Difficult Music

I went to see Motorhead at the Commodore last night. Good old Motorhead. I think I wrote a review last time they were in town, so go read that if you can find it; I’m sure the bulk of it still applies. This was their 30th anniversary tour, but there weren’t any real surprises like, say, a guest spot with Fast Eddie or a Hawkwind medley or something. The biggest novelty was probably the acoustic encore of “Whorehouse Blues” with Phil and Mikkey on guitars and Lemmy blowing a harmonica. Once they’d dispensed with that, it was back to "Ace of Spades," "Overkill" with its nine false endings, then lights up, go home.

Of the openers, we caught the last half of the last song of Damn 13 (the show started earlier than advertised in the Straight). Three Inches of Blood did fine with the hometown crowd, but weren’t my cup of mead. Corrosion of Conformity delivered their ferocious doom boogie like the chops-monster rock stars they are.

Between COC and Motorhead I was accosted by a tall bearded guy. “Hey, I used to book you at The Waterfront. You were the drummer in that fuckin’ awesome band, what was it called—Decline of the Western World!” Well, it was Decline of the English Murder, but I’d never expect anyone to remember that. As for my memories, I don’t recall feeling too awesome playing at the holding pen for societal casualties that was The Waterfront. I tried my best to bring Mr. Kick up to date on my and Alick’s activities before he gave me a flyer for his new band and took off back to the bar. It was a night for people who are in it for the long haul.