MOTORHEAD at Roseland

Holy shit... what a fucking show !!! Don't write off The Goose 'till you see the box going in the ground. I STILL got some rock star in me after all.

Here was the lineup...
Nashville Pussy
Reverend Horton Heat
Motorhead

So I'm on line waiting to buy a ticket and some nerdy dude comes up behind me and starts talking... but talking in a way that made me uncomfortable. Maybe he was just nerdy, but did you ever get the feeling somebody is just being TOOO friendly? So he says "I'm here to see Reverend Horton Heat... I hear Motorhead is really good too." I'm like "YEAH !?!?!" (real douche bag like... sorry, I couldn't help it) He looks at the box office window and say "Oooohhh... I would NEVER name a band like that !!!" I said "Horton Heat or Motorhead?" He's like "No, the other one..." Then I couldn't hold back... I said "REALLY? What don't you like? Nashville or Pussy ????"

OK, drop $50 f'n dollars at the box office. Same show was $30 in Atlantic City last week (which I didn't go to, though with travel it would have been a hell of a lot more... though with table games, it could have gone either way). Meet up w/ Anthony right away inside, belly up to the bar and hang w/ Hoboken Jay (from American Standard). Me, I'm not drinking, but I say hi to everybody and we're talking...

Check out Nashville Pussy. Awesome full speed ahead, no holds barred, kick ass biker-billy, rock and roll. Songs about drinking and driving and fucking and fighting... two amazon women on bass and guitar, a scruffy cowboy guitar/singer, couldn't see the drummer... loud, fast, distorted hard rock w/ Nashville roots. Short set, like 15 minutes.

Next chill for 15 minutes at bar, and Reverend Horton Heat comes on. Power trio... hollow body w/ twang bar, stand up bass, stripped down drum kit... the perfect setup for rockabilly... though much more punk oriented. They are the definitive psycho-billy band. Latest album they say is a bit more country than usual, but that's just a phase and they'll go back to their psycho-billy sound next album. These guys kicked ass. Fun band, amazing talent on the guitar and bass, great showmanship... some long rocking jams, some short funny songs. All around great entertainment. They played for a good 40 minutes.

Another 20 minutes, just long enough to strike Horton Heat and uncover Motorhead's gear. Quick sound check by roadies, and on comes Motorhead. Motorhead, the archetypal power trio... this time w/ guest drummer from The Cult and Guns and Roses.

Had positioned myself into a good spot in the center when the shit hit the fan. Fucking MAYHEM all around me. Quickly had to duck and cover, had to spring into action and take evasive maneuvers. Fists and feet everywhere... bodies flying through the air... about a minute or two later a pit was established as some of us veterans were establishing the perimeter. My new motto... "I AM the perimeter." (Or maybe "The Pit Starts Here.") Basically, anybody moshing behind me get's tossed in front of me, anybody in front of me not moshing gets pulled back behind me (usually welcomed with thanks and praise)... and from then on, it's a matter of pushing people back into the pit as they try to expand their area. Had to tell myself, "OK, this is MOTORHEAD... take this seriously." Took off the watch and eyeglasses. Next thing several full beers come flying overhead from far behind in the auditorium, and I got a half full beer down my back. For two seconds I was pissed, and then I just had to remind myself again... "It's MOTORHEAD... and you're in the fucking midst of it." Crazy insane moshing goes on for the next I don't know how long... people hitting the floor HARD and people scoop them up as soon as possible. One dude would fall back down two seconds later, then we'd scoop him back up and then he'd drop again... he did this like six times so I was convinced he was fucking with us... I got in his face and yelled in his ear, "STay on your feet asshole!" He was back on the ground two seconds later. Next time he got up, I took him by the scruff of his neck and his belt and gave him the bum's rush across to the other side... epic wipe out and major pileup over there. This sweaty skinhead was panting and weezing and said "I'm too old for this shit... I'm 31." I'm like "Dude, I'm forty-fucking-three !!!" Fucking lightweight !!!

MOTORHEAD KICKED ASS. They were right on tonight. Last time they sort of dragged for the first half of the show and then turned it on towards the end... tonight it was full steam ahead from beginning to end.

After a few songs, once the pit was established, I noticed a clique of young girls (around 25-ish) who sort of formed their own little world in my shadow. They were going apeshit among themselves, reaching past me to sometimes push somebody back into the pit, then retreating behind me again. They kept banging up against my back and pushing each other into me. Next thing they're climbing up my back holding onto my shoulders getting in my ear and telling me "DUDE, YOU FUCKING RULE !!!". When I'd look back at them, they were all fist pumping and head banging and going apeshit... rocking out to Motorhead... all in the relative safety that is ME. Next I know they're grinding and rubbing all up on me... and I'm fucking sweaty and full of beer... and the music was PUMPING, and their were strobe lights... and the whole thing was just out of hand... next I know I got one girl up on my shoulders. She's playing my head like a drum, and stroking my hair and rocking out. Me? I was doing the bobble head... I hope she enjoyed it.

When the show was over, they all split... didn't get any pictures or numbers or anything. Just good memories of a great show. Oh, and top three buttons on my shirt were ripped off. By the end of the show I was a sweaty, beer soaked, ripped shirt, girl-on-shoulder-having ...rock star.