By Chris Rockson

 

Nearly 30 years ago, I saw this exact line-up play in London and it was one of THE best gigs I've ever attended. The bands were close back then and have toured and recorded with each other on and off ever since. The venue for tonight's stop off is the Apollo Theatre, Manchester, a regular haunt 'back in the day' for me...the prices have increased ever so slightly over the years, I mean I can remember seeing The Damned here, The Ramones, Clash, Alice Cooper and countless others all for the princely sum of £2.50 entrance fee [ around $5 for our American friends ]...still, at £30 for three class bands, you cannot complain anyway, and I'm certainly not, it's a costly past-time playing in this country these days.

We were stood outside the venue and bumped into some old friends, again, not seen for quite the same time period as the bands almost, which was a very nice and pleasant surprise. We hit the Jack Daniels for old times sake whilst we could hear Girlschool banging out their set on-stage inside. Most people were waiting on the two headliner bands anyway, and having covered the Girls already in SoundCheck, we decided we would indulge in a few more Jacks' instead.

Once inside the already packed venue, the Damned had just hit the stage and were going down a storm with the 'motorhead' crowd...they always did and it's nice to see that their appeal hasn't faded through the years. The crowd go wild when captain announces their anthemic 'Love Song' and Dave Vanian transports us all back to 1977 all over again....does he ever age? maybe he is actually a vampire afterall?? Certainly looks like one to me....anyway, the Damned play a blisteringly good set to a very receptive crowd and a massive mosh pit breaks out as they go full-on into 'Smash It Up!'....proving again that they had the talent back in the 70's as young guys to write such classic and timeless numbers...it's all over too soon as Captain says his goodbyes and thanks the crowd....now it's time for Motorhead!!

A Motorhead show is a really amazing experience, always was and I guess, unless the Lem decides to call it a day, always will be! Two things that really set them apart from the 'competition' are consistency and the uniqueness of their sound. Lemmy, a bass player extraordinaire, plays his Rickenbacker's like they are just extensions of his arms, it's so natural to him...and that grunt from the 'Murder One' Marshalls has stayed the same throughout his long, long career. He's never felt the need to change, and why should he? He IS rock n roll of the very highest order...he is LEMMY!

Weighing in at almost 64 years old, he can still kick your ass and ears, like he's always done, and although the years have taken some toll on the quality of his gruffness, and maybe slowed him down a little on stage, what can you expect from someone who lives & breathes rock n roll 24/7/365 ???  He's nothing short of a miracle, and the crowd here tonight are lapping up every bit of the action.

The band are as tight as they have always been, and when you think that this current line-up has been together for over 20 years, they instinctively know where to be on-stage, what song is coming next, tempo etc...its all just a walk-in-the-park for 'em!

If you think that old father time has weakened the Motorhead sound, similar to that of a Panzer Tank heading your way with all guns a blazing, then you'd be wrong. They sound as fresh today as they did all of those years ago at this same venue...the only disappointing thing was Lemmy's vocals were somewhat low-down the mix, apart from that, it was absolutely what you would expect!!

They blasted through the set list and the one/half hour show seemed to be over all too soon...a couple of crowd-pleaser encores and they leave the stage to an amazing show of support from their lifelong fan base....will they go on and do more tours and recordings? Fuck Yeah! You can't stop Rock n Roll, and you most definately can't stop Lemmy!!! afterall, 'we are MOTORHEAD,. and we play Rock N Roll'!!

Fuck Yeah!!!!!

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