Mötorhead madness fills Ballroom

"Mötaheaaad, we’ve all been possessed by Mötaheaaad," growled one tipsy Den patron last Saturday. His sentiment wasn’t far off the mark.

Playing the MacEwan Hall Ballroom June 3 alongside Nashville Pussy and Speedealer, Mötorhead showed why they are as they put it, "louder than everything else." That, and why, as many concert-goers bellowed throughout the show, "Lemmy Rocks."

Clad in a black unbuttoned long-sleeved shirt, vocalist and founder Lemmy Kilmister sneered his way through 18 songs with pure piss-pot attitude. Neck perched to the mic, Kilmister unleashed a metal maelstrom covering 20 albums. Not too many other long-time bangers can ooze coolness and avoid being their own parody like Kilmister. For a guy past 50, he sure can haul, kick and pummel ass.

Starting with "We are Mötorhead," the British band gave the metal hungry crowd music to break things to. "Over your Shoulder" and the classic "I’m So Bad (Baby I Don’t Care)" further gassed up the full room of black T-shirts and bent cowboy hats.

Prior to Mötorhead madness, southern rockers Nashville Pussy strutted their way through a profanity-packed set. Fronted by the buxom sisters Ruter Suys (guitar) and Corey Parks (bass), with Blaine Cartwright (guitar) the group clawed through an entertainingly sleazy set.

Screaming, "We are Nashville Pussy," Cartwright stamped around the stage like he wanted to crack it in half. If he wasn’t singing in a "fuck you" band, you’d swear he’d be the type you’d hear about on the news arrested for public disturbance with a firearm. Live, he just blew up. The balding outlaw barked every loud boogie song with all the sweat his body could pour out.

However, Cartwright could barely compete with his female band members. Suys and Parks teased the boys with T & A, though never fully disrobing, much to the dismay of many. The blonde, curly-haired Suys was in constant motion, kicking, grinning and winking to the crowd. The towering Parks smirked, doing her best Jane Cool impression while playing bass. Together the pair augmented Cartwright’s middle-finger boogie, putting on a show as tight as their leather pants.

The coarse and abrasive Speedealer opened the evening, delivering a wild set of speed metal. Fu Manchu was scheduled to perform, but did not due to transportation issues.

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