Motorhead With Opening Bands Year Long Disaster and Valient Thorr Roseland Ballroom September 20,2008 Written by Joshua Williams Photographed by Amy Davidson Opposite Photo: Lemmy of Motorhead

Motorhead. Enough said, really. If you have not heard of them or the name Lemmy, or one of their songs over the last thirty odd years, then you most likely will not get it anyway. It is not a band you find off a review. You discover them due to the good graces of some scary dude in your neighborhood that puts it on after throwing you a beer and packing one up. Or you found ‘em out at a party full of people with a penchant for Harley Davidson and Tennessee Whisky. Motorhead is rock and roll.

They rolled into Manhattan on a Saturday Night. Waiting in line was a crowd of black, leather and boots. Supporting Lemmy and co. was Year Long Disaster and Valiant Thorr. I met my photographer, and we made our way in and to the bar. The first band we checked out was Year Long Disaster.

Daniel Davies of Year Long Disaster	Year Long Disaster

As many have already noted ad nauseum, front man Daniel Davies is the son of The Kink’s Dave Davies. So there you go, it is now out of the way. Davies is a confident front man, dancing around the stage with his Les Paul while the band churns out some good gritty swampy tinged rock metal. Year Long Disaster basically is an amped-up power trio. Their first album has been out for about a year. I would like to see what their next offering would be.

Valient Thorr


Valient Thorr

Valient Thorr claim to be time traveling aliens. They definitely are cartoonish muppets that landed in a trailer park in somewhere in a bad part of Appalachia, did way too much crystal meth, and then somehow landed on the stage of the Roseland Ballroom, and the proceeded to freak the hell out. They play a chaotic blend of southern fried metal. I found them to be highly entertaining. They brought melodrama like a wrestling event, they did it rocking out, playing like crazed madmen, and they were completely in on it. They are a band that understands how to put out a package.

Triple H of the WWE
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Motorhead

And then it was Motorhead. Speaking of wrestling, they were introduced by Triple H of the WWE. That is all I can tell you. I have not followed wrestling in a seriously long time. You know what to expect at a Motorhead show. That is why you came. They are out supporting the new album “Motorizer”. And it is what they do best. Its black Sabbath stripped down and punked out. It is a good combination, and they have employed it to great success repeatedly. It is why they are still playing. How many bands last three decades? Motorhead endures. Motorhead lives. Motorhead is rock and roll.

Valiant Thorr