live review

By the time Girlschool come on it's officially Saturday morning, so as that makes it my birthday I have another drink. My friend John "Swimming Trunks" Kardasz is making fun of Vixen being soccer moms so I tell him that Girlschool must be well old and manky by now, which makes him hiss and spit like a schoolgirl because he loves them and wants to have all of their babies. It's odd that I've never encountered the band over the years, and as such have no basis for my jibes. All joking goes out of the window, however, when they hit the stage with the power of, appropriately, an iron fist. Not only do Girlschool manage to musically set the place on fire at one in the morning, they also look bloody good whilst doing it. 'New girl' Jackie Chambers especially impresses in a leather thing that has my loins tingling, sexist old bastard that I am. Watching them, I can see why they've been tied in with Motorhead for all these years. The music is fast, very metal and catchy, although to be honest I prefer Girlschool because they put that bit more melody into it. Kim McAuliffe is a great frontwoman, with a good voice and a nice self depreciating sense of humour. They storm through "Race With The Devil" (the only song I actually know) "Blue Murder", "Hit & Run" and "Never Say Never" amongst others, delivering an hour of solid entertainment. It all gets a bit surreal when they are joined onstage by our old friends the scantily clad girl dancers, along with the fire jugglers and spark throwers (probably not the bands idea, this) but they soldier on regardless. Much as I liked Vixen, Girlschool get my vote for band of the night.

Unfortunately, a bad cold and some good beer has taken it's toll by now, and instead of seeing Crucified Barbara and Tokyo Dragons (who apparently were brilliant), we decide to turn in and get a good nights sleep instead. Aside from the volume, it's been a very promising first day, and the general opinion is that Hard Rock Hell is a very good thing indeed, regardless of what Billy Bear might think.

Scavenger's Daughter opened proceedings in extreme metal fashion; the odd Maiden or Priest riff, lots of screaming and growling and widdly solos. Obviously trying hard, but that turned out to be the problem. Trying too hard. The extremeness of the vocals, the posturing, all forced and over stated, while the music was just ordinary.

Pretty much the same could be said of Dead Eye, a rough 4-piece that had me scurrying for the bar.

Dirty Rig were worth a mention, featuring Warrior Soul's singer Kory. The music is a throwback with an added touch of alcohol and sleazy rock'n'roll. OK, a LOT of alcohol, the band seemed unable to coherently finish the first few songs.

The highlight of the evening, the very reason for my being there, was Girlschool. Quite aside from falling in love with the absolutely stunning guitarist Jackie Chambers before the show, the band were as usual an absolute delight. Girlschool are completely incapable of disappointing. The talent is channelled intelligently, and they don't appear to work too hard on stage, because everything they do is done with a smile. They did what they do best, rocking and rolling and clearly enjoying themselves and that rubs off on the crowd. The inter track banter natural and fun too.

And if you're new to the band, it's not until you see them live that you realise just how many standards and anthems they have.

The set opened with "C'Mon Let's Go", with (the equally gorgeous) guitarist Kim McAuliffe on vocals and Denise Dufort's drums pounding away. Lead guitarist Chambers produced some damn fine solos too.

Throughout the set Kim and bassist Enid Williams shared lead vocals, and classics included "Hit & Run", "Screaming Blue Murder" and the ever favourite "Screaming Blue Murder". These mixed well with more recent songs from Not That Innocent and Believe.

For a former NWoBHM band Girlschool have survived well, and in a male dominated genre they must be one of the most successful all female rock bands around.

In a set dedicated to former guitarist Kelly Johnson, the band closed with "Take It All Away" and "London", a great show.

To celebrate Motorhead’s 30th Anniversary, the bomber stage show was resurrected and this special show put on at Motorhead’s second home, with two very special guests.

Fresh off their own headline tour, Girlschool made a perfect opening band in this large packed venue. The girls were on form, and both looked and sounded great. Denise Dufort’s double bass drum kicked off the crowd and we had just over 35 minutes of their early hits. Sadly the short set didn’t allow anything more recent (the new album Believe is brilliant – trust me), but the set allowed plenty of nostalgia and was a great crowd pleaser. “Screaming Blue Murder” was blistering, the best I’ve ever heard, and “Race With The Devil” was another highlight. New guitarist Jackie Chambers is brilliant, while Kim McAuliffe and bassist Enid Williams rocked and sang their hearts out.

Like Girlschool, Saxon also had a short set and played to the nostalgia factor, playing many tracks they played when supporting Motorhead on that 1979 Bomber tour (shame as the 90’s material is equally classic). Motorhead’s Mickey Dee guested on one track, bassist Nibs Carter played a stormer, and singer Biff Byford is one ultimate, charismatic and occasionally comedic metal frontmen, no question. A rousing standing ovation is what they deserved and got.

Motorhead’s anniversary was a brilliant headline here tonight. 23 tracks (I’ve missed one in the set-list) was close to the recent tour setlist with some bonus additions and the crowd loved nearly every minute.

