Taking a break from their standard sets, Phil Campbell & The Bastard Sons returned to Wolverhampton to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Motorhead with a show dedicated to those illustrious songs and the memory of Ian Lemmy Kilmister.
First up, though, were local heroes Liberty Lies who, having been away for 3 years, were already in full swing as we arrived and getting a good reaction from the 1000 strong crowd. It is up to the next band though, Fury, who really step things up a notch with an energetic performance right off the bat. ‘If You Get To Hell First’ is an unquestionable tour de force with a genuine NWOBHM feel, with a tasty riff powered along by the thunderous rhythm section of Tom Fenn and Becky Baldwin. ‘Prince Of Darkness’ follows which has one foot firmly in the 80s with a riff that wouldn’t have been out of place on Iron Maiden’s debut. In contrast to the opening number, there’s a lot more focus on Nyah Ifill’s vocals.
‘It’s Rock N Roll’ sees the lead vocals switch back to Julian Jenkins and their paean to the rock lifestyle gives more than just a nod to Motorhead in both sentiment and style. Glorious heads down and fists in the air stuff. They get a fairly lengthy spot and continue to impress throughout and no doubt next time they’re in town there will be a few more new fans keen to get along.
An air raid siren signals the entrance of the headliners and it only takes a few notes of Tyla Campbell’s bass intro to ‘Iron Fist’ to send the masses into a frenzy, helped on by the encouragement from front man Joel Peters. Peters has been quite the find for the ‘Sons with their last studio album Kings Of The Asylum being their strongest to date, and tonight he impresses mightily. ‘Orgasmatron’ rocks KK’s to its very core. No doubt there’ll be a call to the structural engineers in the morning.
Phil Campbell introduces ‘Smiling Like A Killer’ as a song that Motorhead never got around to playing live, and it’s great to hear the Inferno track being dusted off. Just like a Motorhead set you find yourself delighted in the unexpected; ‘Damage Case’ and ‘Lost Woman Blues’ fit that bill (and also bookend the career nicely), but the classics are never far away and never disappoint. ‘We Are The Road Crew’ is monstrous and ‘R.A.M.O.N.E.S.’ comes and goes in a flash.
Over the years I’ve seen ‘Ace Of Spades’ open sets and close them. Tonight it sits somewhere in the middle and it always has the same effect giving the crowd that extra charge with the whole venue invested in the moment. Its a sight to behold and while many of the crowd are long in the (snaggle)tooth reliving memories, the number of younger fans in is notable which confirms the far reaching appeal of Motorhead. Indeed, given that it is now almost ten years since Lemmy passed, there will be a fair number that never had the opportunity to witness the legendary front man live. ‘Killed By Death’ has been a mainstay of PC&TBS sets and with good reason. Apart from it being a stonkingly good tune, it also marks what was, for many, the introduction of Phil Campbell to Motorhead way back in 1984. A cover of Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ closes the main set.
There are a couple of obvious songs left, but the encore starts with a change of pace with the excellent ‘Whorehouse Blues’. The timeless ‘Bomber’ and ‘Motorhead’ round things off nicely, but the frantic ‘Overkill’ is a further added bonus. Lemmy may be a unique irreplaceable icon, but tonight his songs were done more than justice in a fabulously crafted authentic set. Phil Campbell & The Bastard Sons came to Wolverhampton. They played rock n roll.
Setlist:
Iron Fist
Damage Case
Going to Brazil
Orgasmatron
Rock Out
Metropolis
Born to Raise Hell
Smiling Like a Killer
(We Are) The Road Crew
Lost Woman Blues
R.A.M.O.N.E.S.
The Chase Is Better Than the Catch
Ace of Spades
Killed by Death
“Heroes”
Encore:
Whorehouse Blues
Bomber
Motörhead
Overkill
