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

Motörhead (London, England)
August 19th, 2015
Riverside Municipal Auditorium in Riverside, CA

A little time has passed since Motörhead opened their tour at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium on August 19th celebrating their 40th anniversary and supporting their latest release Bad Magic.  This tour if I may add, started off with a bang but now stands on shaky ground due to Lemmy’s health issues which lead the band to cancel and cut short a few recent performances.  But also caused me to go back and really appreciate the performance I witnessed at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium.

I was worried about the inflamed headlines I read on so many reviews and blog entries about Motörhead’s current tour and what I read surprised me, to say the least.  Even the reviews I read of the Riverside show were 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 Motörhead not some 20 year old teeny bopper, 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 Rock and Roll to the fullest and I believe will continue to do so based on what I saw 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 now twenty-two released studio albums of head splitting rock and roll, Motörhead 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 Motörhead” 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 along with the energy of their fans.  Phill Campbel’s performance was a joy to witness -his guitar solo simply spectacular, Mikkey Deen on drums…there’s nothing quite like it -he is a show on his own, the only downfall at least from a photographer’s point of view was his drum set was elevated too high off the stage so 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 “Ace of Spades” and the more than welcome “Overkill” encore.  The band had my full attention from opening note to ending beat and not many bands have this effect on me.  If you have the luck to catch these guys live 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 Motörhead
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
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OverKill