“I am the master of the wind-up!” declares Phil Campbell, gleefully. As a man who spent over 30 years as a member of Motörhead, the Welsh guitarist is well versed in the art of causing chaos on tour.
The pinnacle of his mischief arguably came when Motörhead joined the Metal Masters tour, a 17-show run that snaked its way across the U.S. and Canada in the summer of 2008. Also on the bill were opening act Testament along with Heaven & Hell – the band featuring Black Sabbath founding members Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler along with frontman Ronnie James Dio and drummer Vinny Appice – and Judas Priest.
On August 21, all four bands rolled in to the 22,000-capacity Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California. It was there that Phil seized his moment.
“It was the last gig of the tour and [Testament frontman] Chuck Billy made the fatal mistake of saying to me the night before, ‘Campbell, we’re going to fuck you up tomorrow night.’ I said, ‘Chuck, go away, I’m in a different league from you!’” chuckles Phil. “The next day when we reached the venue, which is near San Francisco, a runner came in to the dressing room and said ‘Do you need anything from town?’ I said, ‘Yes, get me one large horse.’”
Phil’s mount was duly supplied. The guitarist then donned a blue fright wig and an orange dress for maximum impact.
“Ronnie bought me that dress as it goes,” he explains. “I got dressed up and during Testament’s set I rode on to the stage with my arm raised like Caesar. I’d got a big massive laminate printed for the horse too and it was chaos when we rode on to that stage. And, of course, ever since then Chuck Billy has had to bow down to me!”
As the footage below shows, the guitarist was joined by his bandmates Mikkey Dee and Lemmy – the latter thoughtfully sweeping up behind Phil’s steed.