A packed venue on a cold autumn night indicates the popularity of Phil Campbell making a return to home ground before venturing into Europe, with a brand new critically acclaimed album.Yes, the Motörhead faithful are here but there are more than enough Bastard Sons t shirts on display here to show the band have a real following and on the evening’s performance it’s not at all surprising.Before the master stepped on stage special mention must be made for support band Leader of Down an excellent support who really got the crowd going and provided a welcome start to the evening and it’s well worth checking out their album Cascade into Chaos.But the evening really it the spot when Phil Campbell steps onto the stage with sons Todd,Tyler and Dane and Neil Starr on vocals and it’s straight into Ringleader a Motörhead similar drive and power Style guitar anthem, there is also plenty of diversity in the set, the groovy riff of Freakshow, welcome to Hell Metallica style guitar chords and the catchy Riffed Big Mouth.Dark Days has a Southern Blues feel, and Step into the fire classic power chords and riffs with a modern flavour and killer solo.
There’s plenty of crowd participation encouraged by Starr who’s voice seems to have been inspired by classic rock and bodes well on the different styles performed by the band, Danes drumming is a power house that drives the set and compliments Tyler’s solid Bass and allows Todd and of course Phil to play the trademark solos displayed in High Rule and Get on your Knees.The classic Motörhead tunes are also here, Ace of Spades, Bomber, Just ’Cos You’ve Got The Power and Going to Brazil, and a fitting tribute of Silver Machine by Hawkwind to all Motörhead members not with us anymore all sounding excellent.This is Rock music as it should be, tightly performed and crowd pleasing but with the bands own originality stamped on it.Phil Campbell and the Bastard sons are not just reliant on the popularity of Motörhead but have their own style complimented by a quality album and musicians, of course Phil is a legend and after over 30 years of being in Motörhead is the best man to be performing their songs, but the band really have much more to offer and deliver.If you missed this sold out gig catch them next time you will not be disappointed.
