Gimme Some Motorhead
Manchester Apollo - Sat 21st November 2009
What a night! I thought this would be an OK night out, but it turned into a night of true hilarity courtesy of Marky-Boy who treated us to a virtuoso performance and livened things up no end. Read on...
There was some buggering about before this night with hotel problems (they elected to treat themselves to stay at Bredbury Hall and a nice night's accomodation instead of our spare room) and people pulling out of going meaning there was a ticket to find a home for since Mark Baxter. Kez was going to go if Andy's mate couldn't make it, but in the end the ticket got taken and that's probably for the best this time. Anyhow, the plan was for Andy (with Gina and Andy's mate... Sorry man, I can't remember your name!) to pick Rich, Kate and I up and he would transport up to the Apollo and pre-gig drinks at the Apsley behind the Apollo where we'd find Marky-Boy, Garan and Ser.
We got to the Apollo very easily and parked up at about 6:30 where there were masses of people hanging about in the queue and outside the pub. Luckily, the rain had stopped (it had been pissing down all day) even if the temperature was a bit low. But then again, it was a November night! We managed to fight our way to the bar and sorted ourselves with drinks and the like whilst Marky-Boy came over and said hello. We stook outside and eventually Marky-Boy came out with the crowd and introduced himself properly. He'd already met most of the people before and kind of remembered them, although he did spend a while calling Rich and Kate "Mr and Mrs Brad"! He was well on his way and on fine form. We'd been texting each other for most of the day as he got more and more excited about the night, so he was reaching a pitch by the time we finally got to the night. I knew we were in for a good 'un.
We saw Pete at this point who came down with his mate. He was looking forward to seeing the gig and it looked like it was going to be an interesting evening since The Damned were playing and I'd never seen them before. Opening the gig would be Girlshool again, and they are usually pretty entertaining.
We finished up the drinks and could hear that Girlschool were firing up on stage, so we took a walk to the doors and went in. We wandered down to a reasonable spot to stage left half way up the hall (downstairs, of course) amd watched the action on stage. We were followed in pretty sharpish by Mark and co were laughing at their pal Viv as, with his excellent knowledge of the Apollo, had got prime tickets which entitled them to sit at the back of the balcony... oops! We never saw Pete again that night, I'm afraid, but he did text me during Girlschool and when I spoke to him the day after, it turns out that he was probably just infront of us. Such is life. We also lost track of Andy and Co at this point, but we had organised a meeting point for the end of the gig, so that was OK. It turns out that they weren't that far behind us for the most part and could see us, even if we couldn't see them.
So Girlschool went down a storm with their all-girl-Motorhead approach and got the crowd started. I don't know much of their stuff, but they did do "Emergency" at the end of the set, which was good. After this, and another pint, The Damned came on and kicked off a fun set with "New Rose" after which we took the mick out of Ser who decided to go for a wee during their best number. The Damned were pretty good actually and I was pretty glad to have got in their to see them, even if we did spend a little too much time taking the piss out of each other. They played "Smash It Up" and finished with "Eloise", which left the crowd in a good mood. Captain Sensible was up there, along with Dave Vanian and some bloke on keyboard who, from where we were looked like a very hyped-up version of James May, complete with flowery shirt and floppy hair. They were entertaining enough though and the crowd lapped it up.
By this time, the place was getting pretty damn full. It was definately more busy than last year's gig, which is a surprise considering there was no new album to promote this year. Maybe it was the inclusion of The Damned and Girlschool to the evening? Still, we were getting pretty crammed in, even where we were by the halfway barriers.
It must be noted that Marky-Boy was running at full steam at this point. He was reaching Party-Level Critical now and was nearly slavering he was so excited. It was good to see him on form and he was providing more than enough entertainment to keep us going over the change-over time. We'd all had a few pints, so we were all feeling pretty up for it by now as it was. There was a bit of a debate over who was going to be on drums tonight since Mr Dee had not done the US tour due to a commitment to go on some sort of "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!" type thing in Sweeden, or something or other. Whatever, Matt Sorum had done the job for that tour and we wondered if he'd be there tonight. But then they took the covers off the drum kit and revealed something that, even though it was different from last time (new colour, I think), it was Dee's setup.
