Motograter

House of Blues, Anaheim

Motograter was one of those opening acts that end up giving you more than you really expected. They had both an interesting look and band configuration, and actually had some damn good music backing them up. They were the only act of the night that started out behind a closed curtain and when it opened I wasn't expecting to see what was there. Motograter has one guitar player. No bass or rhythm guitarists either. Being a metal band, I guess it doesn't matter all that much since there's no soaring leads, etc., to worry over. The lack of a bass was a new twist though. Oddly enough they decided to make up for it with drums ... and lots of them. One regular drum kit, another set of low-tuned toms, and another guy playing percussion, etc., gave the band a good presence, which eliminated the need for the missing bass. Two singers rounded out the band, switching back and forth between who was going to back up and who was going to scream. As for the look ... the band was stripped to the waist with voodoo / zombie makeup everywhere. It was kind of kewl to see the lot of them up there in that getup. Only the guitarist had the dreadlocks ... the rest were bald or close to it. So combined with the visual and the audio, Motograter put on a damn fine performance. I chatted with one of the drummers, Joey, at the bar after the show and come to find out with the exception of himself they're all local boys and were/are close to signing a deal. I wish them luck, it was kind of refreshing to see something new again up on the stage. My only gripe with these guys was that they barely played for a half hour. That may be due more to the HOB management than anything else, but it would have been neat to see more of them. Maybe next time.

Latest Update (July 2004)
Well, Motograter actually scored a headline performance at the HOB. Couldn't believe it when I saw it, but I wasn't all that surprised after having seen them as a featured CD in Hot Topic and few other places, and by catching their previous performances. So as I avoided the twenty-some odd morons trying to make a pit out of the less than 400 people in the crowd, I stood up front and slightly off center and checked them out closer than last time. These guys kick ass. The singer, Ghost, has the looks, personality and voice to kill. They've moved the guitars up front which is a plus, and they played a tight little 45 minute set with a single encore. Neither myself nor the small crowd were disappointed, judging by the emotion they threw back at the band. Two downers of the evening were the stage diving moron who landed on top of a poor girl, who strangely didn't seem to mind having her eye damn near poked out, and the two morons who felt a need to wonder in amazement at my age and my collared shirt. I let them know I've seen more shows than they'll ever hope to see and that that particular shirt has seen more abuse in the pit than anything they'll experience. They left the grumpy old man to his own devices shortly after that.

But enough of that. Motograter puts a lot of effort into their act and it shows. All you metalheads should really be checking these guys out.

You can find Motograter's homepage here.