Blackjack @ ClaremontShowgrounds, 10/12/2005

Mon 12th Dec, 2005 in Gig Reviews

Five points for a mullet. 10 for an AC/DC shirt. 20 for Holden-branded apparel. 50 for the air guitar solo in the crowd. Spot-the-bogan is always fun but after just five minutes at the first Blackjack festival, my points tally has already broken all previous records.

Though the average age of this evening’s crowd is significantly higher than what you’d see at other summer festivals, there is healthy representation from several generations of rock fans. The 30-somethings are out in force for headline act Mötley Crüe while your cool uncles have dug their old Motörhead shirts out for the godfathers of speed-metal. There are plenty of younger fans though, with The Living End and The Casanovas gracing the massive stage.

Though the Crüe’s massive video screens and drummer Tommy Lee’s ‘titty cam’ haven’t made it across the Nullarbor, Blackjack organisers have more than compensated for that with the massive lineup. It’s not long after the gates are open and the bar is soon busy, despite there being several hours to go before the big names hit the stage.

Perth band Day of the Dead kick things off, playing mainly to those keen to start drinking early. Their instrumental, 1950s and 1960s-type jams are a far cry from the drunken sing-alongs we all anticipate but for something a little different, the band are good value.

Opening the main stage are The Casanovas, one of the more recent bands in the tradition of our greatest rock export, AC/DC, to hit our airwaves. Though they have had a couple of radio hits, their songs all blend into each other tonight and very little stands out. To be fair, apart from a few devoted fans in the front rows, the crowd is unresponsive and seems more interested in getting drunk. The Casanovas would be a solid rock act any on other night, but given the tough crowd and the bands they have to match, the three-piece are dwarfed tonight.

On the smaller stage next door, veterans The Fireballs try to remind the crowd why their influence is still felt among artists today. Like The Casanovas, they play to a fairly unresponsive crowd, with only the front few rows paying much attention. Regardless, the trio play as though they are still at their peak; as fast and as furious as ever. With their guitar-double bass-drums setup, it’s fitting that the Fireballs warm the crowd up for The Living End, the most noteable act to carry on that tradition.

As the sun begins to set, The Living End, Melbourne’s favourite punk-rockabilly threesome, are the first of the heavy-hitters to hit the stage. As they belt out the battle cry of Roll On from the 2001 album of the same name, the crowds pour out from the licensed area to the front of the stage, fists in the air in true bogan fashion. Paying homage to The Fireballs, the band rip through a set that pulls together the best work from across their career.

Second Solution, from the band’s 1998 major label debut, gets a massive sing-along, as do All Torn Down and the anthemic Prisoner of Society. Conversely, newer tracks What’s On Your Radio and I Can’t Give You What I haven’t Got get fairly lukewarm responses despite vocalist Chris Cheney and bassist Scott Owen putting everything into the performance. Cheney’s beer bottle guitar solo goes down well while Owen balances on top of his double bass, but the biggest cheer for the band comes when Cheney leads the crowd through a sing-along of AC/DC’s You Shook Me All Night Long. They cap the set off with a blistering version of West End Riot, dedicated to everyone from the west; and though they haven’t pulled the rug out from underneath tonight’s headliners, they have done just enough to raise the bar.

So to the headliners. Most of the crowd seems caught by surprise when Motörhead, one of the biggest names in the history of metal, walk out onto a stage not much bigger than the one your mate’s band played on at the pub last weekend. Easily winning the Blackjack t-shirt showdown, Motörhead fans seemingly swarm the tiny stage as Lemmy Kilmister appears on stage brandishing his Rickenbacker bass guitar. Accompanied by Mikkey Dee on drums and Phillip Campbell on guitar, the metal god tears through the band’s 30-year back catalogue in 45 minutes. Not bad for a guy who will turn 60 this month. In the Name of Tragedy, Stay Clean and Over the Top all play a part in tearing our heads off, and anyone with a voice left helps belt out the most fitting theme song for Blackjack: Ace of Spaces. As I marvel at the three-minute drum solo during Sacrifice, an imposing fan several decades my senior prises my hand out of my pocket, moulds a fist out of my hand and thrusts it in the air for me. What generation gap?

No disrespect to Mötley Crüe, but with the penultimate act’s performance measurable only on the Richter Scale, it seems almost impossible to top it. But they sure as hell try. Lee, the Crue’s most (in)famous member, hits the stage first, sadly without the titty cam… but nobody seems to mind. It’s the first time the quartet have ever visited Perth and to most of the crowd, just having the band there is enough. Lee is in great shape, and demonstrates the kind of talent that has seen him named as one of the best drummers since Keith Moon and John Bonham. Bass guitarist Nikki Sixx, in front of a wall of sound, gives his Thunderbird a bashing and struts around the stage with ease. He may be 46, but the bass god has the fire and energy of anyone half his age.

The set comprises most of the band’s greatest hits, which is a smart move considering the vast majority of tonight’s crowd are present for nostalgia alone. Despite being a few pounds heavier and having a little less hair, the ever baby-faced Vince Neil skips around the stage like it’s 1985, powering through Too Fast for Love, Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room and Live Wire. Unfortunately, Neil’s vocals could benefit from some more bottom-end in the mix, with each word piercing a little more than the last. This isn’t much of a problem  though, as I’m surrounded by about 10,000 backing singers who give the sound the beef it’s missing.

As the set draws toward its close, the music takes the back seat while the theatrics kick in. The pyrotechnics scorch every pair of eyebrows in the front row and fireworks come dangerously close to the roof of the massive showgrounds stage. The definitive Crüe moment though, comes as three exotic dancers, dressed as nurses, fawn over Neil — and each other â€” as he squeaks his way through Dr Feelgood. It’s the sort of extravagance that’s almost non-existent with many of today’s top rock acts and it’s evidently something the masses have been hungry for since the band released Too Fast for Love 23 years ago.

Though anyone who saw Motörhead’s performance would agree they were by far the better band tonight, the Crüe’s spectacular stage show is unlike anything you’ll see in 2005 and makes the one of the most memorable you will ever witness. Though many of the songs have been forgotten, Sixx, Neil, Lee and guitarist Mick Mars have put on a spectacle that really shows why they have their place in rock history.