26/11/2010 Motörhead & the Michael Monroe Band @ Brixton Academy

Subject	Motörhead & the Michael Monroe Band @ Brixton Academy
DateCreated	11/28/2010 1:14:00 PM
	I always look forward to the mighty Motörhead coming to town, but this time I make a particular effort to get there early enough to catch the support band. Actually, Motörhead usually have pretty good support bands but this is one I really want to see. I manage to get down to Brixton Academy easily enough, but then have to spend nearly half an hour queuing to get in to collect my ticket - not great as the temperature is around zero.  Then when I finally get into the venue I see a band's equipment being dismantled on the stage! Watching what's going on I see that another band's gear is still set up in front of Motörhead's stuff - obviously there are two support bands. Then the penny drops - someone told me months ago that female fronted German mob Skew Siskin were playing with Motörhead and I'd forgotten all about it. It looks like I've just missed them, which is a bummer as I've been wanting to see them for years.  I think it's actually the second time I've missed them supporting the 'head.  I'd naively assumed that as my ticket was 'Box office collection' I wouldn't have to queue to get in as I never have before - otherwise I wouldhave seen at least half of Skew Siskin's set. Oh well, in spite of my worries I do get to see all of the Michael Monroe Band's set. It was well worth getting down there early to see this lot! Sorry my pictures from this gig are shit - the lighting and smoke machines weren't conducive to photography and my cheapo camera had trouble focusing in the difficult conditions. It's a great show, and Michael Monroe is still one of the best frontmen out there.  This band are terrific! The former Hanoi Rocks frontman has recruited ex-Hanoi and current New York Dolls man Sammi Yaffa on bass, and current New York Doll Steve Conte and Wildhearts frontman Ginger on guitars. This lineup works really well, and Ginger in particular looks like he's really enjoying escaping from the pressure of fronting his own band and having a great time going back to being just a guitarist. The setlist is really strong and includes (naturally) a few Hanoi Rocks classics as well as some stuff from Michael's solo career and his old band Demolition 23. There is also a great cover of The Damned classic 'Smash It Up' that works really well. This looks like more people have come early to see this band than most Motörhead supports as most of London's glam rockers and most of the regulars from Soho's Decadence club are present. I've seen Motörhead quite a few times over the years and they have never failed to deliver the goods. I have to say I thought Lemmy seemed a little under par at last year's Hammersmith show, but he is back on form now for the his band's 35th Anniversary Tour. The venue looks sold out and it's not easy moving about and jockeying for position/getting between bar/toilet, but at an outrageous new high of £4.30 a pint I decide not to bother after a couple.  The setlist is predictable towards the end, but as usual the rest is a varied selection from across the band's career, although obviously there isn't time to include a song from every album the band have made. It's good that apart from the ever predictable 'Ace Of Spades' and 'Overkill' at the end we get a different set of songs with every tour. 'Killed By Death' sees the band bring on the dancing girls, but otherwise it's a straightforward run though of 'greatest hits' and lesser heard old album tracks - no 'Bomber' this time, but 'Born To Raise Hell' made a very welcome return - featuring Michael Monroe joining in on vocals. We also get a couple of new songs from the forthcoming 'The World Is Yours' album - which I hear is rather good and better than the quite decent last album 'Motörizer'. With the current popularity of the slowed down acoustic version of 'Ace Of Spades' from a TV beer advert I was half wondering if there might be an acoustic section of the show like there used to be for 'Whorehouse Blues' featuring 'Ace Of Spades'? Imagine the outcry if they played that song acoustically instead of electric?!!!  I wouldn't put it past Lemmy to do that just to stir things up for a laugh!  However, there is no acoustic section of the show tonight - I thought it was a great idea when they did that for 'Whorehouse Blues' when they were touring the excellent 'Inferno' album - but it got tired and predictable after they did it on successive tours... A Motörhead show is always pretty much 'Exactly what it says on the tin', but most of us wouldn't have it any other way 'cos this is a totally unique band and we love them the way they are - like AC/DC, 'If it ain't broke - don't fix it'. Motörhead are in a class of their own and no one can touch them at what they do. Same time next year then?