OFF: Lemmy & his band of Merry Men

[Brian Halligan]

Ted Jackson wrote:

> On 12 May 2003 at 23:40, Pierluigi Fumi wrote:
>
> May 12/03       Rochester, NY   Penny Arcade
>
> How 'bout that!  I played the same joint as Lemmy.  I can now die happy...

Cool. When did you play there?

I was at this Motorhead gig. It was wild! The club was packed with punks in
their early 20s wearing leather jackets and spikes. I thought the crowd
would be mostly older bikers, though there were plenty of them as well. I
spent the entire Motorhead set on the edge of the mosh pit, alternately
shoving people away and bracing myself against the wall. One guy with a
studded Misfits jacket sat down next to where I was standing and puked in a
pitcher of beer. Luckily, he put it in the corner where it wouldn't get
spilled. And then there was the couple who got off on being tossed around
the mosh pit. When they finally left the pit, they started going at it hot
and heavy!

Lemmy was playing his custom bass, but I couldn't really admire it, because
I'd only get a glimpse before someone would move into the way. I did always
have a clear view of Lemmy at the mic, however. I loved watching his
expressions when he was complaining about his mic, and when he extolled the
audience before R.A.M.O.N.E.S., "C'mon, this is f****ing New York
State...Joey and Dee Dee f***ing Ramone!" The band itself was as loud as I'd
imagined they'd be. I'm glad I wore earplugs.... I can't remember the entire
setlist, but they did play:

We Are Motorhead
R.A.M.O.N.E.S.
Goin' to Brazil
Ace of Spades
Civil War
Damage Case
God Save the Queen
Killed By Death
Sacrifice
Metropolis (?)

They also played a few from the new CD, which I don't have.

It was the perfect setting for seeing the band for the first time--in a club
with 300 other crazy mofos. And best of all, Motorhead was the headliner.
Whitesnake was nowhere in sight. ;-)

Brian
obCD> We Are Motorhead