It’s Saturday night in Bradford at the Nightrain Rock Venue and Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons have the honour of headlining this year’s Bradstock festival. With Deep Purple’s Speed King blaring out through the PA we know it’s time for the Sons to hit the stage, it may have been a long day and plenty of alcohol may have been consumed but the crowd are definitely up for a rowdy end to a brilliant day. The Sons hit the stage with ‘We Are the Bastard’ and you know it’s going to be a lively night. Quickly into ‘Bite my Tongue’ and there is no stopping them. Phil Campbell steps up to the mic and says, “It’s Saturday night in Bradford so are you ready for a Motörhead song? Cause you bloody well are getting one!” ‘Rock Out’ it is, to a rapturous response.
‘High Rule’ from ‘Age of Absurdity’ and ‘Animals’ from ‘We are the Bastards’ follow’s before we once more hear some old school Motörhead. “How the fuck are you doing Bradford?” “Old and deaf,” Joel says. He knows us well, ‘Born to Raise Hell’ it is and yes indeed it does at the Nightrain tonight. ‘Big Mouth’, which I love and ‘These Old Boots’ from Phil Campbell’s solo album ‘Old Lions Still Roar’ are next. The Sons slow it down and this gives the crowd a rest, it’s been a long day and we need to catch our breath before the onslaught that is to come. ‘Dark Days’, what a fab slow bluesy tune this is. The crowd goes nuts as the first few bars of ‘Ace of Spades’ ring out – the onslaught has begun. But the biggest cheer of the night is for ‘Silver Machine’ with the crowd going wild, there is beer flying through the air. ‘Ringleader’ finishes the set. The Sons depart the Nightrain stage.
With a wailing of Air Raid sirens over the PA we can guess what’s coming, we are hit by the mighty ‘Bomber’, then ‘Going to Brazil’ and ‘Killed by Death’. The final song of the night is kicked off by the mighty Paul White on the drums who does a great job with the intro to ‘Overkill’, with the Nightrain been literally shaken to the ground.
They may have been one Bastard Son down tonight as Dane Campbell was on paternity leave due to the arrival of a new baby boy, but the stand in drummer Paul White certainly did a great job.
And as Joel said, “Bradford you have been an awesome bunch of mother fuckers tonight.” What a night, the Sons are great entertainment whether they are blasting out Motörhead songs or their own brand of heavy rock. They are about to release a new album ‘Kings of the Asylum’ and are embarking on a tour later in the year and for me I can’t wait for the new tunes and another great night of Motörhead and Sons tunes.
Get the album when it’s released and catch a show, you won’t be disappointed I am sure.
Words & photos by David Pickles
- We are the Bastard
- Bite my Tongue
- Rock out
- High Rule
- Animals
- Born to Raise Hell
- Big Mouth
- These Old Boots
- Dark Days
- Ace of Spades
- Silver Machine
- Ringleader
Encore
- Bomber
- Going to Brazil
- Killed by Death
- Overkill