The house lights went down eventually and it was time to go. "Iron Fist" kicked things off and from there on in it was all go and business as usual. The first three or four numbers were dispatched fairly quickly and the audience were lapping it up. The atmosphere was good where we were standing. The volume seemed a bit low for a 'Head gig, but that could have been more about where we were standing, as the balcony was just above our heads and we weren't standing in the middle, but still off to stage left. The volume did go up, of course, and settled to it's usual high level before too long.
The main fear for this gig was that, since there's been no new album this year, the set would be the same as last November's show, but thankfully, some songs had been changed over to freshen things up. Stuff like "Cradle to the Grave" were thrown in for good measure and "Bom-ber" got added at the end of the set (minus the Bomber itself, I'm afraid). The framework of the set was the same though, so the first bunch of numbers was the same as last time. Still, as I've probably already said, it all rattled away pretty quickly.
It must be said now that I didn't take as much note of the action on stage since I was having a much more entertaining time laughing it up with Marky-Boy and Garan. Marky-Boy was shouting his head off (I thought that Ser was going to kill him at one point when she got it full volume in her left ear), air-guitaring, going "AAAAAAAAAAAH!" and generally having far too much of a good time. He even did some stirling air drums during Dee's drum solo which Garan found extremely amusing... And so did I. There was also an incident which involved Marky-Boy trying to throw me over his shoulders. It's probably good that he didn't go the whole hog as it was very busy and I'm sure that no one would have wanted to have me kick them in the back of the head with my New Rocks. There was much laughing and taking of daft photos, which was great fun, as you will see from some of the results on this page.
As the gig went on, it seemed to get busier. Either that, or people were spreading out a bit as we ended up stuck on the barrier behind us near the end. Luckily, since Marky-Boy was flying high, we managed to keep some room around us, although it got fucking annoying when pissed-up blokes kept trying to push back to get to the bar or whatever and just kept bashing into the barrier. Still, at least there wasn't much pushing and shoving going on, which was great, even if we were quite far back. Still, we could see all we needed to see, even if some nobby nonce kept standing infront of us, before I shoo-ed him away. So manly.
So, as far as I could tell above the japes going on around us, the band were sounding good and rocking it up big style, but 'Head are never going to put on a shabby show. Mikki was on true form and Phil was doing his bit, although he looked a bit fucked-up from where I was looking. Lem kept it all moving and delivered some trademark stage banter, which was all good.
Anyhow, about ninety minutes later or so and a storming encore set of "Whorehouse Blues", "Ace of Spades" and "Overkill", it was feedback-and-houselights time and time for us to be kicked out of the Apollo and sent on our way home. We ambled out and rejoined Andy and Co. at the front doors. I wished Marky-Boy and Co fond farewells and good luck with the man himself for the long drive back to Coedpoeth. Then we jumped into the Mirthmobile and set off Stocker-side to drop Rich and Kate off at Bredbury Hall and me at home. And that was that!
A good fun night over all!
Motorhead Set List
This is cobbled together a bit from memory and the internet and I'm not sure if it's 100%, but it's definately on the right lines. If anyone wants to correct me, they are welcome!
- Main Set
- Iron Fist
- Stay Clean
- Be My Baby
- Rock Out
- Metropolis
- Over The Top
- One Night Stand
- I Got Mine
- The Thousand Names Of God
- Cradle to the Grave
- In The Name Of Tragedy (with Drum Solo)
- Just ‘Cos You Got The Power
- Going To Brazil
- Killed By Death
- Bomber
- Encores:
- Whorehouse Blues
- Ace Of Spades
- Overkill
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