Phil Campbell & The Bastard Sons/Absolva - Garage, Glasgow 30th March 2025

Billed as a celebration of 50 years of Motorhead, Phil Campbell and his Bastard Sons roll into Glasgow for a sold-out show that promises to be loud. First up though is Absolva. Hailing from the northwest of England and full of heavy riffs this 4 piece get the night off to a busy start. With regular bass player Karl Schramm unavailable for this short run of 4 dates with the Motorhead legend, Vice and Fury guitarist Tom Atkinson, who was part of Absolva back in 2012/13 fills in on stage left. 

With the venue pretty full it’s great to hear some classic heavy metal riffage from this band. Think old school 80’s heavy metal and you’ve got Absolva. There are no frills to this band but what they blast out is melodic, full of hooks and enough balls to fill Sports Direct! What’s even better is that the assembled masses love it. A 45-minute 8 song set is perfect for the Glasgow audience as a warmup for the main act. With new single Find My Identity getting an airing it shows that the new album due from Absolva is going to be a banger. Let’s not forget that this is also the band that Blaze Bayley uses live, and you can see where front man Chris Appleton gets his stagecraft from. It’s refreshingly honest, something that is missing from a lot of bands these days. By his side is brother Luke and between them they conjure out the blistering guitar work that supports their songs. Let’s not forget sticksman Martin McNee who anchors the band. All in all, a brilliant set from the guys and remember to look out for their new album Justice coming out in May this year.  

And on to the main reason we are all here tonight. To celebrate 50 years of one of the UK’s loudest bands, Motorhead. Long time guitarist, well since 1984, Phil Campbell rolls into town with his Bastard Sons, Tyla on bass, Dane on drums and Todd on guitar and “musically” adopted son Joel Peters on vocals to deliver what is billed as a celebration of Motorhead and something that fans have been requesting for since the death of rock n roll legend Lemmy.   

It’s pretty clear that this gig is going to be something special and with the amount of Lemmy and Motorhead t-shirts on display there a lot of diehard punters here. To introduce the band onstage is Winston from Still Game, actor Paul Riley. A self-confessed fan and friend of Phil he tries to crack a few jokes in his intro speech, something that really doesn’t go down too well especially the introduction of some religious infused humour. The cries of Get Tae F**k start to become louder before he either takes the heed or has finished his short comical interlude. Wasn’t really required but we soon get to the band. Iron Fist, Damage Case and Going to Brazil explode into action and we are in for a blistering rife tonight. In what is a 19-song set you get the classics and even songs that have never been played live before this audible orgy. Phil isn’t sure but he reckons that Smiling Like A Killer was never played, he’s not really sure. I’m sure that the Motorhead lifestyle played a big part in that. Stand out song in middle of the set was Born To Raise Hell which had the mainly “mature” audience abandoning any sense of decorum and let loose. I would say let their hair down but that was in short supply.  

Ace Of Spades was brought into life after Joel had everyone shouting “F**k You Tyla” and the place exploded with crowd surfers and the inevitable mosh pit. The main set was brought to a close with the last recorded song by Motorhead, Heroes as made well known by its original singer David Bowie. Campbell had already told the crowd that this was the last song but if they made enough noise then they would be back.  

The introduction of an acoustic and “moothie” brought us a lower paced and quieter start to the encore with Whorehouse Blues. The mosh pit that was trying to establish in this song was more like the Weegie Conga. Anyway, that soon was brought to life with the remaining 3 songs, Bomber, Motorhead and night closer Overkill.  

As the t-shirts for the tour said.... NO MIMING, NO GIMMICKS, NO BULLSHIT, 100% PURE ROCK N ROLL and that’s what we got. I doubt if we’ll ever hear some of these songs being played again and tonight, I think we got a fitting send off to Motorhead from one of the guys that played a major part in bring us the ear-splitting experience for the last 50 years. Thank you Phil, thank you Bastard Sons and thank you Lemmy for the ride. 

Set List - 

Iron Fist, Damage Case, Going To Brazil, Orgasmatron, Rock Out, Metropolis, Born To Raise Hell, Smiling Like A Killer, (We Are) The Road Crew, Lost Woman Blues, R.A.M.O.N.E.S., Chase, Ace Of Spades, Killed By Death, Heroes, Whorehouse Blues, Bomber, Motorhead, Overkill