Motörhead - First Avenue (Minneapolis, MN) - Tuesday, February 15, 2011

The final notes of the first song, “We Are Motörhead,” were still reverberating through the bar when Lemmy Kilmister said to the sold-out audience, “We are Motörhead. We do not have beer thrown at us.” It was a matter-of-fact statement; it simply isn’t done. Who in their right mind would risk the wrath of one of rocks most legendary bad boys?

In case there was any doubt, Kilmister suggested that if someone, “wants to play the hero”, they should stop anyone preparing to throw anything else, “or the show is over.” The crowd took him at his word and played by his rules for the remainder of the nearly 90-minute set.

Sure it was loud. It’s Motörhead. I grew up going to Hüsker Dü shows, but this was really loud. Of course, five full Marshall stacks will do that. So, when you see the tour shirts that read “Everything Louder Than Everyone Else” on the back, understand this is isn’t hyperbole; it’s truth in advertising.

However, in my opinion, the eardrum piercing volume is required for Motörhead’s sound. It provides a different kind of distortion that pedals and other effects can’t replicate. Perhaps it’s just the ringing in my ears or the sound bouncing around in my skull, I don’t know, but it wouldn’t sound right turned down to 8.

The odd drunk aside, it was a great crowd. Old punks, speed-metal freaks, bikers, and 18-year-old boys in Mastodon and Clutch T-shirts, created a huge old-school circle pit on the mainroom floor. Slamming into each other with silly grins on their faces and raised fists.

The band lavished the audience with a set list that spanned their career and included a number of unexpected songs. A nice surprise was the topical “Just ‘Cos You Got the Power”. Kilmister introduced it by saying it was their one slow song. Of course, that means slow by Motörhead’s standards.

Set List:
We Are Motörhead
Stay Clean
Get Back in Line
Over the Top
One Night Stand
Rock Out
The Thousand Names of God
I Got Mine
I Know How to Die
The Chase is Better Than the Catch
In The Name of Tragedy
Just ‘Cos You Got the Power
Going To Brazil
Killed by Death (with Valient Himself from Valient Thorr)
Ace of Spades

Encore:
Overkill