Motorhead

10/04/01 @ House of Blues, Anaheim
Review and Photos By: Goth Brooks

          MOTORHEAD. The band synonymous with more deviance and Rock & Roll debauchery than ten lesser bands could muster up between all of them put together graced Orange County with one incredible night of their thrash-metal mayhem at Anaheim's House of Blues on Thursday October 4th. After walking the mile long walk from the Disneyland parking lot to the House of Blues ticket window and signing a release of liability form in order to take pictures from the photo pit(which by the way only allowed me to snap pictures for the first three songs of Motorhead's set), I heard the last song of local favorites Throwrag coming to an end. I'd been wanting to check Throwrag for quite a while and was bummed for having missed their set. Next chance I get though I'll be sure to check out Captain Tae Bo and Company. I got inside the place and immediately I was struck with all the things I associate with the (909). Mullets were out in full force, and one drunk idiot with a really bad Kevin DuBrow toupe' seemed to be following me wherever I went and was in a real high fiving mood which totally bugged the shit out of me. No, it wasn't just me. This guy annoyed enough people to be carried out in a chokehold halfway through Motorhead's set later on in the night. 

          The next band to play on this bill was a band of youngsters from Chicago called SOIL. SOIL is a band who I think is great at what they do, even though what they do ain't my cup o'tea. SOIL rocked the House of Blues crowd with their solid set of songs that reminded me a lot of Neurotica and Alice in Chains. Strong musicianship and heavy guitars are two of SOIL's strengths. The songs are tight, and a couple of solid hits might just be the thing that takes SOIL to the next level. There's a lot of potential there. 

          The deafening chant of the name MOTORHEAD just kept getting louder and louder every time the crowd heard the rumble of Lemmy's Rickenbacker bass from behind the curtains at the front of the House of Blues stage in anticipation for Lemmy, Phil, and Mikkey to start their set. When the curtains finally did open up and Motorhead appeared it was full-on insanity in the house that Mickey Mouse built. I'm most amazed at MOTORHEAD for playing such a seamless set of songs that still remain individually as identifiable from one another song to song. Without even trying it's a contagious thing to get caught up in the synchronized headbanging that the loudest band on earth inspires their fans to do.

          Iron Fist, Bomber, Killed by Death, Ace of Spades. MOTORHEAD played them all! Halfway through Their set I was scrambling for position in the loge area in order to take some pictures where Mikkey Dee would be visible through his massive drum kit(no such luck), when headed back downstairs after my failed attempt I heard Lemmy introducing Johnny Ramone to the crowd. Well, I never saw Johnny Ramone and it didn't really make a difference. This was a MOTORHEAD show for christ sake! One of the best parts of the show was Phil Campbell's introduction of Lemmy to the audience. It went like this..."Ladies and Gentlemen, the most dangerous man on the tour bus, Mr. Lemmy Kilmister!" Yep Lemmy, You've still got it man! I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Wendy and Carol from TPG for letting me fetch them coffee & massage their feet, and to give a Rock & Roll holler and NOT a Hip Hop shout out to Kevin and my little brother Jimmie. You drunk little faggots RULE the pit!

• Official Motorhead Web Page

- Goth Brooks

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