originally published: 02/16/2026
(CARTERET, NJ) -- W.A.S.P. brings its "1984 To Headless" Fall North American Tour to the Carteret Performing Arts & Events Center on Saturday, October 3, 2026 at 8:00pm. The band will pay tribute to their 1st Four Albums... Live! The lineup includes Special Guest KK's Priest.
Few Bands in the history of Rock N’ Roll have ever incited the love, the hate, the raw emotional effect that W.A.S. P. has had on the world. From the very beginning, in the small venues of Los Angeles California, and later to the numerous countries worldwide that banned these Winged Assassins from performing live, the Band’s unique style of Shock and Rock caused Religious organizations, Local City Councils, Parliaments, and the Washington D.C. Senate to hold hearings in an effort to bar this group from selling records and trashing stages everywhere they played.
W.A.S.P.’s founding member, frontman Blackie Lawless, has led the group as its lead vocalist and primary songwriter since its beginning. His unique brand of visual, social and political comment took the group to worldwide heights and sold millions of records alongside a legacy of sold out shows across the globe for 4 decades.
Selected Hits from W.A.S.P.'s 1st Four Albums promise to create a True Rock 'N Roll Spectacle complete with a Live Stage Show bringing those Albums Alive for the 1st... and Only Time.
Tickets start at $53.50 and are available for purchase online. The Carteret Performing Arts & Events Center is located at 46 Washington Avenue in Carteret, New Jersey.
The 1st Five Years of Artist's Careers most always determine what their legacy will be if they go on to greatness, or be remembered as a footnote in music history.
W.A.S.P. cemented their place in the Rock History in those 1st Five Years with their iconic first album in 1984, followed the next year with "The Last Command", "Inside the Electric Circus" in 1987 and capped with the their Greatest yet, "The Headless Children" in 1989.
“It's hard to express the genuine excitement I'm feeling in describing the "1984 To Headless" U.S. Tour. Playing those songs from those 1st Four Albums in a combined package like this is something we've never attempted before. In addition to the songs, the entire Stage Show will look like the Album Covers from those Records will Come Alive... right right before your eyes!
Although it’s been over a dozen years since guitarist and songwriter K.K. Downing departed Judas Priest, the iconic band he co-founded and played with for 40 years, he was never really going to retire. It was only a matter of time before he reclaimed the spotlight. As his new album title proclaims, The Sinner Rides Again.
K.K. Downing has had metal coursing through his veins from the beginning, starting in the Midlands region of England where Judas Priest was born. He compellingly chronicled his life odyssey in his 2018 autobiography, and his recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame further secures his legacy as a pioneering musician, songwriter and guitarist.
As a founding member of the classic Judas Priest line-up, Downing helped lay the foundation for the heavy metal genre as a whole. His distinct style of playing is easily identifiable, he was part of a six-string duo that complemented and contrasted each other, and they would progress to new levels of excitement. He has taken that ethos and applied it to KK’s Priest with impassioned results.
“Great news! KK’S PRIEST is going to be returning to the US and Canada this September and October 2026! We will be teaming up together with metal legends W.A.S.P. and with over 40 shows, this is going to be an epic metal and steel tour featuring lots of Priest classics! We look forward to seeing you all again very soon so please get on board early, we do not want you to miss this one.” — K.K. Downing
For Downing, KK’s Priest is not just a statement of intent. It is a statement of being. His lifelong heavy metal saga continues.
The Carteret Performing Arts & Events Center is a multi-level, flexible space venue featuring a lower-level comedy/jazz club with a piano lounge; a main floor concert/comedy and entertainment space with luxury theater-style seating that can be easily removed to accommodate a variety of events such as expos, weddings, dinners, and more. The upper-level VIP seating includes VIP Box Suites, private VIP spaces, and a spacious second-floor lobby with a baby grand piano. The rooftop lounge, decorated with high-end furnishings, fire pits, heaters, and bars, boasts its own stage and private cabana-style seating for dining and enjoying the sunset.
COLUMNS
This Week in Music: Previews for Concerts from February 17-23, 2026
Here is a look at shows taking place from February 17-23, 2026 along with our featured listings and a look at some upcoming shows. New Jersey Stage offers previews of concerts throughout the Garden State as well as select shows in New York City and Philadelphia areas.
MORE NEWS
