Close your eyes and it could so easily be 1980 all over again. With the dusky aromas of leather, patchouli oil, skunk, Newky Broon and B.o. permeating the air in the Circle Bar, it dawns on the TPi posse that we have landed in the eye of the storm - the very epicentre of unbridled, filthy rock'n' roll. And you don't get any more rock'n'roll than Motorhead at (what was) the Hammersmith odeon.
In its latest incarnation, this venue is the Carling Apollo Hammersmith, not that frontman (The Rev.) Lemmy Kilmister is having anything to do with it. "We all know it's the Hammersmith odeon, so why don't they f**kin' bring the name back. What's with all this Apollo s**t?!" he growled on stage. The roar of approval from more than 5,000 fans said it all and others who agree with him include Adam Parsons, the band's Tour/Production Manager for the past two and a half years.
Said Parsons: "If the venue's owners are smart, they'd licence the odeon name and re-promote the building. It's history that shouldn't be swept away by corporate branding." Something for ClearChannel to consider, perhaps?
This place is traditionally synonymous with the end of every Motorhead UK tour (hence the classic 1981 No.1 album title No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith), although it's actually been 10 years since they played here, and in this instance they did a fine job of warming the place up for AC/DC's show three days later. "With the stalls seating removed [a new development, launched at this show] the capacity is now larger than Brixton Academy, and we're selling out tonight, so it's worked out perfectly," commented Parsons.
With Channel Four in the house to film for a forthcoming documentary on the band, all the Motorhead classics were present and unleashed with trademark ear-crippling venom - 'Bomber', 'No Class', 'Ace of Spades', 'overkill' and more. And despite the health risks, we wouldn't have wanted it any other way. In this increasingly sterile world, it's heartwarming to know that the "live fast, die young" spirit is being upheld by Lemmy & Co. - even if they're not exactly young!
In terms of rock'n'roll survival, Lemmy, who is just two years shy of his 60th birthday, is probably Keith Richards' nearest rival. Before forming Motorhead in 1975, he toured with the Rocking Vicars - the first British group to play behind the Iron Curtain - and did a spell as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix. In 1970, the Nazi memorabilia collecting bassist joined space-age warriors Hawkwind, famously singing lead on their anthem 'Silver Machine', and spent five mad years on the road until a drug bust at the Canadian border led to his sacking.
Adam Parsons took over the tour/production management role from FoH Engineer Dave Hilsden two and a half years ago, and is clearly satisfied with life on the road with the notorious hellraisers. "I'd mentioned to Motorhead's previous monitor engineer that I'd love to work with the band, and he gave me several accounts of his life with Lemmy and the boys which served as evidence that I would be crazy to do so! But I did end up being offered the gig by the agent and the thing about this band is that once you're in, you can't get out - the hardest thing for me is probably that I don't drink or take substances!"
The latest album, Hammered, was released in early 2002 and was promoted in Europe by a number of arena dates, such as Wembley, where a major feature was a smaller, remodelled version of the Bomber lighting truss which was first seen on tour in 1979. "The original was stolen from Transam's yard many years ago!" recalled Parsons.
"The arena shows really didn't feel right for the band. They operate a lot better in theatre size venues and this time we are running a fairly conventional production with front and back trusses for Hammersmith, and backdrops made by Hangman who have been involved with the band for many years."
If you are looking for a band to showcase the very latest in entertainment technology, look the other way. Motorhead pride themselves on their 'spit and sawdust' approach to gigging, using tried and tested (some might say antiquated) means of delivering their show.
"There are no moving lights - Lemmy hates them as much as he hates compact PA systems," said Parsons. "He's into traditional Par can rigs and monolithic loudspeaker cabinets, as befits a man who epitomises rock'n'roll values! So we are out once again with the Electrotec A2 PA system from Steve Sunderland's company, Audiolease, and a conventional lighting rig from Bandit Lites, all of which we are very happy with and Lemmy is getting everything he wants.
"Lemmy likes familiarity and prefers that we maintain relationships with our suppliers from tour to tour. Steve, for example, has been supplying their PA in Europe for more than 20 years, and Transam have been handling the band's trucking for even longer. on this tour we have packed everything into one 40ft Megastep, Transam's biggest artic, and one 17.5 tonne vehicle. We're chopping some of the lighting and pre-rig truss down for the European dates, using some of the house lights at each venue, and this will enable us to drop down to one truck after Hammersmith."
HEAVY, HEAVY SOUND
After weathering the dual role of TM/PM and FoH Engineer "for far too long", Dave Hilsden is now happy to be concentrating on life behind the mixer. He has been in control of the band's FoH sound since the Iron Fist tour of 1982, and it came as a huge shock to discover that between tours, he has engineered for Englebert Humperdinck, Elaine Paige and several orchestras. He rates a John Lee Hooker tour as one of his career highlights, and lists a who's who of punk legends (the Pistols, Clash, Damned and more) amongst his late '70s clients. Now that's diversity for you!
