Motorhead: The Experience of a Lifetime by Todd Matthy
Last night Motorhead once again rocked Roseland Ballroom. Opening acts included Nashville Pussy and Reverend Horton Heat (who I felt was a little out of place but if Lemmy likes him that’s good enough). Unfortunately, Mikky Dee was absent due to starring on Sweden’s or England’s version of “I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here”, however the band found a great replacement in former Gun’s N Roses drummer Matt Sorum. None of it mattered though once the band took the stage and Lemmy gave the battle cry “We’re Motorhead and we play Rock N Fuckin’ Roll!”
The band opened up “Iron Fist” and flowed flawlessly into “Stay Clean”. Other songs played were “Metropolis”, “Just Cos You Got the Power”, “Killed by Death”, and “Bomber”. For an encore, they performed “Whorehouse Blues” and the classics “Ace of Spades”, and “Overkill”. As a fill in, Matt Sorum was a good fit. Phil did a great job on guitar and Lemmy was Lemmy. To say the show kicked ass is an understatement. However for me this was a concert unlike any other.
I got a wristband that permitted me to go to the balcony. After spending some time in the mosh pit I went up. While upstairs I met multiple Motorhead fans all enjoying the show. But, what amazed me was the age of the fans. There were whole families there, Mother’s, Father’s, and young children. It shows how much cross-generational appeal Motorhead has. When the show ended I saw the entrance to backstage. I decided to take a chance.
To get backstage I decided the best way was to make myself invisible. By not drawing attention to myself I was able to get through the vetting process until they were down to a handful of people. Finally, after helping the security guard with a task, I was allowed to go backstage.
Backstage! I got backstage. I immediately searched for Lemmy, and there he was, right down the hall. I walked up to him, introduced myself, and shook his hand. After taking a photo, I proposed to Lemmy an idea for a heavy metal version of “Fantasia” and told him “Orgasmatron” would make a great short. Lemmy responed by saying he was disappointed by how that song turned out. He said it should’ve been louder. The original version had four vocals. I asked him if he still had the original recording, unfortunately he said it’s lost or buried somewhere. Afterword, Lemmy moved on to other things. I left a few minutes later. I couldn’t believe what just happened. I actually met Lemmy and I was still able to catch the 1:20 train. One of the best experiences of my life, I hope you all have similar stories.
