Metal's true Masters show and prove at DTE
"If you don't like rock and roll, then you're in the wrong f------ city."
Quoth Lemmy. Come to think of it, why aren't we always quothing Lemmy? If there's one thing the world needs more of, it's more instances where Lemmy, the Motorhead frontman and living metal legend, is being quothed.
This particular nugget of wisdom spilled from Lemmy's mouth Monday at DTE Energy Music Theatre, during Motorhead's set at the Metal Masters Tour, where Testament, Motorhead, Heaven and Hell and Judas Priest bludgeoned the audience with five-plus hours of metal.
And it was true. If you don't like rock and roll, there's the door. So even though Ozzfest didn't make the rounds this year, there's been no shortage of touring rock festivals coming through town this summer, from Megadeth's Gigantour to the Slipknot- and Disturbed-led Mayhem Festival to Motley Crue's comparitively tame Crue Fest.
But the Metal Masters Tour was the bill of choice for down and dirty old school metal, and the opportunity to see Priest, Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath with Dio) and Motorhead together on one bill was too tantalizing to pass up (even though DTE was, regrettably, only half to two-thirds full).
Motorhead was, well, Motorhead -- loud, raucous, and playing a set full of songs that sounded exactly like "Ace of Spades." Lemmy sounded as if before the show he'd chugged a gallon of gasoline and chased it with a match, and that inimitable gutteral growl of his was in fine, grizzly form. At the merch booth, Motorhead had one of the most popular T-shirts, the back of which read "Everything Louder than Everything Else." That was not only the band's M.O. but that of the entirety of the Metal Masters Tour (though the $35 that was being asked for the shirts proved to be about $10 more than I was willing to part with).
Heaven and Hell started off slow but reached their peak with a howling rendition of the song that gave the band its name from the album that gave the band its name, 1980's "Heaven and Hell." At 66, frontman Ronnie James Dio has got a year on even Mick Jagger, but he can still deliver the goods vocally. His stage presence is a bit cheesy, and all the pointing at audience members recalls Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan in their "A Night at the Roxbury" mode, but it's clear Jack Black owes at least 45 percent of his Tenacious D shtick to Dio, and that earns him plenty of goodwill. And without Ozzy's clownish antics dragging the band down, it's clear guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Vinny Appice can still roar.
Still, it was headliners Judas Priest who made the best impression, with frontman Rob Halford delivering with his shattering vocals and fully captivating stage presence. Halford is a tried and true showman who knows the value of a good entrance, so much so that he made about a half dozen of them during the band's 80-minute set. First appearing at the top of a riser cloaked in a metallic sheath, later entering the stage through a trap door below the elevated drum kit and finally emerging onto the stage on a revving motorcycle during the band's encore, Halford made sure eyes were permanently glued to him, as he clutched the microphone with both hands and pushed out his vocals as if he was self-exorcising. He changed overcoats for just about every song, always appearing in some version of a long, leather jacket. While his band performed thundering riffs (and appeared to be wearing the same leathers from they wore in the 1980s), Halford performed dizzying, high-range vocal squeals that surely woke up all dogs in the neighboring communities.
The band worked through a number of Priest classics -- "Breakin' the Law," "You've Got Another Thing Comin'," et al -- only hitting a false note on the ballady "Angel" from 2005's comeback LP "Angel of Retribution." Still, Halford is one of metal's truly splendid frontmen, and brought a true sense of showmanship to his methodical, exacting performance. He's a true metal master.
Photos by the incomparable John Greilick/ The Detroit News
