Watch: CHRIS HOLMES Celebrates 40th Anniversary Of W.A.S.P.'s First Tour At Trollhättan, Sweden Concert

Former W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes launched his Scandinavian tour, billed as a "Special And Unique 40 Years Anniversary Of W.A.S.P. by Chris Holmes in Scandinavia", on Friday, August 23 at Drottningtorget in Trollhättan, Sweden.

The setlist for the concert was as follows, according to Setlist.fm:

01. On Your Knees
02. Hellion
03. L.O.V.E. Machine
04. Blind In Texas
05. Sleeping (In The Fire)
06. I Wanna Be Somebody
07. Tormentor
08. The Headless Children
09. 9.5.-N.A.S.T.Y.
10. Wild Child
11. Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)
12. I Don't Need No Doctor
13. Rockin' In The Free World
14. Highway To Hell

Fan-filmed video of the entire show can be seen below.

Earlier this month, Holmes told Canada's The Metal Voice about his Scandinavian tour: "These shows I'm doing are completely different. I haven't done this for years… I'm not singing [at] these shows. I'm playing on the normal side that I play at. I've got a guy called Sleazy — he's taking the Randy [Piper, former W.A.S.P. guitarist] side, doing exactly what Randy did, and our bass player is in the middle singing, and we're doing exactly the London Lyceum songs [which were included in W.A.S.P.'s video recorded at London's Lyceum on October 24, 1984], except 'School Daze' and 'The Flame'. I took those out, I put in 'Wild Child' and '9.5.-N.A.S.T.Y.' and 'I Don't Need No Doctor'."

Holmes went on to say that his tour is celebrating "40 years of the first [W.A.S.P.] tour. Kind of like what Blackie's [Lawless, W.A.S.P. frontman] doing [with the upcoming W.A.S.P. tour]," he explained. "Blackie's doing the first record. I'm not. I'm doing the Lyceum show, without all the torture and the blood and stuff. Our bass player, he won't do that. And I don't blame him. I don't blame him. But we're gonna do the songs like that."

Regarding his mindset going into playing the W.A.S.P. classics, Holmes said: "It's been 40 years. I'm not gonna play… I don't know. I can't say I'm not gonna play with the same intensity. Maybe I might — I don't know. I've been going through all the songs, just making sure that I know that the old parts. Plus I have the other guitar player playing all of Randy's parts, that Randy played. One other song we put in there's is also 'Blind In Texas', which is not on the Lyceum, but I put that in there too. But, yeah, it's gonna be cool."

Asked how he feels about Blackie embarking on a tour to celebrate the 40th anniversary of W.A.S.P.'s debut album by performing the LP in its entirety. Chris said: "More power to him, if he can. I mean, you've gotta understand, the singing on there, it's not nice and pretty, and he's screaming the whole time and screaming over every song. The whole length, except for 'Sleeping (In The Fire)' he sang, but everything else is just screaming. I even told him that after [we recorded] the album, I go, 'You're gonna have problems singing this.' Hey, more power to him. If he can do that, and that's what the people wanna hear or see or whatever, more power to him."

Holmes joined W.A.S.P. in 1982 and remained with the group until 1990. In 1996, the guitarist returned to W.A.S.P. and stayed with the band until 2001. Chris has not played with W.A.S.P. since.

In 2022, Holmes completed seven weeks of radiation therapy in his battle with cancer in throat and neck.

In September 2022, Chris told Canada's The Metal Voice that he hadn't heard from Blackie since his diagnosis. He said: "Blackie could have helped to pay for some of my treatment, but [he didn't]. But Nikki Sixx [MÖTLEY CRÜE] did. He gave me a lot of money. He was the first one; he forked over 500 bucks, and I love the guy for it. Thank you, Nikki. I love him for that."

A few hours after Chris's diagnosis was made public in February 2022, Lawless released a statement via W.A.S.P.'s social media in which he said: "The entire W.A.S.P. family are all optimistic of a positive outcome concerning the diagnosis for Chris. I certainly wish him the very best."

In 2021, Holmes told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that W.A.S.P. was "a group, a band" on the first LP. "And after that, the second album, it wasn't a group — it was a one-man show," he said. "And it's been a one-man show after that ever since. It's the way it is. Look at the records. It's the way it is in that band."

According to Chris, he, guitarist Randy Piper, drummer Tony Richards and Blackie were all part of W.A.S.P. initial management contract, but Blackie was the only one signed to the record label. "Everybody thinks we [all] signed to the label, but it wasn't [like that]," Holmes told "Trunk Nation".

Despite the fact that he only got songwriting credit on a couple of the songs on each of the first four W.A.S.P. records, Holmes was adamant that his input was essential to the band's overall sound.

"If I would have quit after the first album, the way I play guitar, the way I play is really important to writing those songs," he told "Trunk Nation".

"If I hadn't joined in the beginning, it would have never worked. Blackie told me that the first day, when he came and talked to me to play in W.A.S.P. He says, 'I've got this band. It's not gonna work unless you're in it.' He told me that to my face."

In February 2022, Lawless shot down Holmes's claim that the guitarist was "screwed" out of receiving royalties on the W.A.S.P. albums that he performed on. Lawless discussed Holmes's tenure with W.A.S.P. in an interview with "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". Asked to respond to Holmes's assertion in Chris's recently released documentary "Mean Man: The Story Of Chris Holmes" that he was financially taken advantage of during his time in the band, Lawless said: "I don't really know much about… I spoke to [former W.A.S.P. guitarist] Randy Piper a couple of years ago. I don't really know what's going on with the rest of the guys. And I'm not sure exactly what you're talking about with Chris about not being paid.

"Chris, at two different points in his musical career, received settlements from this band; he signed documents as such," Blackie explained. "And he was paid quite well.

"I haven't seen what you're talking about. The answer I'm giving you right now is based on what you just said to me."

The W.A.S.P. frontman went on to confirm that he hadn't seen Chris's documentary and was once again asked about Holmes's claim that there is money and songwriting credits that he didn't get that he's due. Lawless said simply: "That is not true."

During a November 2017 press conference in Moscow, Russia, Lawless was asked what he would say to those W.A.S.P. fans who continue to call for the band to reunite with Holmes. He responded: "People get divorced for certain reasons, and there's times when the kids want the parents to get back together, but sometimes it never happens. And this is one of those [times]. Sorry."