Motorhead recently passed through Southern Ontario (Canada) on their current The World Is Yours tour. Stops at Elements Night Club in Kitchener (capacity 1200) and the Kool Haus in Toronto (capacity 2000) were sold out way in advance. The chance to see them at Elements in a smaller venue was something not to be missed. The current tour also features veterans Clutch and relative newcomers Valient Thorr on the bill.

Valient Thorr got things underway to an already packed bar and with their brand of street-wise punk metal, they really put on a great show. Lead by front man Valient Himself, the band gained lots of new fans from this show and were readily available at the bar after their set to share a few drinks with the masses. Clutch was up next and during their 1 hour set, played like the headliners that they should be. Lead by front man Neil Fallon, it was obvious that lots of Clutch fans were in attendance as most of their songs got a great crowd response.

After Lemmy announced to the packed-to-the-doors venue that "We are Motorhead...and we play rock 'n roll", Motorhead ripped into We Are Motorhead followed quickly by a great version of Stay Clean. Four or five songs into the set, guitarist Phil Campbell asked the crowd if it was loud enough? (does this every show) with their soundman proceeding to jack up the volume to almost painful levels. As much as I love Motorhead, I always find myself retreating to the back of the hall or even outside to escape the extreme volume that this band seems hell bent on pummelling concert goers with (ear plugs are a must!). Their set covered lots of classics like Metropolis, Just 'Cos You Got The Power, Going To Brazil, Killed By Death, Ace Of Spades and the obligatory encore of Overkill. It was also great to see The Chase Is Better Than The Catch back in the set list after an absence of many years and it was the first time many of us had ever seen them play that song live. I Know How To Die was the only track from The World Is Yours and those not familiar with their more recent albums would not have recognized the soon to be classics Thousand Names Of God and In The Name Of Tragedy. The last few Motorhead albums had some excellent songs and it was great to see a healthy representation of their more recent material in their live set. Even if most of it wasn't all that familiar to many in attendance, the newer material was well received and fit very well into their set list along side the must-play classics.

The band was as tight as ever and despite the extreme volume, Motorhead keeps delivering one flawless performance after another and show no signs of ever slowing down. Lemmy is 65 now but still puts on the same calibre of performance as he did back in the 80's. A no bullshit band, Motorhead always delivers and if their current tour brings them close to your town/city/district, definitely go see this show. Not only do you get Motorhead but two other excellent bands on the bill as well. They probably could still play the larger venues but it's far better to play to a packed bar rather than a half-full concert hall. That would not be the true Motorhead experience and Lemmy and company wouldn't have it any other way. Well worth the money and well worth your time and effort to get to this show......Lemmy lives on!