I appear to have blagged tickets for the Mental Hamster Awards again, although I don't seem to remember how. Maybe I thought it was the Classic Rock Awards or something. Anyway, free stuff is always good - don't look a gift horse in the mouth - it probably has foul breath anyway.
It's
Monday the 13th instead of
Friday, but you can't have everything. Tickets were on sale for £6.66. Of course. Bloody good value if you had to buy a ticket - which is probably why it's sold out.
So I make my way down to Hammersmiff Odious - not one of my favourite venues these days, but a very appropriate one for a 'Metal' event all the same. Fortunately there is a Witheredprunes pub a couple of minutes walk from the venue, so I manage to get a few liveners down me before heading into the show - there's no way I'm going to buy a pint of the vastly overpriced piss they serve in the venue. More by luck than judgement (actually probably not for once) we arrive in the venue a couple of minutes before the first band start.
As this is an awards show rather than a conventional gig the bands only get to play around four songs each. This doesn't seem to stop the opening act Amon Amarth pulling out all the stops and bringing a full stage production!
I guess Amon Amarth are described as 'Viking Metal', and I have to admit they put on a very impressive show. The music? Heavy. Riffs. Shouting. Not much in the way of memorable songs, but I can see their appeal. It's an entertaining show, with more than a little of Spinal Tap about it. I'm not sure there is even any irony here - I think these guys are actually serious! Their performance is certainly committed and they really throw everything into it.
Amon Amarth leave me impressed, but I go home tonight without really remembering any of the actual music.
Various awards are presented and speeches given between the bands - some better or more interesting than others. Ex-Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison picked up the 'Golden God' award then gives a long and emotional speech revealing the real reasons for his exit from Slipknot and why he has been away for so long.
I am somewhat bemused when Halestorm's Lzzy (deliberate miss-spelling not a typo - that's how she chooses to spell her name) Hale get's the 'Dimebag Darrell Shredder Award'. '
Shredder'? He's a singer who plays rhythm guitar only. She's very good at
fronting a band and is deserving of an award for that, but she's no more a 'shredder' than Izzy Stradlin - someone else plays the solos in her band. Speaking of Halestorm - they are the next band to play tonight.
I have never seen Halestorm before - or any of tonight's other bands come to that - apart from Saxon, but I have been looking forward to checking this lot out. They are pretty good. The band play classic rock with a modern twist and without being cliched.
Lzzy Hale has good stage presence as well as being an excellent singer - when she's not screaming. She has star quality and is a performer I'm sure we will be seeing a lot more of in future years. The whole band are good - a tight well drilled and tour-hardened unit who have put a lot of hard work in to get to where they are now.
Halestorm are a band I certainly wouldn't mind seeing again - they perform well, and unlike the previous act they have catchy and memorable songs. Which is why they are regularly on the radio unlike other acts on tonight's bill who have been around longer.
More awards and speeches follow - some more predictable than others - for a full list of all the winners
go here. The next band are French metallers Gojira.
Some sections of the metal press have been raving about this lot for years. I don't get it at all. Yes, they are
very heavy. Yes, they have
riffs. They can play
fast, they are
intense. But that's it. Sorry, but I want more. I want better riffs - I want songs that actually sound like
songs rather than a bunch of not particularly good riffs strung together. Sure, they can play well. Sure, they can play fast - but so can a million other metal bands, and this just sounds like a generic modern metal band to me. Just being
really heavy is not enough.
Things get a bit more interesting with the last act of the night. It's billed as a 'Tribute to Lemmy'. Well we are all up for that.
Things kicked off with Saxon (who supported Motörhead on tour a few times) playing three of Lemmy's favourite Saxon songs, then the two surviving members of Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell and drummer Mikkey Dee joined them to finish the night with three Motörhead classics: 'Ace Of Spades', 'Born To Raise Hell', and the inevitable 'Overkill'.
It was certainly a great end to the night. Mr Kilmister we salute you - we will never see your like again.
And it all finishes in time to get back to the pub for another pint or two before last orders and the tube home. Cheers!
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