W.A.S.P., KK'S PRIEST In Houston, TX With Photos!

Friday, September 25, 2026 at 12:27 PM

By Larry Petro @petrofyed

The 1984 To Headless Tour Lands At The House Of Blues On September 20th

Live Photos By Larry Petro/Petrofyed Photography

After decades away from touring the United States, 80's shock rockers W.A.S.P. returned a couple of years ago and have toured the States regularly since then, much to delight of their legions of fans. The newest undertaking, title the '1984 To Headless Tour' made its way into Houston on September 20th at the House of Blues. The last couple of runs had featured LA greats ARMORED SAINT as support but this one included former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist KK Downing's new band, KK'S PRIEST. And with certainly no offense to W.A.S.P., it was KK'S PRIEST that I was most excited to see and when the opportunity presented itself for me to cover this show I jumped at the chance.

KK'S PRIEST, comprised of Downing, former PRIEST vocalist Tim 'Ripper' Owens, guitarist AJ Mills, drummer Sean Elg and bassist Ant “The Wall” (taking the place of bassist Tony Newton who had to bow out due to commitments with IRON MAIDEN) have released two albums to date, 2021's 'Sermons of The Sinner' and 'The Sinner Rides Again' from 2023. Both of these albums are blistering efforts and I was definitely looking forward to seeing this material in a live setting in addition to seeing KK again after so many years away from PRIEST.

It was assumed that there would be some JUDAS PRIEST material included in their set but I was surprised at just how much, with full 3/4's of their set devoted to PRIEST songs, and none of it being from the 'Ripper' Owens era. The band took the stage with a triple shot of PRIEST classics in "You've Got Another Thing Comin'", "Breaking The Law" and "Living After Midnight" before the first KK'S PRIEST track of the night, "Strike Of The Viper". The band was in absolutely top form and a slimmed-down Owens was on point throughout the set as the steamrolled through "One More Shot At Glory", "Hellfire Thunderbolt" and other PRIEST classics such as "Beyond The Realms Of Death", "Victim Of Changes" and one of my favorite PRIEST tracks, "The Sentinel".

It was great watching Downing and Mills interact with each other during the show and it weas especially cool to see the band doing the choreographed swaying that was a staple of PRIEST's sets throughout the years. I personally could have done without hearing "Turbo Lover", something that was echoed by numerous others I spoke to that night. They could have switched that out with a nice Ripper tune from the 'Jugulator' or 'Demolition' albums instead, but that's just me and really didn't take anything away from the experience when they ended their time with the anthemic "Raise Your Fists".

Setlist:

"You've Got Another Thing Comin'" (Judas Priest)
"Breaking The Law" (Judas Priest)
"Living After Midnight" (Judas Priest)
"Strike of The Viper"
"One More Shot At Glory"
"Hellfire Thunderbolt"
"Heading Out To The Highway" (Judas Priest)
"Beyond The Realms of Death" (Judas Priest)
"The Sentinel" (Judas Priest)
"Victim of Changes" (Judas Priest)
"Turbo Lover" (Judas Priest)
"Raise Your Fists"

Having covered the initial W.A.S.P. tour back in the States a few years, whereas that tour focused on just the hits, this tour would celebrate a specific time period for the band, namely from the debut up through 1989's 'The Headless Children'. And with that idea the band pulled out some real gems to perform.

The band kicked things off with the URIAH HEEP classic "Easy Livin'" before driving straight into "Fistful of Diamonds" and "The Flame". Frontman Blackie Lawless then addressed the crowd with a story of how he wrote a song called "Mr. Cool" with a pre-W.A.S.P. band and then sold it for $5,000. After never receiving anything further from the song he recorded it himself and then was sued for a million dollars over it. True W.A.S.P. diehards will recognize that this song would eventually become "Cries In The Night" on 'The Last Command' album. Blackie and company rocked out "Mr. Cool" and followed it up with "B.A.D." and then a medley (which W.A.S.P. is quite fond of doing in their sets) of "Thunderhead", "Forever Free" and "The Real Me" (THE WHO).

Lawless, backed by guitarist Doug Blair, bassist Mike Duda and drummer Aquiles Priester, were solid in their performances and even used a prop or two, such as the electric chair frying Hitler during "The Headless Children". What was interesting was that following "The Headless Children" is when the 'encore' section of the night began. This portion of the show kicked off with "I Wanna Be Somebody", "L.O.V.E. Machine", the intro of "The Big Welcome" and then an "Inside The Electric Circus"/"I Don't Need No Doctor" medley. An emotional rendition of "Golgotha" came next with Lawless praising Jesus multiple times which led straight into "Wild Child". An interesting segue to say the least. And of course it would not be a show in Texas without the smash "Blind In Texas".

Despite the fact or debate of whether Blackie is singing live or if it's Memorex, the band continues to play to pack houses and quite frankly it's pretty obvious that those in attendance don't seem to care one way or the other. It was a night to celebrate the W.A.S.P. legacy and the band looked and sounded fantastic.

This North American tour continues through the end of October with a Halloween show in Anaheim before heading overseas. This is definitely a show to see if you're a fan of W.A.S.P.!

Setlist:

"Easy Livin'" (Uriah Heep)
"Fistful of Diamonds"
"The Flame"
"Mr. Cool"
"B.A.D.
"Thunderhead" / "Forever Free" / "The Real Me" (The Who)
"The Headless Children"

Encore:

"I Wanna Be Somebody"
"L.O.V.E. Machine"
"The Big Welcome"
"Inside the Electric Circus" / "I Don't Need No Doctor"
"Golgotha" / "Wild Child"
"Blind in Texas"

Remaining '1984 To Headless' Dates:

09-25 - Raleigh, NC - The Ritz
09-26 - Jim Thorpe, PA - Penn's Peak
09-27 - Portland, ME - Aura
09-29 - Boston, MA - House Of Blues
09-30 - Hampton, NH - Hampton Beach Casino
10-01 - Wallington, CT - Toyota Oakdale Theatre
10-02 - New York, NY - The Palladium
10-03 - Carteret, NJ - Carteret Performing Arts Center
10-05 - Montreal, QC - Mtelus
10-06 - Ottawa, ON - Hard Rock Casino
10-07 - Pickering, ON - Pickering Casino Resort
10-09 - Des Plaines, IL - Des Plaines Theater
10-10 - St Charles, IL - Arcada Theater
10-11 - St Charles, IL - Arcada Theater
10-13 - Glenside, PA - Keswick Theatre
10-14 - Harrisburg, PA - Capitol City Music Hall
10-15 - Cleveland, OH - Agoura Theater
10-16 - Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater
10-17 - Green Bay, WI - EPIC Event Center
10-19 - Winnipeg, MB - Burton Cummings Theatre
10-21 - Edmonton, AB - Midway Music Hall
10-22 - Calgary, AB - The Palace Theater
10-23 - Coquitlam, BC - Great Canadian Casino Vancouver - SOLD OUT
10-24 - Coquitlam, BC - Great Canadian Casino Vancouver
10-25 - Seattle, WA - Moore Theater
10-27 - San Jose, CA - San Jose Civic
10-29 - Rancho Mirage, CA - The Show @Â AguaÂ Caliente
10-30 - Las Vegas, NV - House Of Blues
10-31 - Anaheim, CA - The Grove