House Of Blues, Boston, Massachusetts
March 1, 2011
Long story short, Umlaut found himself in Boston for work and at another Motörhead show. It had been many years since I was last in Beantown, and I don't think I've been to a Motörhead show where so many people were wearing the band's shirts! It seemed like 1/2 of the people in the sold out room were flying Motörhead colors! Pretty cool.I ended up in the guest balcony overlooking stage left as the road crew set up for Lemmy & the boys. To be honest, I don't have alot to add to what I said after the band's great San Francisco show last month; click HERE to read that rant and simply replace "San Francisco" with "Boston". Lemmy, Phil, and Mikkey were as solid on the Right Coast as they had been on the Left Coast. Same setlist... but it didn't matter... and 'Killed By Death' was my favorite song of the night. I will say that on this tour I've watched Mikkey on drums more closely than in the past and he's become one of my favorite Metal drummers for the first time. In the past I didn't appreciate his Old School pounding of wood on skins, but in this age of blastbeats his genuine style of drumming is a rare talent in Metal.
A couple of songs into the set, Phil went to the lip of the stage and motioned to security to help a young boy in the front row who was being crushed against the barrier. Security pulled him out and, with Phil's direction, they lifted him onstage and the boy (probably around 10-years old, wearing glasses and a brand new Motörhead shirt) watched the rest of the show from next to Phil's guitar tech at stage right. A couple of times during the show Phil pointed at the kid and he'd flash the horns in return. Every time I looked to see how he was doing, the kid was either banging his head or flashing the horns. CUTE... That kid is a Motörhead fan for life... but let's be honest. Back in The Day being down front at Motörhead meant survival of the fittest... a band member would not have rescued you from getting the shit beaten out of you by the crowd action. I'm just saying... That being said, I was impressed how most the front row (old and young fans) sang along to practically every song, including the ones from the band's new album. Nicely done, Boston.
Before arriving at the venue my Boston colleague asked if I could help "Tom" get a backstage pass at the show. I assumed that "Tom" was just a random friend or something... so I politely said "I'll try" while in my head I was thinking "WTF, man.. You can't just ask for a backstage pass like it was a piece of gum..". However when we arrived at the venue I realized that the "Tom" my Boston colleague was referring to was fucking TOM HAMILTON of AEROSMITH. DOH! Long story short:
A nervous Umlaut with the guy who played the bass line in 'Sweet Emotion'... My get up and go must have got up and went.. but I did get Tom access. I almost told him how much the music that Aerosmith created when they were fucked up means to me... but I didn't. Checkmate honey, beat you at your own damn game..Quote Of The Night: "This is going to be loud.." - Tom Hamilton while standing at stage left as instrument checks were being done prior to Motörhead's set.
Amebix back patches = 1. I didn't do a merch audit, but I will say the band's merch on this tour looks great.... On the way back to the hotel, some pimply-faced teenagers called me a fag. After the show some cool shit happened. However, I can't post the details... but it included Aerosmith's bassist geeking out over Lemmy's Rickenbacker bass. Sweet Emotion.
