This particular Friday night at the Showbox SoDo should have been called something like “Variations on the Heavy Metal Blues x3.” Nashville Pussy, Reverend Horton Heat and the legendary Motorhead complemented each other perfectly. Their styles of music are close enough to each other to work flawlessly on the same bill, but unique enough to span multiple genres and keep the audience fully engaged.
The opening band, Nashville Pussy, is quite possibly one of the best opening bands you could ever hope to see. Of course, they headline most any other show they play, but with Motorhead such a large influence, I'm sure they're honored to be on the same bill.
They instantly got the house rocking with the high-octane opener “Speed Machine,” the lead track from their 2009 release From Hell to Texas. They exuded punk energy on “Late Great USA,” and their signature country/metal on “Hate and Whiskey.” Singer/guitarist Blaine Cartwright belted out the vocals with an energy meant to fire up the crowd on impact. The crowd filing in didn't take long to start drinking and rocking along. Most impressive were the guitar solos of Ruyter Suys. She tore it up with intense, shredding solos throughout the set. The only complaint was the short set. In the future, I definitely have to catch a full set from the US of A's answer to Motorhead.
Second on the bill was Reverend Horton Heat. This grouping with Nashville Pussy and Motorhead confused me at first. I, like most, was familiar with a few RHH songs like “Psychobilly Freakout” and their slight radio hit “It's Martini Time.” The group's much more than that. Yes, they are largely psychobilly, but hard, heavy rockers like “Jimbo's Song” display an unmistakeable Motorhead influence. “Big Red Rocket of Love” displays a rockabilly and swing influence while “Please Don't Take the Baby to the Liquor Store,” mixes honky tonk and rockabilly—hillbilly, if you will. RHH helped to ratchet up the energy even further. Who doesn't like a band with upright bass anyway?
These two high-caliber openers more than set the stage for Lemmy Kilmister and the legendary Motorhead. Lemmy, guitarist Phil Campbell, and drummer Mikkey Dee stormed the stage just after 11pm, October 2nd and did not let up until well into the morning of October 3rd. I don't think Motorhead are ever capable of disappointing. They were thoroughly satisfying this night as they plowed through a career-spanning set. Early highlights included “Metropolis,” “Iron Fist,” “I Got Mine,” and “Rock Out,” off their most current release, Motorizer.
Motorhead slowed it down, as much as they're possibly capable of, to play “Another Perfect Day,” and “Whorehouse Blues,” which prompted Lemmy to break out the harmonica.
Motorhead, always one to finish strong, saved their best cards for the encore. “Ace of Spades” and “Overkill” fittingly ended the show on a high point with the crowd not ready to leave. This show was astounding. The music and stage shows of all three groups together was to the eardrums like a shot of adrenaline is to the heart.
