Metal Masters: Motörhead: Rock'n'Roll

Lemmy's intro wasn't instrumental, it was direct, and simple: "We are Motörhead. We play rock'n'roll." For those of you that only associated Lemmy and Co. with "Ace of Spaces," there may not have been much to do except bang your head, which is something Motörhead fans do a lot. There was a mix of old and new, drawn from early records, such as Ace of Spades and the live No Sleep 'til Hammersmith to the 2006 release, Kiss of Death. The purpose of joining the Metal Masters tour, I imagine, was to promote their recent release of Motörizer (in stores about three days prior to the show - another must have on my list). We Motörhead fans, however, were banging our heads to classics such as "Metropolis," "Overkill" and "Stay Clean" (from Overkill) "Over the Top," (first appeared on Hammersmith) "Killed by Death," (first appearing on the live No Sleep at All) and yes, of course, "Ace of Spades." I confess to feeling a little disappointed that "Iron Fist" wasn't played, but it was a short show with no more than eleven tracks (Hammersmith had that many on the original vynil LP), and I enjoyed the entire performance.

One highlight of Motörhead's show was Mickey Dee's drum solo, as visually stimulating as it was aural. at one point, Dee started chucking his right drum stick, one after the other in rapid succession, twirling high in the air before falling. If I had been allowed to take a camera in, I would have posted video, it was that amazing. Guitarist Phil Campbell, 25-year veteran of Motörhead not only kept up with Kilmister, but brought his own flair to the stage on such new classics as "Be my Baby" (Kiss of Death). He took the mic a few times to plug the new album. He also did a synchronized step with Lemmy during the intro of "Metropolis," an unexpected bit of choreography. But Motörhead shows are now, and have always been, a celebration of the JD guzzling, Dorito-chomping, Muttonchop-wearing, bass-thumping, Godfather of Metal, Lemmy Kilmister, who brought it full circle for us at the end of his show, reminding us of our metallic roots: "We are Motörhead and we play rock'n'roll!" With that, he turned up his amp full blast, leaned his signature bass against the amp and let it feed back endlessly as he left the stage.

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