Motorf**kinhead

I had the chance to see Motorhead at the Sound Academy last night, and I was glad that I took the time to go see Lemmy and the boys one more time before Lemmy gets too old or ends up dying on stage.

As for the opening acts:

Nashville Pussy - these fat drunk rednecks put on a hell of the show, I have no idea why they were on first.  Sure they may live on beer, fried chicken and pot but they rock, they didn't steal the show like AC/DC did at the SARSfest a few years ago, but they kicked ass.

Limited to a small stage as they were the 1st of 3 acts on the night they played hard, they played fast, and they played well.  I must admit however that I was hypnotized by guitarist's Ruyter Suys knockers flopping all over the place and we were sure one of those meat puppies was going to pop out, but she must have some industrial strength adhesive under her bra to keep those suckers secure the way she was manically playing and kicking in the air.  This band just plain rocks.

Reverand Horton Heat - what the fuck were these guys doing higher up on the bill than Nashville Pussy?  They brought down most of the crowd and they just plain sucked sweaty balls.  All I could think while they were up was that if I wanted to hear the Stray Cats on speed I would go the Goodwill store, hit up the bin marked "We'll pay you to take it from us" and get a Stray Cats record and play it at 78 on my player at home. People were headed outside to smoke and I was standing around, yawning, thinking that my slightly warm and flat beer was more entertaining.

Fortunately I have no desire to listen to that rock a billy shit (they claimed it was country influenced, which it wasn't, it was just shit) and my record player isn't hooked up to anything right now, precluding any such desires from happening.  3 Words: They Sucked Ass.

Now, the reason why we were really there:

Motorhead - In a way its good that Lemmy's health problems forced him to quit drinking, and that's the only thing that has changed about the way this man lives life.  They came out fast and hard, Motorhead may have all the precision of the Big F'n Hammer in the tool box, but they are as just as effective at getting the job done when it comes to smacking you in the face with speed and volume.  As Lemmy says, they are Motorhead, they play Rock n F**kin Roll, no pretensions, no apologies, no remorse.  Cirque du soliel was in town at the same time and they are playing nearby, it was harder to tell who were the bigger freaks, the cirque performers or the Motorhead fans.

Motorhead came out with a mix of new and old, "Rock Out, Metropolis, Just Cos You Got the Power" were among the songs that got the crowd pumping their fists while the moshpit bubbled in all its fury, I counted about 5 people body surfing at one time, and there was one girl who must have went past us about 5 time during a couple songs as she kept going back for more "surfing".

They eventually made it up to "Killed By Death" where Danko Jones jumped on stage and screamed the backing vocals to the chorus. Danko was having such a good time that I thought he was either gonna wet himself or have an aneurysm, the veins were bulging out of the side of his head while he was up there flaying about like he was having a seizure, no one can accuse Danko of being laid back.

Then came the encore, the acoustic "Whorehouse Blues" (lets face it, Motorhead's acoustic is about as gentle as a metal grinder cutting through and inch of plate steel) felt like it was going to shake the roof off the building, which brought us to "Ace of Spades", you can't accuse them of not giving the people what they want, yet again the crowd was moshing and fists were pumping in the air while most everyone around us was screaming the words. At this point there was nothing left for them to do but play "Overkill" which has to be their most over top song, Mikkey Dee's drums hit you like a young Mike Tyson pounding on some poor chump, Lemmy's thunderous bass shook the floor, and Phill Campbell's guitar cut through it all, like the aforementined grinder through an inch of plate steel.

Lemmy and the boys may not be flashy, they don't sit and chat with the crowd, they just just play loud, fast and hard, which is all you can ask from them, and they give you more than you were looking. Lemmy was better than I had ever seen him before. I have to add that my frame of reference is years ago as a teenager when Lemmy was downing a 26 of Jack before the show and you would be lucky if he didn't pass out. In two words: "F**kin A"

I just have to wonder, who the hell put Nashville Pussy in the opening slot.  There could only be one of two reasons:

1. the promotors wanted to mellow the crowd before the sonic assault that is Motorhead to make Lemmy et all seem better
2. Lemmy wanted to party with the Pussy before hitting the stage.

I hope it was #2 as Motorhead doesn't need anyone to make them look better.