Featured review by:
UG Team, on september 24, 2008
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
Sound: It’s difficult not to feel some sense of anticipation when you hear that Lemmy is coming to town. Even if you don’t care for “Ace Of Spades” or the countless other singles Motorhead has released over the past 3 decades, Lemmy is an icon among frontmen. Of course, given the amount of time that Motorhead has been in the industry, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when Lemmy, guitarist Phil Campbell, and drummer Mikkey Dee rolled into Kansas City, Mo., on September 7. Yes, the amount of movement onstage by Lemmy might have lessened a tad, but The Music hasn’t been phased at all by time.
Before Motorhead took the stage, another force of rock took the stage: The Misfits. Still leading the charge is bassist/vocalist Jerry Only, who has been with the horror punk band since 1977. Oozing personality, Only took to the stage well before the band played their first song. Apparently The Misfits didn’t have an opportunity to do a soundcheck earlier in the evening, so Only stood there in front of a standing-room only crowd, working out all the kinks in the sound system. During the entire time, Only would crack jokes with the audience and even signed a few autographs. There was not an ounce of pretension in this frontman, and it got the night off to a memorable start.
When The Misfits finally got to begin their official set (Only declared, “Okay, pretend you never saw us” and made a new dramatic entrance), the loud and driving set included such classics as “Teenagers From Mars” and “Die, Die, My Darling.” Every ounce of energy was poured into the performance, but there were definite issues with the mix. The vocals were definitely not at the forefront, and at times it was a thick, impenetrable wall of sound. Of course, for a raucous punk vibe, it did seem to somewhat work.
When Motorhead took the stage, there was a similar down-to-earth attitude from the trio. Lemmy politely announced, “We are Motorhead and we play rock and roll.” It was a simple statement, but for the band’s blend of bluesy, straightforward rock, it was a pretty apt comment. The set did include a few tracks off the band’s latest album Motorizer, with “Rock Out” opening up the performance. There was a good mix of the old and new for the most part, with "Metropolis, ” “Iron Fist, ” and “Just Cos You Got The Power (That Don’t Mean You Got The Right)” being standouts.
The big surprise of the night came when Motorhead went unplugged briefly. The 2004 single “Whorehouse Blues” was already an all-out bluesy, acoustic song, but the Live performance definitely injected life into it. And when Lemmy whipped out his harmonica, you could make the argument that it drew the biggest applause and screams of the night – next to the finale “Ace of Spades, ” of course. // 8
Perfomance: Lemmy is 62, so let’s just put that out there. You would never guess it in a million years, though. The man looks pretty much exactly like he did back in the 1980s, and he still oozes attitude. He did have quite the gentleman’s attitude for about the first half, but when a fan decided to join him onstage things changed just slightly. He seemed clearly put off and declared, “This is my stage tonight! ” There wasn’t a whole lot of movement on the stage from the frontman, but it honestly didn’t seem to matter to the hordes of Lemmy disciples.
For as cool as Lemmy was, drummer Mikkey Dee almost stole the show completely. About halfway through the concert, he delivered a hypnotic, skilled drum solo that was absolutely amazing. If there was ever a question of Motorhead’s talent as musicians, both Dee and Campbell put that to rest. When you combine the musical ability with their humor, it was an all-around entertaining show. The only downfall was that the muddy sound system didn’t always allow the witty remarks to be heard completely. // 9
Impression: Motorhead might not be quite as raucous as it was a few decades ago, but the band’s classic sound is still intact. It’s unfortunate that both The Misfits and Motorhead didn’t have the best sound system to work with (the vocal mics got extremely hot a few times besides other issues), but the bands still put on competent, entertaining shows. Lemmy might not work the crowd like some younger frontmen out there, but his bass skills and gritty vocals kept the audience content. // 9
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