Dr Rock was heavy and fast, and instantly set the tone. As Lemmy frequently pointed out, Motorhead play Rock’n’roll and tonight we got over 90 minutes of the best and most extreme rock’n’roll. Kicking off with several crowd pleasing oldies, including Stay Clean and Shoot You In The Back, several tracks from the more recent Inferno were also aired, including Killers.

Over The Top and the excellent No Class. R.A.M.O.N.E.S was dedicated to the now diminishing band , and We Are The Road Crew made a rare and welcome appearance.

Two tracks from Another Perfect Day (I Got Mine and Dancing On Your Grave), more popular now than on its release in 1983, but sadly no Shine, one of Motorhead’s best tracks.

The encore kicked off with the excellent acoustic Whorehouse Blues, with a harmonica solo from Lemmy. The legendary bomber lighting rig, the event many were here for, was then lowered during a siren. The evening finished with Bomber, Ace Of Spades and Overkill; the band were manic, the crowd went wild, and the bomber (with fit inducing strobe lighting) danced above drummer Mickey Dee as if it truly was in flight.

Guitarist Wizzo was also on form, and Lemmy lapped up every moment of indulgence.

Motorhead proved that they are both legendary and still relevant. As for popularity of any of these bands tonight – never a question.

Given that each band has continued to produce great music throughout the 90s and 00s, and all were seriously on form and worthy of seeing here in their own right, this could be the Metal Event of the year.

Girlschool: Drum intro – C’mon Let’s Go Hit & Run Screaming Blue Murder Future Flash Yeah Right Race With The Devil Demolition Boys Emergency

Saxon: Heavy Metal Thunder Backs To The Wall 747 (Strangers In The Night) (featuring Mickey Dee) Never Surrender Strong Arm Of The Law Princess Of The Night Wheels Of Steel

Motorhead: Dr Rock Stay Clean Shoot You In The Back Love Me Like A Reptile Killers Metropolis Over The Top No Class I Got Mine In The Name Of Tragedy Dancing On Your Grave Ramones Sacrifice (+ drum solo) Just ‘Cos You Got The Power We Are The Roadcrew Going To Brazil Killed By Death Iron Fist Encore: Whorehouse Blues Bomber Ace Of Spades Overkill

A girl’s night out, and what a popular one too, the crowd not too thin considering Zak Wylde was playing next door.

Opener Dante Fox are a young five piece with a female vocalist. Despite her slim build she had one hell of a voice. With twin guitars, the music was akin to Heart but a lot heavier, and more enjoyable too.

The band didn’t really have much room to shine in, but with a little polishing they could be something special.

Highlight of the night had to be Girlschool. Kicking off with Dufort’s drums, they ripped into Let’s Go and the crowd loved it.

What made Girlshcool a pleasure was the fact they were clearly loving it. Genuine smiles all round and no posing or posturing. Proper British heavy metal of the finest all girl variety. New guitarist Jackie Chambers and the returning (original) bassist Enid Williams seamlessly part of the family. Kim McAuliffe shared vocals with Enid, to great effect.

Tracks from the excellent new album Believe (Never Says Never and New Beginning) fitted in well with classics including Hit & Run and the brilliant Screaming Blue Murder, Race With The Devil and Emergency. A two song encore left many wanting more.

While Girlschool exhibited energy and honesty, Vixen were another matter completely. This LA give piece had a great sound, which was polished and professional, but lacked any real excitement or interest.

With a guy backing up switching guitar and keyboards, Vixen’s sound mixed hard AOR and late 80s big hair metal. Technical proficiency (some neat solos) was dampened by a samey sweetness and sludge to the sound. New tracks like Live’n’Learn proved that, like Girlschool, they’re still going strong, abeit with their own and, on tonight’s performance, disappointing brand of metal.

Thursday May 29th 2003 / Expohallen, Roeselare, Belgium

The last time that I saw GIRLSCHOOL live (at the Wacken Open Air festival a couple of years ago) they had three original members in the line-up : vocalist/guitarist Kim McAuliffe, guitarist Kelly Johnson and drummer Denise Dufort. This time around there were still three original members, although Kelly Johnson has been replaced by Jackie Chambers. But the good news is that original bassist Enid Williams made a welcome return. Not only is she a cool, and always smiling, bassist, she delivers quite a bit of lead vocals as well. It makes me wonder why she has been out of the band for so long ... Maybe Enid and Kelly just can't see eye to eye anymore? Not that it really matters, as this line-up was quite capable of reproducing the true GIRLSCHOOL sound. The setlist included songs from last year's 21st Anniversary - Not That Innocent release (Coming Your Way, Stay Wild, Have A Nice Day, ...) as well as a bunch of old classics, including Screaming Blue Murder, Hit And Run, Future Flash, Not For Sale, Demolition Boys, C'Mon Let's Go, Emergency, Take It All Away, Race With The Devil, ... Their short tunes are not the most technical, yet they are very entertaining nevertheless. The band took full advantage of their allowed 60', but I was kind of hoping for a jam sesion with MOTÖRHEAD, yet that didn't happen.