Static-X's Wisconsin Death Trip 20th Anniversary Tour

After suporrting bands Raven Black, Wednesday 13, Dope and Devil Driver the lights dimmed at Reverb (possibly the hottest venue on planet Earth) and the LED screens slowly formed the Static-X logo as well as images of the members of the band, the sweat drenched fans of Reading, PA and the surrounding areas got loud and rowdy and ready to pay tribute to the late Wayne Static and the original band members of Static-X.

The three surviving members of the original Static-X lineup — guitarist Koichi Fukuda, bassist Tony Campos, and drummer Ken Jay realize that they have taken what some seem as a strange approach to honoring their fallen lead singer and that their decision was generating a good amount of controversy months before the tour kicked off. Hellbent on recapturing the feeling of that 1999 tour, the band enlisted an ‘unknown’ vocalist known as “Xer0” who appears on stage in a Wayne Static mask, with his hair spiked up into the late singer’s signature style.

While some of the Static-X fanbase had voiced some anger at the masked singer, the remaining band members did seek the approval of Wayne Static’s family before commissioning the mask and moving forward with touring plans. They understand that some may think the mask may be seen by some fans as being distasteful, but the closest people to Wayne have acknowledged that “he always had a macabre sense of humor and would likely have found the whole thing hilarious.”

Whether you like the idea of the mask or not, the show itself was incredible. ‘Xero’ does an amazing job bringing the spirit of Wayne Static to the stage again. Songs like ‘Bled for Days’ and ‘Push it’ sound just as good as they did 20 years ago.

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