true retrospective.

But in addition to that, you see this giant circus banner. You’ll walk in, it looks like – and it smells like – you’ve walked into the midway of a carnival. What we do is we set up fog machines that go around the room, and we have one scent that’s cotton candy and another one that’s fresh baked popcorn. No one we know of has ever done this before. These giant circus banners – they’re 16 feet high and they go all the way across the stage – and it looks like you’ve stepped into this gigantic 1930’s midway or carnival.

We’re taking an arena-sized show into theaters, and it looks gargantuan when we go into these places.

Being a born again Christian – and looking back on your old songs and censorship, would you defend any forms of metal today as you did back in the days of the PMRC and Tipper Gore? Metal has changed and expanded quite a lot these days.

First of all, I wouldn’t go as far to say that I defended every style. Someone would have to give me specific examples, but I would say this. That any form of speech – and for me this is what this is about – if you’re talking about somebody doing some really heinous acts in a song, no I can’t support that. But the concept of speaking about it – that’s a different issue. Whether I like an idea – that’s my personal opinion – or anyone’s personal opinion. But the ability to verbalize it – that should be allowed at any cost. Because this whole idea of censorship rears its head about every 20 years – and we’re in it right now – with what social media has been doing. This goes back to – I can’t remember if it was Aristotle who said talking about the Greeks – “He who controls the speech controls the people.” So, this has been going on forever. It’s nothing new – but the idea of defending the concept of free speech – which is the reason why it is the First Amendment that we have. Few things are more important than that.

Is there any new W.A.S.P. music on the horizon?

Not that I would really want to go into right now, because we’re so deep into this tour – that’s what we’re concentrating on.

You can read the entire interview @ this location.