Download Festival 2005: Motorhead - 12th June 2005

Setlist: Dr. Rock / Love Me Like A Reptile / Metropolis / I Got Mine / Dancing On Your Grave / Sacrifice / In The Name Of Tragedy / Killed By Death / Iron Fist / Killers / Ramones / Going To Brazil / Bomber / Ace Of Spades / Overkill
Q: How do you adequately prepare someone for seeing Motorhead for the first time?
A: You don’t! Sod them! Why should you warn them? Nobody warned you! Let them take their chances like the rest of us! Muahahaha!
Q: How do you adequately prepare someone for seeing Motorhead for the first time?
A: You don’t! Sod them! Why should you warn them? Nobody warned you! Let them take their chances like the rest of us! Muahahaha!

The last time I saw Motorhead live was a couple of years before my eldest daughter was born. The line-up was Lemmy/Fast Eddie/Philthy Animal. Yes, little pigs, it is a bloody long time ago!
Over the years the size of the band has expanded and contracted again and is now back to being a classic trio formation. These days, the line up is Lemmy/Phil Campbell/Mikey Dee.
So, what does this mean? Well, a), I have never seen Motorhead not as a power trio, and 2), just as I think of Brian Johnson as being the new singer in AC/DC, I still consider Phil Campbell as the new guy, even though he has been in the band for the past 21 years. But, none of this is relevant. What about the show?
Over the years the size of the band has expanded and contracted again and is now back to being a classic trio formation. These days, the line up is Lemmy/Phil Campbell/Mikey Dee.
So, what does this mean? Well, a), I have never seen Motorhead not as a power trio, and 2), just as I think of Brian Johnson as being the new singer in AC/DC, I still consider Phil Campbell as the new guy, even though he has been in the band for the past 21 years. But, none of this is relevant. What about the show?

Look, I’m not going to waste any of my time, or yours, rabbiting on about how well they played this, that or the other. It’s all bollocks. This is Motorhead. This is not a band that plays good, bad, or indifferently. They just play. They play rock and fucking roll. Every time they get on stage, you get a good kicking in the soft parts and they play every gig as if it’s the most important show they will ever play. No compromises. If you can’t deal with that, don’t go and see Motorhead. It’s so simple that even blond(e)s can understand it.
At Download, they weren’t as loud as they would be if you went to see them in their own right, as they were using the festival PA and, in spite of Lemmy’s urgings, it only went so loud. So, whilst you may only have had a 75% NME (Near Motorhead Experience), it was still more than enough to send you away slightly harder of hearing than when you walked into the tent.
There is no bullshit here. If I need to tell you anything more than what is written above, you wouldn’t understand, so it doesn’t matter, anyway. Motorhead always goes to 11 on any scale. Bastard!
And thus endeth the third day. Well, almost. No going back to the tent for us.
At Download, they weren’t as loud as they would be if you went to see them in their own right, as they were using the festival PA and, in spite of Lemmy’s urgings, it only went so loud. So, whilst you may only have had a 75% NME (Near Motorhead Experience), it was still more than enough to send you away slightly harder of hearing than when you walked into the tent.
There is no bullshit here. If I need to tell you anything more than what is written above, you wouldn’t understand, so it doesn’t matter, anyway. Motorhead always goes to 11 on any scale. Bastard!
And thus endeth the third day. Well, almost. No going back to the tent for us.

No. We we’re outcasts, riding out of Download… It’s OK, I’ll wait for you to pick up on that Megadeference …
Having had the 20/20 hindsight in advance, for once, myself and firstborn had packed all our stuff into the car before Slipknot. Remember? Come on, keep up with the program.
After Motorhead finished at 10PM, we rendezvoused with secondborn, who had been catching some of SOAD’s set, by the ice cream van (stage left, main stage) and legged it out of the arena, in order to beat the rush. Last year, it took us four hours to get out of the goddamned car park and I was determined that wasn’t happening this year. The Snickers stage finished a good 15-20 mins before the main stage, so we had a window of opportunity to make good our escape. At 10:23, incredible as it may seem, we were driving through Castle Donington village, on the way to the A50! By 11:30, we were home.
And at the end of the third day, the God of Thunder sat down with a cup of tea.
Mark L. Potts
The God of Thunder
14th June 2005
Having had the 20/20 hindsight in advance, for once, myself and firstborn had packed all our stuff into the car before Slipknot. Remember? Come on, keep up with the program.
After Motorhead finished at 10PM, we rendezvoused with secondborn, who had been catching some of SOAD’s set, by the ice cream van (stage left, main stage) and legged it out of the arena, in order to beat the rush. Last year, it took us four hours to get out of the goddamned car park and I was determined that wasn’t happening this year. The Snickers stage finished a good 15-20 mins before the main stage, so we had a window of opportunity to make good our escape. At 10:23, incredible as it may seem, we were driving through Castle Donington village, on the way to the A50! By 11:30, we were home.
And at the end of the third day, the God of Thunder sat down with a cup of tea.
Mark L. Potts
The God of Thunder
14th June 2005