Motorhead were forced to stop last night’s (9/1) show in Austin after just two songs as frontman Lemmy Kilmister continues to battle health problems.
According to Glide Magazine, the band only played three songs — Damage Case, Stay Clean and We Are Motörhead — before a “fatigued and winded” Lemmy announced the next song, Metropolis, and then let out a sigh, telling the crowd, “I can’t do it.” He then left the stage with the rest of the band and returned moments later and apologized to a disappointed but supportive audience. He said, “You are one of the best gigs in America, and I would love to play for you, but I can’t… So please accept my apologies. Next time, all right?”
The group’s two previous concerts, August 27th in Salt Lake City and August 28th in Denver, were cut short and canceled altogether, respectively. Each city’s high altitude presented breathing difficulties for Kilmister, whose health issues in recent years have included a June 2013 hematoma and being fitted for a defibrillator.
Motorhead have released the following statement on their Facebook page:
“As you might have heard, Motörhead again had to abbreviate a performance due to Lemmy not feeling well. This is a DIRECT follow-on from the altitude issues in Colorado, and clearly, Lemmy tried to get back at it too quickly. For this reason, Motörhead will not play in San Antonio tonight, but the show will still go on with Saxon headlining. Lemmy will resume duties the moment he is PROPERLY rested and firing on all cylinders again. The legendary Motörheadbanger patience is much appreciated, and the band send their deepest thanks. More details will be released soon.”
additional source: ultimateclassicrock.com
12 Responses
Still worth it Harry Taint? When Axl Rose is more reliable than Motorhead to take the stage, you know that’s when Lemmy needs to hang it up! I personally don’t care if it’s Lemmy’s desire to die on stage. But for the people that continue to shell out money to see Motorhead, only then to leave disappointed after 3 or 4 songs, it’s a screw job to the fans. You’ll be lucky if promoters refund fans their money, either partially or in full. Eventually promoters are going to stop booking Motorhead due to Lemmy’s unreliability to make it through an entire set, if not even to show up to the gig. Phil and Mikkey need to start looking for other gigs, because the end is very near for Lemmy.
It is absolutely still worth it.
Are these Lemmy’s last days? Hope he recovers soon.
I think he should stop touring and only do festivals and special events, but knowing Lemmy he will stay on the road till his last breath..
I agree with that. Scale it back.
Sounds like it’s time to seriously consider hanging it up, at least performing live, or as Eddie said scale it way back. You often hear people say about things they love doing “I want to do it until I can’t anymore”. Well, it sounds like Lemmy can’t. There’s no shame in that, he’s been at it for a long, long time and it’s no secret he hasn’t exactly been the poster boy for living a healthy lifestyle. I don’t think anybody truly wants to see Lemmy die on stage.
What about the Motorboat cruise scheduled later this month? Think Lemmy’s going to make it through that? Unless you purchased travel insurance, you’ll likely be S-O-L recovering your losses, including airfare.
Lemmy will tour until he drops dead one day and that’s a scary thought. We need him to be around to make our ears ring with new and classic Motorhead music. Dude, Lemmy, TAKE IT EASY! YOU’RE NOT A YOUNG MAN ANYMORE! There’s no shame in Lemmy backing down and putting limits on how much he works. He’s at the age that most people have already been retired and are taking it easy.