On the Bummer-O-Meter, the fact that, as is customary, Nashville Pussy isn’t rounding out this triple bill of Motorhead and Reverend Horton Heat gets the needle going pretty good.
Because few things prepare you for the majesty of Lemmy and his cohorts quite like seeing a buxom, extravagantly dirty blond, breathe fire. Yes. Fire. For-real fire. Instead we get Sister Sin, a Victory Records band that isn’t anywhere near as inspiring, nor does it rock as hard.
Which is all just fine, because we have Captain Skank and the Boys, metal royalty, the dude who will have a documentary coming out this year, Motorhead.
You know me/Prepare to die.
Motorhead came to vibrant, roiling life in 1975. Think about that for a second. Just as hearts have a maximum number of beats in a lifetime, you might speculate that you can only rock so much over a given time span. Further, that 34 years is a long time for any rock ‘n’ roll act, much less one that leaves every room in which it plays in tatters and howling for more. Whether a testament to unclean living or an ode to the evil powers of sonic excess, Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Phil Campbell and drummer Mikkey Dee are still doing it. Whether they’re doing it right depends on your worldview on speed metal, pounded out in three-minute chunks by a guy who looks like the Cowardly Lion and sounds as you imagine Satan might.
The group plays a predictable set list that will call upon a ditty or two from its latest recording before sating fans with tried-and-true bombers such as “Iron Fist,” “Overkill” and “Ace of Spades.”
Some consider Motorhead the greatest rock band in the history of humanity. We wouldn’t go that far. But it’s sure as Hades in the Top 10. It’s mostly because, despite trends, and styles, and bands that engage in a chameleon-like chase of the dollar, Motorhead just does what it does. Drums pound, guitars skirl and gravel-voiced dude snarls. And 90 minutes later, you go home happy. Rock.
In the “bonus” category, Reverend Horton Heat is also on this bill. Ten years after Motorhead started, a guy named Jim Heath got a three-piece together and began a punk-based journey of guitar-rooted excellence. RHH almost rocks as hard as Motorhead, and is a fitting partner on this musical docket. Heath is a guitar player extraordinaire
Call it punkabilly, call it magic, label this stuff whatever you like.
But we’re there, dude.
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Motorhead, Reverend Horton Heat, Sister Sin
When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn St.
Price: $36.50; ticketmaster.com