Saturday 22/11/08 Motorhead, Saxon @ Hammersmith Apollo, London

A strong national pride oozes from the Hammersmith Apollo tonight, with the legendary Saxon taking to stage beneath a giant St. George’s cross.  And seconds into the gig, infamous lead singer Biff adorns another flag during a rambunctious ‘Let Me Feel Your Power’. Anyone would be forgiven for thinking these chaps were recently exposed on a certain leaked political party member list. But in truth, this patriotism is exactly what makes great British metal – a sense of unmistakable identity and style.

Songs such as new single ‘Live to Rock’ and Saxon classic ‘Wheels of Steel’ were created some 30 years apart – but they still resonate exactly the same way with tonight’s adoring audience: loud, fast and hard. They are not ‘now’, and certainly not ‘trendy’ but as tonight’s head banging, screeching powerful performance showed, there is still a place for the Spinal Tap-esque rock antics of Saxon in  the heart of British metal.

And as their yearly UK sell-out tour shows, Motorhead are still metal royalty. Clasping his notorious Rickenbacker bass, Lemmy still commands his motley fans with supreme rock authority, soliciting roars of pure rawk admiration with every growl. ‘Rock Out (With Your Cock Out)’ from new album Motorizer sounds particularly fresh tonight, with other (relatively) newie ‘In the Name of Tragedy’ also kicking ass tonight - the band even sneak in drummer Mikkey’s normal drum solo during the latter (a treat normally reserved for classic ‘Sacrifice’ – change is as good as a holiday after all).

Tonight’s real treats for the hardened Motorhead fan are the songs from 1983’s Another Perfect Day album, including the single of the same name. Slammed at the time for being too melodic and not heavy enough, (Lemmy – “You hated it then, let’s see how you like it now!”) the tracks sound perfect this evening, and fit quite comfortably alongside the more intensely metal numbers in the set.

Over the last few years, the ‘Head have mellowed somewhat, sneaking an acoustic (blagh) number into their encore - ‘Whorehouse Blues’ from 2004’s Inferno album. Same is true tonight, although the truly deafening volume of the 10+ tracks beforehand mean that by the time Phil and Mikkey pick up their unplugged axes, this reviewer can hear little more than a buzz and a twang – always good to see Lemmy wheeze through a harmonica solo though.

Other stand-out moments include former guitarist Wurzel making a cameo appearance during the mandatory ‘Ace of Spades’, a killer rendition of ‘Just Coz You Got the Power’, and something should be said about Lemmy’s excellent cowboy hat. All in all, tonight’s capacity crowd seem more than satisfied with Kilmister and crew, a true testament to the timelessness of good ol’ balls-to-the-wall rock. See you next year chaps!

The show in pictures: