Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons

Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.
Posted on by Ian Duncan Media Posted in Arts, Music, PhotographyTagged , , , , , ,
Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.
Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.

It was a last minute decision but I decided to get back into shooting gigs again on Thursday when I emailed the guys at the Old Fire Station to get permission to cover Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons and Peat & Diesel which was okay. But having said that I was banned from getting my cameras into Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons which I am presuming is because it was very much the last minute but the phone pics turned out okay considering. Hopefully it will appear on the News & Star website in the next few days. Please bear in mind this selection is from a quick initial edit of the pics and I may produce a different selection when I look at them again in more detail.

REVIEW: The Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Thursday, July 24, 2025.

FOLLOWING the death of original founding member and frontman Lemmy Kilmister in December 2015 guitarist Phil Campbell proudly carried the Motörhead baton forward the following year when he formed his next project the Bastard Sons.

This followed the loss of drummer Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor the previous month and later the death of guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke in January 2018.

Interesting fun fact is that three members of the band are Phil’s sons – Todd Campbell on lead guitar and harmonica, Dane Campbell on drums and Tyla Campbell on bass – and the line-up is completed by Neil Starr on vocals.

Bizarrely, probably because I decided to cover the gig literally at the last minute, I was told that I could not take my cameras so these shots were all taken on my mobile phone but I reckon they turned out okay considering.

  • Fury at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.
    Fury at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.
  • Fury at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.
    Fury at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.

First up were Birmingham-based support act Fury who proved to be an extremely loud tour de force who produced some catchy metal tunes – I would like to think that a song which I believe was called The Prince of Darkness was their own personal tribute to Ozzy Osbourne who we sadly lost last week.

The Ozzy Osbourne tour shirt tribute at the Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons gig at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.
The Ozzy Osbourne tour shirt tribute at the Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons gig at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.

Among the tour shirts that night – which were dominated by Motorhead, Iron Maiden and AC/DC – I found a nice Ozzy T-shirt tribute as well as a few from this month’s Back to the Beginning tribute gig and I would like to think that the bass player’s choice of a Rickenbacker instrument was her own personal tribute to the late great Lemmy.

  • Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.
    Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.
  • Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.
    Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.
  • Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.
    Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.
  • Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.
    Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.
  • Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.
    Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.
  • Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.
    Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.
  • Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.
    Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.
  • Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.
    Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons at the Old Fire Station in Carlisle. Source: Ian Duncan.

It was promised that the night would be a celebration of 50 years of Motörhead and it would be an understatement to say that compiling the setlist must have proved difficult to say the least given the band’s extensive back catalogue.

Having said that the opening tracks contained a few well-loved classics including Iron Fist, Damage Case, Going To Brazil and Orgasmatron. It would be fair to say that they promised the hits and they did not fail to deliver.

There was a decent and enthusiastic crowd on the night, with only a few tickets remaining according to the venue website, and the band seemed pretty tight and they were totally enjoying themselves during the night’s performance.

They even had their own personal tribute to Ozzy, who they said was “the original f***ing hellraiser”, with the track Born To Raise Hell.

This was followed by (We Are The) Road Crew, R.A.M.O.N.E.S., Ace of Spades and Killed By Death. We then heard the opening sound effects of the Black Sabbath classic War Pigs which blended perfectly with Bomber before an extended version of Overkill which rounded that night’s proceedings off perfectly.

Leave a comment