W.A.S.P. Bring Rare ‘Mr. Cool’ Demo To The Stage For The First Time Ever (Video)

W.A.S.P. dug deep into its early history during the opening night of the “1984 To Headless” tour, bringing a song that predates the band’s formation to the stage for the first time.

The Blackie Lawless-fronted band launched its 2026 U.S. and Canada run with KK’s Priest on Thursday, September 10, at The Magnolia in El Cajon, California. Among the 17 songs performed was “Mr. Cool,” an extremely rare track originally recorded during Lawless’ time in his pre-W.A.S.P. band Sister.

Lawless revealed before the performance that the song was written when he was only 18. The Sister demo eventually became a single, while the composition itself would later evolve into “Cries In The Night,” which appeared on W.A.S.P.‘s second album, The Last Command, in 1985.

Speaking to the audience before launching into the song, Lawless said: “I was about 18 years old when I wrote this song. And a bunch of interesting things happened along the way. We did a demo of it. It got released as a single by a band that Chris [Holmes, ex-W.A.S.P. guitarist] and I had a long time ago called Sister. It got sold for $5,000. And I have never, ever played this song live. So I’m doing this for me, and I hope you like it. This is ‘Mr. Cool’.”

The inclusion of “Mr. Cool” was especially fitting for a tour built around W.A.S.P.’s early years. The “1984 To Headless” concept focuses on material from the band’s first four studio albums, beginning with the self-titled 1984 debut and continuing through The Last Command, Inside The Electric Circus and The Headless Children.

With the tour now underway, “Mr. Cool” will be one of the most intriguing songs for longtime W.A.S.P. fans to watch for as the band continues its North American dates. For a song that spent decades outside the band’s live repertoire, its appearance in El Cajon marked a rare direct connection to the musical history that existed before W.A.S.P. officially emerged.

Full setlist was as follows:

1. Easy Livin’ (URIAH HEEP cover)
2. Fistful Of Diamonds
3. The Flame
4. Mr. Cool
5. B.A.D.
6. Thunderhead
7. Forever Free
8. The Real Me (THE WHO cover)
9. The Headless Children
10. Mephisto Waltz
11. I Wanna Be Somebody
12. L.O.V.E. Machine
13. Inside The Electric Circus
14. I Don’t Need No Doctor
15. Golgotha
16. Wild Child
17. Blind In Texas