Motorhead: Everything Louder Then Everything Else, and that’s exactly what they were. Despite a pathetic turn out by the Adelaide punters (and they complain why other acts leave us off their tour schedule), Lemmy and the boys were in blistering form and shook Thebby Theatre like it’s never been shaken before.
First up was The Casanovas, and you had to feel sorry for these guys. They played to about 10 punters and I think they were only on the floor because they were scared of all the mean looking dudes in the bar and lobby area. To their credit they battled on and got through it.
Next up was Aussie rock icon Angry Anderson with his band Rose Tattoo. The little bald man was in fine form despite visibly struggling with illness, his self-prescribed flu remedy (red wine) clearly wasn’t working. Rose Tattoo gave us an hour of some of the best hard pub rock going around. Highlights such as Black Eyed Bruiser, Bad Boy for Love and Nice Boys (Don’t Play Rock n Roll) got the crowd going and prepared for what was in store.
Then it was time for Motorhead. The boys walked on stage, Lemmy walked up the mic and without fucking around announced to the crowd “We are Motorhead and we play Rock N Roll” before blasting straight into Doctor Rock. Guitarist Phil Campbell skipped across the stage like a madman and set the crowd alight with his squealing solos and insanely fast riffing. Mikkey Dee was an animal on the drums and treated the crowd to one of the best solos I’ve ever heard. Highlights of the first set included Killers, Metropolis, Over The Top and the tribute to politicians Just ‘Cos You Got The Power (That Don’t Mean You Got the Right).
After the break a new look Motorhead returned. Lemmy had lost the bass and Mikkey and Phil both had acoustic guitars and they treated us to an acoustic Whorehouse Blues before returning to their usual positions to finish the show. They then played Ace of Spades, which of course had the crowd going ballistic before finishing the show like it started with Lemmy announcing “We are Motorhead and we play Rock N Fucken Roll” and then launching into with Overkill.
Motorhead were awesome, let’s hope the poor turn out doesn’t affect their decision to return the Adelaide in the future.
