"Wow, they’re starting at 7 PM already. Time to hurry up!!"
I quickly got ready and jumped into my hellish vehicle for the show of the year. My buddy Mateusz was with me, who had ordered a ticket for me. After a ride without any special incidents, I realized that my phone was blissfully resting at home. Fortunately, someone was home and we headed to Zenith.
When we arrived, there were already tons of long-haired leather jackets and Motörhead shirts waiting at the entrance. I only realized the size of the venue when we were directed to the huge parking lot. A funny side note there was a guy who pulled his leather jacket out of the trunk. Mateusz said, "He must have been wearing a suit before!".
Everything was packed with people. I read there were supposed to be 8,000 attendees.
And that on a Monday night in November. There was even a separate office container for the guest list.
Inside this cathedral of Rock'n'Roll, it was already filled with pilgrims. And I could have kicked myself for not being able to. Skew Siskin, one of the coolest German rock bands, had already started their set. From the back, they looked tiny, and we squeezed our way to the front. The band from Berlin was rocking the absolutely brilliant 'Shake me', and the first devil horns were already going up in the crowd. Mine too, of course. 'Ridin' with the devil' from the new video was also a must. My favorite in the set was the track 'Livin' on a redline', which hits even harder live than on record. The new rhythm section is clearly doing the band good. And of course, Jim and Nina are extraordinary musicians. I love Jim's compact AC/DC-influenced guitar style and his thoughtful and original solo passages, and Nina's awesome, cutting, screaming voice reminds me of a wildcat on the attack. The conclusion of this way too short set of about 25 minutes was 'If the walls could talk'. A band I can only recommend to everyone. If you're interested, here is an interview with the band.
Then it quickly continued with the setup for 'The Damned'.
They have mostly passed me by except for a few songs.
Aside from 'Love Song', 'New Rose', and the single 'A dozen girls', I didn’t know anything by them. The guitarist Captain Sensible took care of his gear himself, played his SG, and checked the last settings. His white jacket boldly displayed his motto "Old Age Punk".
After a brief chat and coordination with the roadie, it began. As an intro, there were totally off-key trumpet sounds like from the circus of the insane. And then the band kicked off. The first chords, and then singer Dave Vanian jumped onto the stage in a British suit and sunglasses, delivering an energetic stage show. At some point, Captain Sensible's transmitter cable let him down. That has happened to me on a larger stage before. I was advised not to bring junk onto the stage. It's reassuring for me that this can happen to the professionals too. The band even has a keyboardist. A totally crazy guy. Short and stocky, long curly hair, glasses, and out of control. The first thing that came to my mind was whether there were any family connections to Baldrick from the British show Blackadder. Great show, I will probably delve more into their music. It was a very cool 77 sound.
Then it got exciting!
Everyone was waiting for the rock'n'roll icon. For Wart, as lovingly dubbed by Rock Hard. For the lord of whiskey bottles. Everyone was waiting for Lemmy! Due to health reasons, the rock business veteran had unfortunately had to lay off whiskey recently. The tour had to be postponed due to illness. But now he was back and eager to make music, as music is his life. Then he stood there! Without any big rockstar antics. Just at the microphone, saying something like "Good evening, we are Motörhead and we’re going to rock now!" With ear-splitting volume, the first songs blasted from the speaker towers. 'Shoot you in the back', 'Damage Case', 'Stay Clean', 'Metropolis', the crowd was boiling, it got hot, and Motörhead played as if nothing had happened. Brutal drum sound, dirty guitar sound, Murder One bass, and a gravelly Lemmy at the microphone.
After this first block, the band disappeared, and in green light, only the silhouette of guitarist Phil Campbell was visible standing there with his hat. The green light reflected off the dots on his guitar. It looked really epic the way he stood there. He laid down a great solo with Wah-Wah, which the crowd celebrated accordingly. The set continued with songs like 'Suicide', 'Do you Believe', and 'Lost Women Blues'. In the front rows, a brutal wild boar pogo was raging, and everywhere devil horns were raised. While the hall had been quite cool at the beginning, it was now a sauna. Shoving, sweaty bodies, and everyone was partying. Then the stage turned yellow, and all eyes were on Mikkey Dee's drum set....bambambambambam...ratatatata.....bambambamb....ratata..tatat tatat...ramtatta..*tush*. That’s about how it can be described. For the confused, a metal drum solo. Then it continued with hits like 'Doctor Rock', 'Going to Brazil', or 'Killed by Death'. One moment during the show stood out to me. Lemmy pointed his index finger up a few times. I was already wondering what he meant by that. It didn’t look like a "make it louder". Now came the ultimate Motörhead number. 'Ace of Spades'. The band and the audience really gave it their all. An experience to witness this song live. As an encore, there was 'Overkill' on top. Man, my ears were ringing afterward. That night, in the front rows, some hearing probably went down the drain. Loud, Louder, Motörhead! :-D
After the band left the stage, the crowd dispersed, and I observed all the people. Some hurriedly took selfies for Facebook or got photographed. Mateusz got something to drink, and I lingered around the merch a bit. I chatted a little with the nice merch girls from The Damned and Skew Siskin, and then it was time to head home.