[kj] (NKJ) Motorhead Last Night

[Steve Hackett]

I got the new album in the post yesterday..yet another stormer
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "TB" <partyslammer at socal.rr.com>
To: "A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)" 
<gathering at misera.net>
Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2008 4:52 PM
Subject: [kj] (NKJ) Motorhead Last Night



> You gotta love a band who's frontman states before a single note is played 

> "We are Motorhead and we play rock n' fuckin' roll!" and ends the show 

> with the same proclamation.

>

> I passed on this weekends' local Motorhead/Heaven and Hell/Judas Priest 

> festival tour stop for two big reasons, one being it was at that hellhole 

> outdoor pavilion in Devore (California) and the other being that I knew 

> Heaven and Hell was playing basically an abbreviated version of the same 

> set they've been playing for the last year or so leaving Judas Priest (who 

> I can take or leave at this point) likely playing a full show here in a 

> local arena in '09 and Motorhead playing a full set in the small Anaheim 

> House of Blues tonight. The last time I saw Motorhead in a place that was 

> smaller than an arena or outdoor shed was way back in '84 at the Santa 

> Monica Civic during their 10th Anniversary tour (with Wendy O' Williams 

> supporting!).

>

> Anyway, I went as late as I figured I could get away with to miss as many 

> of the opening bands as possible. I still got there early enough to catch 

> "Valient Thorr" which was a kind of an old school speed metal band who all 

> looked like good ol' Southern boy refugees from a white trash trailer 

> park. It was kinda funny watching a shirtless, bearded, pot bellied 

> frontman who makes Zack Wyld look positively urban scream anti-Bush tunes. 

> At least they had a bit of a sense of humor even if their set grew old 

> after about 2 songs.

>

> Motorhead came out just after 10pm and opened with "Dr Rock." Yeah it was 

> pretty fuckin' loud and almost amusingly, it seemed like the soundman kept 

> cranking up the volume to the point by the 3rd song the PA was feeding 

> back at which he eased it back a bit was was good enough for my now deaf 

> hearing. They played only two songs (I think) off the just released new 

> album and the tunes sound like typical Motorhead, meaning they rock hard 

> as fuck and sound like slight variations on their early 80's classics. 

> Although a good number of old school classics like "Killed By Death," 

> "Iron Fist" and show ending "Overkill" would make any even cursory 

> Motorhead fan happy, they also filled the set with somewhat deep cuts (and 

> odd choices depending on one's tastes) like "Metropolis," "Going To 

> Brazil" and the epic old b-side "Cause You Got The Power." yet not playing 

> anything off (my personal favorite album) of "Orgasmatron." One the other 

> hand, one surprise highlight was an excellent mid-set cover of Thin 

> Lizzy's "Rosalie" dedicated to Phil Lynott. Another highlight was acoustic 

> encore song "Whorehouse Blues" with Lemmy on harmonica.

>

> The band itself sounded great. Drummer Micky Dee is one of the best hard 

> rock double bass drummers I've ever seen even if he looks like an even 

> fatter version of Vince Neil. Guitarist Phil Campbell looks like a guy 

> you'd find working on your car in a shitty car shop but he can play like 

> nobody's bidness. Lemmy........ well, he's just Lemmy. It doesn't really 

> matter that he's getting older 'cause he's always looked pretty rough and 

> as long as he still has his long hair and those muttonchops, age ain't 

> gonna do shit to him or his gravely voice. On the facial boil report, he's 

> got one on his left cheek that's about the size of a normal man's fist 

> now.

>

> The audience was pretty much what you'd expect at a Motorhead show - 

> mostly gross metalheads and old school mohawked punks of all ages with a 

> surprising amount of women, and quite a few that weren't disgusting pigs. 

> On the downside, typical for the Anaheim House of Blues, people violently 

> moshed on the floor the entire show no matter what kind of song was played 

> and the place was a total sweatbox the entire night. I pretty much stuck 

> to the back of the pit about 30 feet from the stage.

>

> Funniest line I heard all night came from a pissed off, slutty looking 

> blond bimbo yelling in her boyfriend's ear as they exited the pit; "I 

> don't mind someone touching me but I can't stand ugly people grabbing my 

> tits!"

>

> Downside was I was woken up this morning by my pissed off wife who 

> discovered a pretty big dent in the rear passenger side of the rental car 

> I drove to the show that probably happened in the parking lot when some 

> dumbass drunk parked next to me hit the car leaving before I got to the 

> car.

>

> T.B.

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