Remember Me Now
Nov. 18th, 2006 01:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shermaramaOn Thursday night I went to see Clutch and Motorhead. Dude, it's so hard to convince people that going to see Motorhead is a good idea. I've seen several bands where I've been uncomfortably aware that I've got there too late, that the time to see them was some years before and that now they're just going through the motions and I may as well be at home listening to music they made when they were still into it. This was true for the RHCP, for the Wonderstuff (not that I was expecting a lot from them) and for the Dwarves, which was a shame. It's sort of nearly the case for Clutch; they will never again be the band that could still play things off Transnational Speedway League and turn the floor of the Underworld into one of the more violent pits I've been in, but that's kind of okay because I was there then, though I wish I'd been there earlier anyway, and also because they know they don't do that any more and are taking it in a positive direction. Last night it was only songs off the newest two albums or newer, apart from a brief burst of One Eye Dollar adapted for gloating about Virginia, I think. It still works, just differently, and with more Hammond.
But there are bands that you can go and see and know that it's as good to see them now as it was any number of years ago. Every time I've seen Therapy? they've kicked arse, they really have, making teenagers who've never seen them before go apeshit, making me wonder where I can get the album with all these excellent new songs on and working out later that it's one I've got but that they're just not as ace on record as they are live. And I say unto you, the kings of this category are Motorhead. I think I only own one Motorhead album, it's the one with Overkill on it; I probably ought to also get a best of on CD rather than on battered cassette as I have somewhere. Doesn't matter at all when you see them live. They're such professionals, they've been doing this flares were fashionable the first time, man, they know what they're doing and the scary thing is they can still do it. Now, partly they have the benefit of good gear and miking. I'm unlikely to ever be able to have a bass drum loud enough that the crash hit at the same time is just the top-end garnish on the huge main thump, you just can't do that without a dirty great PA. But there are plenty of drummers half his age who wouldn't be able to make as much use of that dirty great sound.
I doubt I'd ever be able to convince Jodie along to see them, and it's a shame because I reckon she'd love it on the spot. But, right, if you have an opportunity to see Motorhead any time soon and are uncertain if you should take it or not, please do because you won't regret it.
But there are bands that you can go and see and know that it's as good to see them now as it was any number of years ago. Every time I've seen Therapy? they've kicked arse, they really have, making teenagers who've never seen them before go apeshit, making me wonder where I can get the album with all these excellent new songs on and working out later that it's one I've got but that they're just not as ace on record as they are live. And I say unto you, the kings of this category are Motorhead. I think I only own one Motorhead album, it's the one with Overkill on it; I probably ought to also get a best of on CD rather than on battered cassette as I have somewhere. Doesn't matter at all when you see them live. They're such professionals, they've been doing this flares were fashionable the first time, man, they know what they're doing and the scary thing is they can still do it. Now, partly they have the benefit of good gear and miking. I'm unlikely to ever be able to have a bass drum loud enough that the crash hit at the same time is just the top-end garnish on the huge main thump, you just can't do that without a dirty great PA. But there are plenty of drummers half his age who wouldn't be able to make as much use of that dirty great sound.
I doubt I'd ever be able to convince Jodie along to see them, and it's a shame because I reckon she'd love it on the spot. But, right, if you have an opportunity to see Motorhead any time soon and are uncertain if you should take it or not, please do because you won't regret it.