Keep The Fans Out Of The Bar Tour: The UK leg of the No Sleep Til Russia Tour ended last night in Wolverhampton. The Girlschool / The Damned / Motorhead billing was excellent, and perhaps in our parallel universe, due to having 3 knockout bands to watch, it might have been called the Keep The Fans Out Of The Bar Tour.
It was a great idea having those 3 bands which the majority of punters were more than willing to pay for a ticket to go and see. In tours past, we've had younger bands whom Motorhead fans had never heard of, so the bars were full, the support bands were pissed off because it seemed as if nobody cared, so everyone lost out - until Motorhead played, of course.
They set-list was similar to previous years, but we enjoyed Dirty Love as the 'new oldie' for the first few shows. It was then ousted in favour of another long-lost never-played-before-live B-side of Cradle To The Grave from the Orgasmatron era. Also added was the Motorhead cover version of Twisted Sister's Shoot Em Down which obviously pleased the band, but as a Motorhead fan I would have preferred a Motorhead track, and Dirty Love would have been my option.
Considering these recessionary times, it seemed to be forgotten as soon as we were inside the venue as the T-shirt stall did brisk business at each show I attended. Most dates were also sold out or very close to being so, and that popularity has been reflected by more people joining the fan club, too.
Now the band are off to Germany for a string of dates, Finland for one, and 2 in Russia, and Motorhead go down a storm in those countries just as much as they do so here.
In February the band start work on the follow-up album to Motorizer, and their 35th Anniversary Tour will be coming to a town close to almost everyone, I'm sure.
Our club fanzine will be going in the post tomorrow, with the latest fan club T-shirt on offer, make sure you order yours before the closing date.