Blackie Lawless Reaches Back Past W.A.S.P. as the Fox Theater Faithful Get a History Lesson in Riverside
There's something fitting about a Southern California crowd getting the deepest cut of Blackie Lawless's career. On September 12, W.A.S.P. rolled into the Fox Performing Arts Theater in Riverside for a stop on the band's "1984 To Headless" tour, and during a VIP question-and-answer session ahead of the show, Lawless opened up about why he's been performing "Mr. Cool" — a song that predates W.A.S.P. entirely, originally written for his pre-band project SIST. As Lawless put it, the decision wasn't about pleasing anyone else. "I'm doing it, quite honestly, for me," he told the assembled fans, a blunt bit of honesty that says a lot about where the 71-year-old frontman's head is at more than four decades into one of California heavy metal's most theatrical careers.
For a band that built its reputation on shock theatrics and buzzsaw codpieces, it's a quietly moving thing to watch Lawless dig back into his own pre-fame archives on a tour that's already positioned as a career-spanning victory lap. W.A.S.P. has never needed to justify itself to California audiences — this is a band that came up through the same Sunset Strip trenches as Mötley Crüe and Ratt — but there's a difference between playing the hits and reaching for something more personal. "Mr. Cool" isn't a deep cut fans are clamoring for; it's a piece of Lawless's own history that he clearly still needs to work through on stage, night after night, regardless of whether the Riverside crowd knew the words. That's the kind of thing that separates the best heavy metal songs from mere setlist filler, and it's a reminder of why W.A.S.P. remains one of the most compelling acts to watch among 80s metal bands still actively touring.
KK's Priest Brings the Downing Pedigree to Los Angeles
W.A.S.P. isn't traveling alone on this run. KK's Priest — the band fronted by former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing and vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens, rounded out by guitarist A.J. Mills, bassist Tony Newton, and drummer Sean Elg — is serving as direct support, and the tour is already confirmed to swing back through Los Angeles during a Summer/Fall 2026 North American run. That's a significant date for anyone who came up worshipping British Steel and Painkiller, since Downing hasn't exactly made a habit of gracing California stages since his acrimonious split from Judas Priest well over a decade ago.
Pairing KK's Priest with W.A.S.P. makes sense beyond simple nostalgia. Both acts represent a specific strain of unapologetic, riff-first heavy metal that never bent to trends, and both frontmen — Lawless and Owens — have spent careers proving that theatrical showmanship and technical vocal command aren't mutually exclusive. For California metal fans who've spent years tracking which of the genre's founding fathers are still willing to get on a bus, this run is essential viewing. Keep an eye on upcoming shows listings as the 2026 Los Angeles date solidifies — this is shaping up to be one of the region's must-see pairings among metal bands touring 2026.
Amoeba's Crate Dig Reminds Us Why California Still Matters to Thrash
Meanwhile, Anthrax's Scott Ian sat down for Amoeba Music's long-running "What's In My Bag" series, and while the segment is filmed on the label's Hollywood turf, the substance of what Ian pulled from the bins says plenty about where his head's at these days. He namechecked Massachusetts hardcore titans Converge — specifically calling out "Bad Faith" as "the heaviest f***ing thing I've heard in a long time" — alongside UK crust/d-beat forefathers Discharge and, in a left turn, Quentin Tarantino. It's a small piece of content, but it's a useful reminder that Amoeba remains one of the few physical-media institutions where a founding thrash metal figure and a random Tuesday shopper can still cross paths over vinyl.
Ian's Discharge shoutout in particular deserves a beat of attention here, given how much crust punk DNA runs through California's underground without much mainstream coverage. The state has a deep bench of bands working in that Discharge-adjacent d-beat and crust lineage, and moments like this — a legacy thrash figure publicly co-signing the genre's UK originators — tend to trickle down and reignite interest in the domestic scene. If you're a California crust or d-beat act reading this, there's rarely been a better moment to get your music in front of ears hungry for something filthier than another algorithm-friendly metalcore band. That's exactly the kind of act we want to hear about — feel free to submit your band if you're flying that flag.
The Nu-Metal Resurgence Isn't Subtle, and California Started It
Elsewhere in the discourse, MetalSucks' recurring MONDAYSUCKS column took aim at the ongoing nu-metal revival, half-joking that its resurgence is basically a recession indicator. Funny bit, but there's real substance underneath it: nu-metal never actually left California, it just went underground for a stretch. This is, after all, the state that gave the world Papa Roach out of Vacaville, a band whose entire catalog helped define the genre's early-2000s commercial peak and who remain active, relevant, and still packing rooms. It's also worth remembering Breaking Benjamin's "Awaken" just went gold in the US — the band's first new certification since 2022 — which, while not a California act, is more evidence that post-nu-metal and alt-metal are having a genuine commercial moment rather than a meme cycle.
If the resurgence is real, and it certainly looks that way, California is positioned to benefit more than most regions. The state's alt-metal and rap-rock lineage runs deep, from Papa Roach to the more experimental corners of the scene, and any renewed appetite for detuned riffs and turntable scratches tends to draw new bands out of the woodwork looking for stages. Anyone tracking new metal bands 2026 should keep watching the Southern and Northern California club circuits for younger acts riding this wave back toward the mainstream — it's already happening in smaller rooms across LA and the Bay Area, even if the bigger festival bookings haven't fully caught up yet.
NWOTHM Faithful, Take Note
Speaking of throwback movements with real staying power, the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal continues to be one of California's quietest success stories, and weeks like this one — dominated by W.A.S.P. and KK's Priest news — are a good excuse to remind readers that the state's NWOTHM scene runs far deeper than its most famous exports. Bands working in that classic, riff-driven heavy metal tradition without irony or nu-metal signifiers deserve more ink than they typically get, and it's an area California Metal Index intends to keep digging into as 2026 approaches. If your band is flying the traditional heavy metal flag anywhere in the state, we want to know about it — the scene is bigger than the headlines suggest, and the appetite among fans clearly hasn't gone anywhere given how quickly shows like the W.A.S.P./KK's Priest pairing move tickets.
The Wider Web: Dio Fund Returns to Studio City
On the charitable side of things, the "Bowl For Ronnie" celebrity bowling party — benefiting the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund — is confirmed to return on Thursday, November 12, 2026, once again at PINZ Bowling Center in Studio City. It's become one of the more reliable fixtures on the Southern California metal calendar, a low-key, high-spirited way for the community to gather in the name of one of the genre's most beloved and mourned frontmen. Events like this are a good reminder that California's metal scene isn't just about tour dates and album certifications — it's a community that shows up for its own, year after year, in a bowling alley in the Valley just as readily as a packed theater in Riverside.
Taken together, it's a week that reinforces something California metal fans already know: this state doesn't just produce legendary bands, it keeps finding ways to celebrate, revisit, and reinvent that legacy in real time. Whether it's Lawless reaching back into his own pre-fame history, Downing finally bringing Priest-adjacent riffs back through LA, or a resurgent nu-metal wave rooted in Vacaville and beyond, the throughline is the same — California remains one of the most essential zip codes in the best metal bands conversation, full stop.