Little appears to have affected the band's no-nonsense approach to their blistering live sound over the years. "No, we play a very traditional game and there are no hidden secrets," commented Hilsden. "We're into big stacks and the only diversion from what was previously an analogue signal path, is the fact that we're now using the Klark Teknik Helix digital graphic EQ and BSS omnidrive Compact crossovers.
"I think this rig sounds a lot better than many of the latest PA systems, even though it's well over 10 years old. I use a Heritage 3000 console which is probably the best I've worked on to date. It's very easy to get your hands around, and there's something about the Midas sound which is just right for this band."
The Electrotec system has been powered by Crest 8001, 7001 and 4801 amplifiers, and QSC for the subs, and system configuration has remained stable throughout the tour. The only main exception to the rule was at Hammersmith where they were flying an extra six cabinets per side to cover the balcony.
I asked Hilsden how he keeps a rein on Lemmy's awesome bass sound. "I don't really - how do you control a thing like that?!" he laughed. "The bass is just miked with a single Beta 57, but what I do is feed it to two channels on the desk. The first channel gets EQ'd and then I take a line out of that channel, and feed it to another for further EQing before it's sent to the PA. That way I get to play with eight bands of EQ and it is a great help."
Seeing as the SPL at centre stage reaches a murderous 130dB most of the time, Monitor Engineer Lorenzo Banda is only a few yards from a near-death experience every night on tour! Piloting a Midas XL3, he prepares eight mixes and an extra send to drummer Mikkey Dee's butt thumper. "I send the kick drums and rack toms through the thumper," he said, "and it simply gives Mikkey a better feeling of power which he feeds off big time! I also have a couple of extra output sends that I use for effects, which totals 11 mixes."
It's all very conventional monitoring - the guys out front use 1 x 15" Electrotec wedges and Mickey is surrounded by two sidefill stacks of 2 x 15" and a 2", plus two 1 x 15" with a 2" in the back.
Where mics are concerned, it's an all-Shure choice - including an SM57 for Lemmy, a Beta 58 for Phil Campbell's vocal, 98s on all the rack toms, a 91 on kick, and Beta 57s on guitars and bass.
LITES
This has been Stefan Sjoland's first tour with Motorhead as their LD, after being brought into the fold by Mikkey Dee. It's also his first tour with Bandit Lites and he has literally been blown away by their attention to detail. He said: "Everything from the prep to the tour support has been outstanding. Nigel Julian from Bandit is an excellent tech - he's been solving any problems before I even knew there where any.
"The thing that separates Bandit from other rental firms is the high standards in every aspect of their work. The pre-production where the rig is flown in the shop as a system which takes away that first gig uncertainty."
Controlled from an Avolites Pearl 2000, Sjoland's wholly conventional equipment spec for most of the tour included 18 six-lamp bars accommodating 11 ACL bars and various Pars, eight 2-lite DWEs, two four-lite DWEs, nine ETC Source Fours, five Atomic 3kW strobes and smoke'n'haze from a DF50 and a pair of F-100s. The glowing eyes in the backdrop were care of two Par 64s. This spec was slightly increased for Hammersmith.
The rig, said Sjoland, was initially designed by the band's previous LD Tony Beeton, with Lemmy's views in mind. "He likes the big '70s rock rig. That's another reason why we have no specific downstage truss Pars - just six lights for a front wash, as when Lem is at the mic he is looking skyward and doesn't want to be blinded by a plethora of Par cans."
As a designer, does working without the creative possibilities of moving lights frustrate Sjoland? "For me it's not frustrating at all. Working with a purely generic rig brings it's own creative possibilities. I'm always looking forward to 'overkill' which is the last song of the set. It's a great show closer where I get to let loose with the strobes and ACLs. It's full on, in your face rock'n'roll, which for me is what Motorhead is all about!"
Additional photography
by Mark Cunningham
Motorhead European Tour 2003 - Key Personnel & Suppliers:
- Management: Singerman Entertainment
- Agent: The Agency Group
- Tour Co-ordination/Itineraries/Radios: In Time Touring
- Tour/Production Manager: Adam Parsons
- Road Manager/PA: Freddie Lind
- Production Assistant: Emma Cederblad
- Accountant: Mike Donovan/E.A.I.
- PA: Audiolease
- FoH Sound Engineer: Dave Hilsden
- Monitor Engineer: Lorenzo Banda
- Stage Manager/Guitar Technician: Rogerio De Souza
- Bass Technician: Tim Butcher
- Drum Technician: Vito De Vito
- Lighting: Bandit Lites
- Lighting Designer: Stefan Sjoland
- Lighting Technician: Nigel Julian
- Sound Crew: Jac Turner, Chuck Smith
- Sound/Lighting Technician: Paddy Matthews
- Backdrops: Hangman
- Catering: Sugar & Spice
- Caterers: Matt Hyams, Richard Duncan, Jill Hopwood
- Buses: Beat The Street
- Bus Drivers: Ian Massey, Stuart Horsburgh
- Trucking: Transam
- Truck Drivers: Clive Smith, Pete Jackson
- Merchandiser: Dave Basone
- Travel Agent: ET Travel
- Cargo: Rock-It Cargo