This was a gig to blow away the cobwebs, with an adoring crowd lapping up every second of a turbo-charged set from Blackie Lawless and the boys.
Granted, he's the only original band member from the group that set up in 1982, but he carries the show, works the crowd, plays the guitar and leads the non-stop vocals.
The world tour they're on is to promote the new album, Babylon – and the title track, Babylon's Burning, went down a storm with the crowd. With its overtones of comment on what's happening in the Middle East, its video backdrop blew us away.
A clever addition that suits the more intimate venue, the projected backdrop from previous concerts gave a real stadium atmosphere at times, even though it was in danger of leaving us somewhat confused as to Blackie's travelling through time to bring us favourites from years gone by.
He stood on stage, slightly less coiffeured than I'd expected (without the trademark highlights too), and wringing wet by the end of an exhausting 90 minutes.
Opening the set with On Your Knees, wowing us with Love Machine and slipping in a couple from the Electric Circus album, this was a reminder that while some of the bands that found success alongside W.A.S.P., these guys keep on going from strength to strength. Blind in Texas as the encore was the icing on the cake.
Not quite as much codpiece and cavorting as in the past, maybe, but the set moved incredibly quickly and the evening just flew by.
