Motorhead - London Hammersmith Apollo - 18/10/03
4/5
By: Clara Burtenshaw
It was a bleak and stormy night in the quiet town of Hammersmith. Motorhead had arrived, and with them summoned an army of minions who hadn't seen the light of day since 1982. The multitude encompassed the Apollo - an army of stretched-leather, pony-tails, crumbling beards and bald patches glinting in the darkness. Rockfeedback felt as if it had stepped into a casting for 'Lord of the Rings'.
Oh yes, this evening would preserve Motorhead's reputation as forefathers of redneck dad-rock in fine fettle; if only the dishevelled and soaking mob leaving the show could boast the same thing. From start to finish, the ninety-minute set was an aura of head-banging, virtuoso guitar-solos and general demoniac possession - and that was just the audience.
There was everything one might expect from Motorhead: artificial smoke; mullet-fanning wind machines; topless, ten-minute drum-solos; but - most importantly - a back-catalogue of 'Head hits and even a Sex Pistols cover thrown in. The men were transfixed by the glowing red eyes of the Motorhead emblem emblazoned on the black stage, the females by Lemmy's spandex trousers; really, there was something for all.
By its conclusion, this concert could only be described as an experience rather than a show, and by encore 'Ace Of Spades', it was mayhem. Clearly, those for whom Motorhead means little more than a 'rock-chick' T-shirt were scant, the diehard fans (albeit twenty years older), and the newbies, tonight worshipping the spirit of unbridled rock and the original purveyors of cartoon machismo and cowboy hats like no other band had ever existed. Scary.
Artists in this article: Motorhead
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