A rocking evening at the Limelight 2 headlined by the all female legendary band Girlschool. With being a Motorhead fan since my childhood and knowing of the friendship and association of both Girlschool and Motorhead, this is a gig that I had been looking forward to for a while now.
First up, and opening the show is Belfast’s own Dead Addiction. A band born out of Maverick, Black Freeway and others to form their own five piece tight unit.
Even though I caught these guys only a month prior in support of Stormzone at the legendary Empire they don’t fail to impress me that little bit more each time i see them.
Starting things off with their intro San Vector blaring through the speakers and playing a set of almost all originals that kicked ass from start to finish. The only exception being a cover of Whitesnake’s “Fool For Your Loving”, which they pulled off really well and included an absolute blistering solo from guitarist Ciaran Lyttle.
The band even took the time to give out a number of free copies of their single “Live At The Scene Of The Crime” to audience members, which was a nice little touch.
At one point front man Joe Murphy climbed off stage and to the barrier with the mic to get fans to help with the backing vocals to “Warning Shot”. You are there to take shots and do a review and before you know it you are part of the show by having a mic in front of your face and being prompted to shout “Bang Bang”. I was more than happy to oblige and quite enjoyed my five seconds of fame as a backing singer.
The guys ended their set by playing their giveaway single of the night “Live At The Scene Of The Crime”. I enjoyed it, the fans enjoyed it and I personally look forward to seeing them again.
Up next was legendary female rockers Girlshool. A band that came along during the New Wave of British Heavy Metal in 1978, and after four decades can still rock theirs, and our, asses off.
Front woman and rhythm guitarist Kim McAuliffe who took over fronting the band after the death of original singer and lead guitarist Kelly Johnson in 2007, and skin beater Denise Dufort are still their after 41 years and still just as good as they were. Bass player and founder member Enid Williams is out of the band, and back in for her third stint is former Rock Goddess bassist Tracy Lamb (though only for the tour apparently). Jackie Chambers, who is now a twenty year veteran with the band continues her lead guitar duties.
What followed was ninety minutes of no frills, ass kicking, punk tinged, heavy metal that did not disappoint. All of the classics were there “C’mon Let’s Go”, “Hit And Run” and “Demolition Boys”, as well as more recent offerings, “Take It Like A Band” and “Guilty As Sin”. The girls even threw in some classic covers that they themselves have recorded. Motorhead’s “Bomber” as well as “Race With The Devil”, which was originally recorded all the way back in 1968 by The Gun, then finishing up their set with a cover of the ZZ Top classic “Tush”.
Despite some amp issues after the opening song that were quickly fixed, then a broken guitar string during the penultimate song, thanks to Dead Addictions Chris Van Engelen’s guitar for making the save for the final song, the band made a great connection with the crowd and the audience lapped up every moment of it. The ninety minutes seemed to fly by and the only negative that I have is that I wanted more.
Review & Photography : David Stewart
