This is a post I did for Charles Henry's famous online cotton blog. Spelling Errors have been modified. Ideas have been mildly expanded.This Motorhead shirt features a great oversized logo and a classic
slogan. It was purchased at Hot Topic. Yes, Hot Topic. I first saw Motorhead in May
of 1999. I was a senior in high school and mainly went to see the
opening acts, which featured Dropkick Murphys, Hatebreed, and
Skarhead.
Skarhead opened the show and shared some classic banter with the
people who decided to come early. A Motörhead show, similar to a
Slayer show predominantly features 40 year old auto mechanics yelling
the name of the headlining act during every opening band. Lord Ezec
kindly asked , "If you see anyone yelling motörhead, punch them in the
fucking face."
'Kings At Crime' had just come out so most of the songs they played
were off that record. They sent out 'Y.A.S.' to Chubby Fresh who later
allegedly got into an altercation with the band outside the show. I
purchased a Skarhead t-shirt at this show which I wore proudly for
many years.
Hatebreed was notorious for cancelling shows around this time and I
was relieved to see they had made this show. Their set was
unbelievable. They exploded onto the stage and played all of the hits
off 'Satisfaction...'. Was any song not a hit on that record?
Hatebreed were just crossing over into the metal world at this time,
so having to see them with a barricade was a bit foreign. They made up
for it with their energy and intensity and even threw me the mic
during 'Last Breath'. This was one of Sean Martin's first tours with
the band and I remember him smashing his guitar when it started
malfunctioning.
During Hatebreed, a white trash gentleman in a TOOL shirt, asked me
who was playing. I told him,"Hatebreed from Connecticut."
He said "They are called Connecticut?"
He then yelled Motörhead at the top of his lungs and proceeded to push
everyone around him.
Dropkick murphys were in the direct support slot. "The Gang's all
Here" had just been released and they focused on that. Their reaction
was lackluster, which was surprising because they had a huge skinhead
following in Cleveland at the time. Earlier in the day, I walked in on
original guitarist Rick Barton taking a shit in a stall without a door.
I thought it was strange at the time, but being on tour now, I have shit in stalls without doors, shit in bags, and well...shit my pants.
Motorhead closed the show and played what seemed like every song in
the history of recorded music, and they played them very loudly. I
don't care how awesome you are, a 2.5 hour set is overkill. Too much
of anything can get old, even pizza and suck jobs. I didn't see
Motörhead for 3 years after this, and their next clevo appearance
featured Morbid angel, Ringworm, American nightmare, and Striking
Distance. That is a different story for a different day.
Ask Chucky how to wash and dry this, I just sell the things, I don't
launder them.
