 MOTORHEAD,
NASHVILLE PUSSY, FU MANCHU, SPEEDEALER
Mon May 29,
2000, The Showbox, Seattle
Live Review by
Rich Evans
"Who would
win in a wrestling match - Lemmy or God?"
"Lemmy."
"Trick
question.....Lemmy IS God!"
-From the movie
"Airheads"
Heavy Metal.
Hard Rock. Stoner Rock. Terms of endearment or of
derision? Depending on your level of
pretentiousness, these terms can mean a variety
of things to different people. Particularly Heavy
Metal. One thing that can be agreed upon
universally is that Motorhead is one of the most
consistent and unadulterated bands associated
with this much maligned genre.
The sellout
crowd at the Showbox was an uneasy mix of
suburban heshers for whom 1987 never ended,
middle aged weekend warriors, and local hipsters.
As is almost always the case at 21 and over shows
in Seattle, a large segment of the crowd
basically stood around clinging desperately to
their "cool" and forgot that the whole
thing was about having fun. The ones that did
remember what it was all about shredded their
lungs and banged their heads in homage to their
hero - Lemmy Kilmister.
Speedealer
(formerly REO Speedealer) started the mayhem with
a solid set of beer fueled guitar squall.
Speedealer kind of sounds like Black Sabbath
doing shots of Jaegermaester with Zeke - fast and
loud, but a bit woozy. Sound glitches aside,
Speedealer blazed through their set to a very
receptive crowd.
Fu Manchu also
pray at the altar of Sabbath, but seem to have
fallen asleep in church a few times. Fu Manchu's
sludgy (dare I say grungy?) set seemed out
of place with the uppity bands surrounding them
on the bill. Apparently someone played a
practical joke on Fu Manchu's bassist, glueing
his feet to the stage. The rest of the band threw
all kinds of rock shapes throughout it's
drop -d tuning and wah-wah drenched set. The
sound engineer did them no favors either.
If you haven't
seen Nashville Pussy yet, you are missing out on
possibly the best band touring clubs today. Their
sleazy mix of AC/DC, Ted Nugent, Kiss, and a
trailer park meth lab is not soon forgotten.
Along with drummer Jeremy Thompson, singer /
guitarist Blaine Cartwright, and fire - breathing
Amazon bassist Corey Parks, guitarist Ruyter Suys
seemed to be channeling Angus Young, thrashing
and writhing her long hair and incredible body
all over the stage, all the while spitting
vintage licks from her Gibson SG. Nashville Pussy
plowed through their set of high -
octane 70s lunacy at a level of energy and
attitude few can ever dream of matching. Catch
them before they end up the subject of an episode
of " VH1 - Behind the Music."
Motorhead is
that rare band that time, lineup changes, and
trends have absolutely no effect on. They are not
fashionable, not pretty, and most importantly
they don't suck. If you've seen or heard
Motorhead before, then you know what this show
was like. Lemmy, guitarist Phil Campbell, and
drummer Mikkey Dee snarled their way through a
set laced with metal classics like "Killed
by Death", tracks from their new album
"We Are Motorhead", and a cover of
"God Save The Queen" that in lesser
hands may have sounded trite and lame. But
this is Motorhead we're talking about here.
In spite of a horrendous sound mix onstage and
off that drove Lemmy to chew out the
sound engineer from the stage, Motorhead tore
through this classic and the rest of their set
with tenacity that showed everyone in attendence
exactly why they occupy the rare air reserved for
legends. After the set proper ended, the crowd
was treated to an "encore" of "Ace
of Spades" and "Overkill" that
left everyone spent as they spilled out onto 1st
Ave after the show.
Also at Pandomag.com
The
Hypnotized Never Lie ... They Just Get Duped
"Next
week The Who kicks off its
2,373rd farewell tour ... and with it, another
little piece of the band's integrity falls by the
wayside". Captain Spaulding
unloads some maximum R&B (ranting &
berating) on Pete Townshend and company in Hooray For Me
A WHORE JUST
LIKE THE REST
Tim Midgett
reviews a new collection of essays by legendary
rock critic, Richard Meltzer
Modest Mouse
Triumphs on the Moon
Modest Mouse's "isolationist,
sometimes apocalyptic view of the world is as
weird as ever," on their fine new CD, The Moon and
Antarctica
A Techno Devil
Takes it to the Next Level
Percussionist
Matt Walker talks about Cupcakes, rocket fuel,
and the good old days in Filter and Smashing
Pumpkins, by Gail Worley
Pink Floyd
Marries Blue Dorothy
On
July 3, at 11 pm (ET), Turner Classic Movies will
broadcast The Wizard of Oz synchronized
with Pink Floyd's Dark Side
of the Moon. Two years ago, Captain
Spaulding sorted all of this out for you
in Hooray For
Me!
King Crimson's
ConstruKCtion of Light
This venerated prog band's 2000
disc is "sometimes humorous, sometimes just
strange," but everyone should hear it, says
Paul Hanson in this CD Review
WHAT'S THE
SOUND OF WHITE MEN RAPPING?
J.
Kim takes on Kid Rock
and Eminem saying: "While
racism disgusts me, the history of whites and men
in the United States also disgusts me;" in the Divine Miss K
The Flaming Lips'
Flying Audiophile Circus
"Talking
with Wayne Coyne about the band's evolution is
like being guided through a minefield of
entertainment possibilities" says Brian Charest
Radiohead Are Just
Genesis With A Distortion Pedal
Radiohead
Mockery! Piper Down Naughtiness! Stereolab
Slammed! The Drugs Go Off! Shannon Stephens Oils
Up! Get Dirty With KTL 86...
JOHN CUSACK TAKES
THE LAST TRAIN TO GUYVILLE
High Fidelity
gets high marks from Captain
Spaulding in Hooray For
Me!
Cerys Matthews,
Siren of Catatonia
Is
this fetching femme the next Britstar in line for
huge US adoration? Come and see, says Reef Valmont
|