Photos + Review: Motorhead @ Riverside Municipal Auditorium (riverside, CA)

Motorhead (London, United Kingdom)
August 19th, 2015
Riverside Municipal Auditorium in Riverside, CA

A little time has passed since Motorhead opened their tour at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium on August 19th. The band was celebrating their 40th anniversary and supporting their latest release, Bad Magic.
Although this tour started off with a bang it now stands on shaky ground due to Lemmy’s health issues. This has lead the band to cancel and cut short a few performances. This has instilled in me a really great appreciation for the performance I witnessed at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium.

I read so many headlines, reviews, and blog entries about Motorhead’s current tour and I was surprised to say the least with what I read. Even the review I read of the Riverside show was perplexing to me. I felt as if I witnessed a completely different show. All the reviews seemed focused on Lemmy’s decreased energy, his medical issues, and his unhealthy lifestyle but come on! We are talking about Motorhead not some 20 year olds. Do you really expect (and would you want) Lemmy to walk around eating sprouts while sipping on a Kombucha?

Lemmy Kilmister has always lived hard and rocked even harder. He has embodied heavy metal to the fullest. Based on what I saw, I believe he will continue to do so for a very long time. This man belongs on a stage.
Yes, he is no spring chicken and shows have been canceled but I completely disagree with Metal Injection stating that “he is tarnishing the band’s reputation.” After 40 solid years and twenty-now-two released studio albums of head splitting metal, Motorhead is second to none. At the ripe age of 69 Lemmy continues to lead the band to packed shows of adorning fans who can’t contain their excitement song after song.

In Riverside the band started things off with, “We are Motorhead” which got the crowd going. The band experienced a bit of difficulties with the sound and Lemmy’s vocals got somewhat lost in the chants of the fans who had every single word down. As the sound issues got fixed the band’s energy seemed to grow right alongside their fans. Phil Campbell’s performance was a joy to witness as his guitar solos were simply spectacular. Mikkey Dee on drums -there’s nothing quite like it, he is a show in his own! The only downfall -at least from a photographer’s point of view, is that his drum set is elevated too high off the stage. All I could really see were golden strands flying left and right. Highlights of the show for me included: “Over the Top,” “Rock It,” “Doctor Rock,” and of course the finale, “Ace of Spades” and the more than welcomed, “Overkill” encore. The band had my full attention from opening note to ending beat. Not many bands have this effect on me. If you have the luck to catch these guys live please do so. I fully recommend it. Your ears will hurt (I am a parent of two so I loved this part, I couldn’t hear them for a while), your legs will hurt, and your feet won’t be able to stop moving.

Setlist:
We Are Motorhead
Damage Case
Stay Clean
Metroplis
Over The Top
Guitar Solo
The Chase Is Better Than The Catch
Rock It
Lost Woman Blues
Doctor Rock + Drum Sower
Just ‘cos You Got The Power
Going To Brazil
Ace Of Spades
————–——–

OverKill