Motorhead was forced to cut their appearance at the Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany after lead singer and bassist Lemmy appeared to be unable to continue.
The band had played six songs and were only 30 minutes into their scheduled 75 minute show when Lemmy reportedly couldn’t go on. According to reports, he didn’t look or play well during the shortened set and there were extended breaks between each of the songs. After the song Over the Top, Phil Campbell played an extended guitar solo while Lemmy left the stage and he didn’t return for a number of minutes after the song ended. He finally returned for The Chase is Better Than the Catch which ended up being the final song of the set.
A couple of months ago, Kilmister had an implantable cardiovascular-defibrillator put into his chest and, in late June, it was announced that he had a hematoma (blood clot), forcing the band to cancel the balance of their summer tour. That included, at the time, all six of their summer festivals which included Wacken. On July 29, they suddenly announced that “In the face of cancelation reports and other gossip, Motörhead is delighted to announce it will headline Germany’s Wacken Festival (the biggest metal fest in the world) for 85,000 fans on Friday August 2nd. The band look forward to comprehensively kicking everyone’s ass, just as they always do.”
Motorhead’s shortened set:
I Know How to Die (from The World is Yours, 2010)
Damage Case (from Damage Case, 1979)
Stay Clean (from Damage Case, 1979)
Metropolis (from Damage Case, 1979)
Over the Top (b-side of Motorhead single, 1977)
The Chase is Better Than the Catch (from Ace of Spades, 1980)
The band’s next scheduled show is November 7 in Zurich, Switzerland.
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