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Mot枚rhead defy the usual laws of rock longevity by releasing a new album "Kiss Of Death" which is as raw and energetic as anything they've ever done and embarking on an 18-date UK tour.

I'm now full of regret that I missed most of the first support act - the all-girl Swedish rockers CRUCIFIED BARBARA.听 A whirlwind of long-blonde hair and leather - they have to be the best-looking band in rock history and they're certainly more worthy of the name "girls aloud" than the British 5-piece.听 One can only dream of another "Headgirl"-style collaboration that propelled Mot枚rhead and Girlschool into the charts in the early 1980s.

Crucified Barbara

Next up were CLUTCH who changed the speed of the show with a more subtle blues-grungey sound which, while not setting the hall alight, suggested it needed further investigation on record.听

Needless to say the volume increased considerably as MOT脰RHEAD opened their set with "Iron Fist", "Stay Clean" and the great riff of "Be My Baby" from the new album which in a just world would propel them back into the singles chart.

Clutch

They threw a few surprises into the set as well - bashing out Thin Lizzy's "Rosalie" and also going unplugged for one song with drummer Mikkey Dee on guitar, Phil Campbell on acoustic guitar and Lemmy on mouth organ.听 And in a nod to their own history they played "I Got Mine" from the much-maligned Brian Robertson album "Another Perfect Day."

Lemmy's prescence and sense of humour is still intact - when he suggested we sing along he said "If you want to - it doesn't matter to us. We can't hear you anyway!"

They signed off with both "Ace Of Spades" and "Overkill" which reminds you why they're a legendary hard rock band that can still attract youngsters to the Regent.听 They should definitely keep going forever.

Phil Campbell interview

I managed to have a chat with guitarist Phil Campbell at Zest nightclub in Ipswich after the show:

Q. Nearly 23 years in Mot枚rhead now - how's the journey been?

Lemmy Kilmister

A. Eventful, fun, boring at times .. but mostly fun.听 We're having a good time of it commercially at the moment with things like the Spongebob Squarepants movie soundtrack and the World Wrestling Entertainment album. Our music's for everyone regardless of age group, race or religion.听 We write our songs for us three - not the fans.听 You've got to keep it pure and if you bring in other people it loses it's purity. Even if no-one bought the albums I think we'd still do it.听 So we're busier than ever and it's great.

Q. Do you think the Mot枚rhead sound will ever change drastically?

A. It probably will, but just on a couple of tracks.听 We'll have violins or piano - we're capable of anything and we could have the sound of a washing machine!听 We do what we do and it'll still be Motorhead.听 Live we did the acoustic song from the Inferno album.听 We did it on the last tour because we thought it would be a shock with Mikkey coming out to play guitar and it's been going down well.听 It gives everyone's ears a break, y'know!

Q.听 You played Thin Lizzy/Bob Seger's "Rosalie" tonight...

Crucified Barbara's Ida Evileye

A.听 It wasn't anything to do with it being the 20th anniversary of Phil Lynott's death.听 Although to my knowledge the last time he appeared on stage was at our 10th anniversary gig.听 I dragged him on for "Motorhead" - he didn't know the song very well but he played bass.听 Recently we'd been playing "Rosalie" at soundchecks and Brian Downey [Lizzy drummer] had been due to join us onstage in Dublin.听 He didn't make it in the end, but we decided to put it in the set anyway.听 It's fun to play.听 We're at the stage where we can do what we want and there are no rules anyway.听 We do what keeps us sane听 - or insane!

Q.听 And how's your hearing after two decades?

A.听 Oh, that's very kind of you I'll have a bottle of champagne.听 No, it's not that good.听 I should have worn ear-plugs all those years ago.听 I've lost all my top-end - if Hissing Sid was going to come up and bite me on the arse, I probably wouldn't hear him.

Phil Campbell & Lemmy

Q.听 What have you made of the implosion of The Darkness this year?

A. I do have Dan [Hawkins] number, so I'll have to give him a ring and find out what's really happened.听 Perhaps Justin just needs a break for a while.听 They're good at what they do and they're a lot of fun.听 We did a festival with them last year - maybe in six months he'll want to play again.听 You really can't tell if they'd have broken big in America.听 You get the right review in the right paper ... who knows?

Q.听 When you joined Motorhead in 1984 it was at a low-point commercially and it could have gone either way ...

A.听 Yes, but the first four songs we wrote including "Killed By Death" and "Snaggletooth" were good ones and we always keep "Killed..." in the set.听

Q. What's next for the band?听 Is it just carrying on doing what you do?

A.听 Well, we won a Grammy last year for God's sake! Quite unbelievable for us, so we're just enjoying going round the world playing and making albums and when we've got time we try and fit in other stuff, but it's great to just do it.

Q.听 Do you think you could have a hit single from the latest album ("Be My Baby" springs to mind)?

A. We have no hopes.听 All we know is that the "Kiss Of Death" album's been selling a lot faster than other recent ones and the tour's going well.听 We can certainly manage another three to five years!