This past Wednesday The World’s Loudest Band, Motorhead, brought their live show to The Fillmore Charlotte as they celebrate 40 years in rock and roll with their Bad Magic Tour. Talk at the venue was buzzing about the status of frontman Lemmy Kilmister and whether or not Motorhead was going to be able to perform a complete set and if their performance would be up to par. These questions and others would be answered in due time. But first, the evening kicked off with a solid set from opening band Crobot. Their bluesy rock and roll was a perfect start to the night and their stage presence was impressive with vocalist Brandon Yeagley dancing and working the crowd.
Thrash metal band Anthrax was next up and the feeling was intense as the lights dimmed to the strain of Black Sabbath’s “The Mob Rules” over the speakers. Scott Ian and company were in top form with an high energy set that included “Caught In A Mosh” and their cover of Trust’s “Antisocial.” Frontman Joey Belladona sounded better than ever and bassist Frank Bello tore up every inch of the stage. Their set closed out with the classic “Indians” before Rainbow’s classic song came on the speakers with Belladona giving out a “Long Live Rock and Roll!” before exiting for the night.
Of course the main reason for the evening was still to come and as the Motorhead banner was revealed, the crowd grew more and more excited with anticipation. The band quietly took the stage and tore into the opening sounds of “Bomber” as the lights came on. It was clear from the start that one of the earlier questions had been answered. Motorhead’s set did not suffer musically one bit. Although Lemmy may not have yet been at 100% physically, he gave 110% emotionally and more. Asking the audience, “Is it fucking loud enough for you? Can you hear it in the back?” before they ripped into “Over The Top.” Highlights of the show included a stellar guitar solo by one of the most underrated guitarists in rock and roll, Phil Campbell, and a Mikkey Dee drum solo during “Doctor Rock.” Dee was in top form all night long and at one point pretended to be sleeping as he encouraged the crowd to get up and get moving. Crowd favorite “Ace of Spades” really pushed things into overdrive followed by “Jus’ Cos You Got The Power” and “No Class” to close things out. My only complaint of the evening was the lack of new songs from “Bad Magic” in the set list. It is a killer album and I would have liked to hear some of those songs live, maybe next time. With a darkened stage, the chants of “Lemmy! Lemmy!” began to roar along with “Motorhead! Motorhead!” before the band took the stage for their encore. Lemmy introduced Phil and Mikkey before his announcement of “We are Motorhead and We Play Rock and Roll,” led into the final number, the heart pounding “Overkill.”
When all was said and done, Motorhead not only finished their entire set but rocked the entire venue from front to back while doing so. Lemmy may still be recovering but it is clear he is no where ready to slow things down. Anthrax’s choice of Rainbow songs seemed an appropriate take on the evening. Long live rock and roll and long live Motorhead, from 1975-2015 and beyond!
Motorhead setlist:
Bomber
Stay Clean
Metropolis
Over The Top
Guitar Solo
The Chase Is Better Than The Catch
Rock It
Lost Woman Blues
Doctor Rock (with Drum Solo)
Ace of Spades
‘Just Cos You Got The Power
No Class
Encore:
Overkill
Anthrax setlist:
Intro The Mob Rules (Black Sabbath)
Madhouse
Caught In A Mosh
Got The Time (Joe Jackson cover)
Antisocial (Trust cover)
Fight ‘Em ‘Til You Can’t
Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)
Neon Knights (Black Sabbath cover)
In The End
Indians
Outro Long Live Rock and Roll (Rainbow cover)
We would like to thank Doug Weber from New Ocean Media for the credentials to review the show.
