Motorhead

w/Anthrax and Crobot

Friday, September 25 at House of Blues, Orlando

I-4 and Orlando traffic are legendarily horrific. What doesn’t get as much press, because truly they control the Universe, is Disney’s vague signage. I have traversed this continent and others by successfully following road signs, but somehow Downtown Disney, where the House of Blues is located, remained elusive. Disney recently re-branded Downtown as Disney Springs, and just assumed we’d all know that. and to quote a park employee, “GPS doesn’t work on the property.”

Which is how I ended up missing Crobot and the beginning of Anthrax’s set. But I heard good things about Crobot from all I spoke with and they are busy-busy, so they must be doing something right.

I did see most of Anthrax set and they killed it. Thirty (30) years on, they were tough as nails. Thoroughly thrash able and completely relentless, the band attacked their set with serious aggression, throttling their ever-ready skate anthems. They blasted through classic numbers “Anti-Social,” “Indians,” “NFL,” and a blinding version of Black Sabbath’s “Neon Knights.”

Joey Belladonna’s voice was in fine form, as were the formidable skills of drummer Charlie Benatante and founding member Scott Ian. Lots of gas left in this tank with no signs of slowing down.

Then there’s Motorhead. This being the forty year anniversary for the legendary UK band, who are in large part responsible for blurring the lines between punk and metal and for helping push heavy metal into increasingly faster realms. Still helmed by the imposing presence of bassist/vocalist Lemmy Kilmster,

They delivered an uneven set which veered from brilliant to a complete mess. Lemmy hasn’t been well as of late and his myriad of health problems as he approaches his seventh decade may finally be catching up with the immortal seeming Kilmster. Peppered with moments of inspired performance like show opener, “Bomber,” but songs often fell apart, like the bands signature number “Ace of Spades.” They did manage to serve up a solid “Orgasmatron” to close the show out.

I can’t say if this was a bad night due to flu bug picked up in a seedy truck stop or if it’s a sign that time has finally caught up to Lemmy, but I’m hoping for the former rather than the latter. The bright spots during the set prove that Lemmy on an off night is still better than most everyone else on their best night.