Lissy Cole: Motörhead Birmingham live show review

"EVERYTHING

LOUDER

THAN

EVERYTHING

ELSE"

That is the Motorhead way!

Starting off the night with a bottle of Becks and the purchase of the traditional Motorhead war pig tour T shirt I was fully prepared for the night a head. The night started off with the first support band The Bosshoss. For those of you who have not heard of these guys they are a seven piece country rock band from Berlin. As soon as they hit the stage they brought the power, energy and pure Rock!

They used a wide range of instruments from the basic guitars, drums and vocals to bringing in Harmonicas, double bass, wash board, trumpets and trombones, it was sheer unique brilliance. They played a bunch of songs that were great for building up the crowd and getting them to interact with the band.

Finally even though this was the first time I had ever seen or heard of them they did finish up with a cover of 'Word Up!' The country twist and break downs were fantastic! I would really love to go and see them again, Fingers crossed it'll be soon, as they are a band I will not forget in a hurry and I personally suggest you go and check them out. They were and are epic!

Second on the bill was The Damned, British rock band from the seventies lead by Dave Vanian and now guitarist Captain Sensible. The band came out with a punch, I will admit I have never really listened to The Damned that much so I am basing my opinion solely on Thursday nights performance.

The songs they performed were well taken by the fans in the venue who were cheering on their icons as their set rolled on. The stage work and lighting was phenomenal, it helped make the performance. To finish the set they did of course play 'Smash It Up'. One of the songs I did actually know which was great!

Both support bands were absolutely fantastic and I think Motorhead made a great choice in picking them specifically for the tour as they opened the night up, getting all the fans ready and pumped up ready for the headliners which we were all anticipating for after the disappointing cancellation of their last UK tour earlier in the year.

Finally we come to our head lining act. Ten minutes before the show started and the final music checks were been made you could feel the atmosphere beginning to build. Also the volume coming from the amps as they warmed up just gave you a warning what you were about to be hit with because by god did those amps shake the room when the first song rang out.

You just can't begin to comprehend the sheer volume that floods a venue when Motorhead hit the stage, you have to be their to experience it for yourself.

The band pulled out some iconic songs such as, Dr Rock, Rock it, Overkill and of course Ace of Spades. The music was spot on, all the riffs were clean and clear. Lemmy's vocals were superb! His voice hasn't changed a single bit, still gruff and menacing as ever.

The band interacted with the crowd excellently cracking jokes and producing witty comments which left us all chuckling with laughter.

My highlights of the night:

Mikkey Dee left the crowd watching on in awe as he worked his way expertly round his giant drum kit, hitting out rhythm after rhythm in and out of his solo's. But his solo was immense! His still blonde hair was flying about along with his arms as he hit out his classic loud beats. It left us all cheering for more as it unfortunately ended.

Final song of the night was of course Ace Of Spades, and to make the moment even sweeter we watched as Philthy Animal Taylor and Fast Eddie Clarke joined Lemmy, Mikkey and Phil to play the final song how it was originally. It was a surprise which we all relished in, it was electric!

And to finish off the encore 'Overkill', it ended the night with a bang! I can still hear the faintness of ringing in my ears still. I highly doubt I will ever see Motorhead again but I am extremely grateful to have seen them possibly on their last tour. If you were there too, you will agree with me it was a night you wont forget in a hurry.

'WE ARE MOTORHEAD AND WE PLAY ROCK N ROLL!'