Watch W.A.S.P. Play ‘Animal (F–k Like a Beast)’ for First Time Since 2006
Ever since W.A.S.P. announced their 40th anniversary tour, everyone's been wondering whether or not they'd add "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)" to the set, especially because Blackie Lawless swore it off years ago. But, the tour kicked off over the weekend, and they did play it — for the first time since 2006.
Lawless is a born-again Christian, and during an interview in 2009, the vocalist said he'd never perform "Animal" again because of the subject matter. "I don't want 13-year-olds going around singing that song. If that's something they wanna do later in their life, that's their business. But, like I said, it's a question of faith and the religious conviction that I have," he affirmed.
However, a few months ago, the singer seemed to have had a change of heart about the song. During a chat with Eddie Trunk, Lawless admitted he was leaning toward playing it since the tour is meant to be retrospective of their career. And during the first night of the run on Oct. 28 in Las Vegas, he stuck to his guns.
According to Setlist.fm, it was the 11th track they played during the night. In a fan-filmed video, the screens on the stage displayed messages about the Parents Music Resource Center, which dubbed "Animal" one of the "Filthy 15" songs. A speech by leader of the PMRC played in the background as the message was broadcasted.
"In 1985, a small select group of Washington politicians and their wives started an organization called the Parents Music Resource Center or PMRC. Their stated goal was to educate parents of record buying fans to make them fully aware of the lyrical content of the music their kids were listening to," the message read. "After highly publicized campaign the profiles they created for themselves forced major record companies and their artists to respond to their claims of distasteful lewd and immoral lyrics were offensive harmful and even dangerous to children.
"These Washington wives became the new face of the oppression of artistic expression for the entire recording industry and threatened artists worldwide by attempting to eliminate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution — Freedom of Speech. This foundation of American democracy became the battle cry for an entire generation of musicians and exposed this self righteous power-seeking group of Washington insiders for what they were."
See a fan-filmed video of the performance below.