Motorhead, Clutch & Valient Thorr : “The World Is Yours” Tour LIVE!
by Cyndi Jo
Staff Writer
March 11, 2011 at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, CA.
Club Nokia is relatively a new venue. With only 4 young years of existence, it doesn’t have the controversial past that most rock n‘ roll venues like those on the Sunset Strip have. What it does have, it can be credited to host the most dynamic and heaviest tours to date that The Roxy can’t be accounted for.
If, on the evening of March 11th, you weren’t hopping from club to club your ass better have been at the best tour to come across LA this year so far: “The World Is Yours” North American tour with Valient Thorr, Clutch, and the all mighty Motorhead.
As the lights deemed, opener, Valient Thorr, had no problem getting the crowd pumped with their sci-fi themed, British blues metal, and riff-based anthems. Valient Thorr’s lead man, Valient had the crowd very much engaged, which is rare for the usual opener. In this case, many fans proved to feel the energy and dexterity Valient had through songs such as “Double Cross,” “Infinite Lives,” and “Mask Of Sanity.” As Valient took off his shirt the music wasn’t the only thing heavy. It sure turned on fans, though– they started crowd surfing towards him and just made the whole show all that entertaining. Valient Thorr have been around for about a decade, still to many is a band to look forward to seeing again. Unfortunately, their set was only six songs long, and before they began the last song “Sleeper Awakes” they sure reminded the crowd to be excited for the next two bands on the bill.
Next up was Maryland natives, Clutch. Since forming about 21 years ago, Clutch has been a band to not disappoint live. If the crowd was all hyped for the opener, fans were clearly and fiercely awaiting for them. As soon as the opening chords of “La Curandera“ began, there was no hesitation to sing along. Front-man, Neil Fallon was at his best, especially in “Struck Down” and “50,000 Unstoppable Watts.” Fallon’s vigor and stage presence intrigued and connected with the audience as they responded in “The Dragonfly.” The definite highlight of the evening was their rendition of Cream’s “Politician” with Phil Campbell. The unexpected song drove the crowd to their limitless insanity. For those who had never seen Clutch before this set was absolutely gold.
Last to steal the night was the band that mostly everyone waited in line for hours for: Motorhead. It’s rare to see a huge line hours before a show starts these days when it comes to a rock show, but it’s Motorhead, so that is obvious to happen. Quietly positioning themselves behind their instruments, Lemmy, Phil Campbell, and Mikkey Dee, began their set with “We Are Motorhead” as kids moshed on a slippery floor. Keeping their energy levels at a max, the crowd climaxed at “Rock Out,” “Ace of Spades,” and “Overkill.” Since it was the last show of the tour surprises were in stored from left to right. One of those surprises was the appearance of ex-Runaways singer, Cherie Curie. Her vocals joined forces with Kemmy’s son, Paul Inder’s guitar in “Killed By Death.” If the crowd was hyped before that extra bonus took them to nirvana. Motorhead have always delivered the loudest and heaviest of shows and when one goes to see a Motorhead concert, the force these three men deliver, is intense. Not only does Lemmy bring it, but Dee’s drum solo during “In the Name of Tragedy” was so unbelievable that even he has the same power Lemmy contributes to the metal masses.
The bottom line is that even though it’s too early to determine the best tours of 2011, this is clearly a top ten contender, mainly because it’s Motorhead, but all three bands were prolific and consistent. It’d be hard to believe if anyone left disappointed.