Did anyone here ever meet Lemmy Kilmister?

[ZBirdV8]

He is my all-time favorite musician, and I never got to meet him, nor did I get to see Motorhead live.
However, I have listened to ever Motorhead album and watched every interview/documentary I can find. The dude just oozed coolness, and was incredibly grounded, honest, and inspirational.
So did anyone here see Motorhead live or meet ol Lem down at the Rainbow? Tell me tales.

 

[jackn1202]

@Killed_by_Death ? I know he's fond of the guy at least, he might enjoy this thread.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I moved to L.A. the same year he did, so yes.

At the time the Sunset Strip was still happening & I was up there almost every night.

 

[progmanjum]

I was 15-16 yrs. old looking thru t-shirts at The Great House of Guitars in Rochester, NY, look up and the person next to me is Lemmy. I didn't say anything because I wasn't really a fan of Motorhead (didn't know Hawkwind back then) and I was a little frightened.

 

[ZBirdV8]

I moved to L.A. the same year he did, so yes.

At the time the Sunset Strip was still happening & I was up there almost every night.

Tell me tales?

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Before he settled down to being at the Rainbow most of the time he would make appearances around town.
Riki Rachtman's club, which was like something from a movie.

I'm pretty sure the first time I met him was in what is now The Viper room. He was there to promote their latest album & complained that the DJ played it with the bass up as if it were supposed to be dance music.
He also asked me to shut-up while the MH song was playing. His son, Paul, mentioned at his funeral that he wasn't for allowing folks to talk over music.

That particular time he bought our double-date crew all a round of drinks, even the Goth gals we had with us were impressed to meet him.

I did ask him to sign a MH CD for me once & almost 20 years later I auctioned it for charity at the same event where Jimmy Page auctioned a guitar (in Pattaya, Thailand).

I'm not sure if it was before he started saying it at their shows or not, but when I asked if MH was more Heavy Metal or Punk:

"We are Motörhead, & we play Rock & Roll!"

My friend was totally into Punk & I was more of a Metalhead, so we had the debate before I even approached him at the bar
I sheepishly asked if he's not Lemmy.

"How could you not recognize my ugly face?!"

We were just surprised to see him there, since he'd probably just moved there, same as us.

BTW, there's a Motörhead War Pig embossed onto the sidewalk in front of the Rainbow & also a brick in their front wall with their logo on it.
That wall is sort of like the poor man's Rock Walk of Fame, many band logos on it.

If you go, make sure to check out the photos on the walls of the former patrons. Belushi, Jim Morrison, et al.

 

[S-Bigbottom]

@Son of Wobble Wrote something once.

 

[eb3mike]

Youtube. Dave Grohl at Lemmy's funeral . Will not let me post here for some reason.

 

[DrayMiles]

I did briefly... He was shorter than I thought but he was hilarious...

 

[Deleted member 165050]

I did, after an '80s Donnington festival... we happened to be staying in the same hotel, I wandered into the bar in the small hours to find Lemmy sitting alone, and became one of the many people he shared a few hours' drinking with. I seem to recall him telling more than a few fairly dreadful jokes

 

[ZBirdV8]

Before he settled down to being at the Rainbow most of the time he would make appearances around town.
Riki Rachtman's club, which was like something from a movie.

I'm pretty sure the first time I met him was in what is now The Viper room. He was there to promote their latest album & complained that the DJ played it with the bass up as if it were supposed to be dance music.
He also asked me to shut-up while the MH song was playing. His son, Paul, mentioned at his funeral that he wasn't for allowing folks to talk over music.

That particular time he bought our double-date crew all a round of drinks, even the Goth gals we had with us were impressed to meet him.

I did ask him to sign a MH CD for me once & almost 20 years later I auctioned it for charity at the same event where Jimmy Page auctioned a guitar (in Pattaya, Thailand).

I'm not sure if it was before he started saying it at their shows or not, but when I asked if MH was more Heavy Metal or Punk:

"We are Motörhead, & we play Rock & Roll!"

My friend was totally into Punk & I was more of a Metalhead, so we had the debate before I even approached him at the bar
I sheepishly asked if he's not Lemmy.

"How could you not recognize my ugly face?!"

We were just surprised to see him there, since he'd probably just moved there, same as us.

BTW, there's a Motörhead War Pig embossed onto the sidewalk in front of the Rainbow & also a brick in their front wall with their logo on it.
That wall is sort of like the poor man's Rock Walk of Fame, many band logos on it.

If you go, make sure to check out the photos on the walls of the former patrons. Belushi, Jim Morrison, et al.

View attachment 3251887
View attachment 3251888

Thanks man. I haven't got to go but my wife went last year and she bought me a Lemmy's Lounge shirt and said she had the spicy chicken (his favorite) and saw the big statue.

 

[Davey28]

Never met him but did see Motorhead at Harpo's in Detroit in the 80's.

 

[TNCreature]

When I lived in NYC my band played at the Limelight. It was a big Rock For Choice benefit show with many special guests on stage.
After the show a very drunk Lemmy teeters into the dressing room. He stops in front of me and looks me in the eyes. I said, "hello Lemmy!". He pointed his finger at me, squinted one eye, and it seemed to last forever. Finally he said, "You were F...'ng great. Now where's the pisser?" And stumbled away. One of the happiest moments of my life!

 

[ElectroVibe]

I remember after he died I heard someone talk about how impressed he was by the amount of alcohol Lemmy would drink. I'm still not sure what the point of that observation was.
I remember seeing them performing "Ace of Spades" on the Young Ones TV show on MTV.

 

[Ghook]

I never met him but saw Motorhead and was blown away. I took my daughter and her friend ( they were too young to drive, shes 40 now) to a GnR, Metallica, Motorhead concert in Pasadena. GnR sucked, Axl was having tantrums, Metallica was good, Hetfield had injured his hand and had another guitarist on stage, but apparently you could tell. This was my kids affair, I was a big Stevie Ray Vaughn fan. But when Motorhead came onstage that night they "owned" it. As far as I was concerned, GnR and Metallica were Motorheads opening acts.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I mentioned Riki Rachtman's club earlier & thought about this thread when I saw Riki post that he's back in L.A. right now.

<edited out, for curse words
You can find the post on Riki's FB wall>

Maybe Lemmy spent more time at Riki's place than I realized. Riki has an angel ornament of Lemmy & keeps a signed photo of he & Lemmy on his mantle:

 

[ZBirdV8]

This stuff is endlessly cool to me.

 

[S-Bigbottom]

@Son of Wobble Wrote something once.

with eyes closed.

I ask again, Jah Wobble Jr. you got something to add?

Or are you ignoring me like how the event that the OP hopes you will post about took place in my backyard yet I was not invited?
Again.


I can't stay mad at you...
I LOVE YOU MAN!
Whatever I did wrong, I can change.

 

[Son of Wobble]

I ask again, Jah Wobble Jr. you got something to add?

Or are you ignoring me like how the event that the OP hopes you will post about took place in my backyard yet I was not invited?
Again.


I can't stay mad at you...
I LOVE YOU MAN!
Whatever I did wrong, I can change.

I love you too! Even though it causes me much internal turmoil (cf., Brokeback Mountain).

I'm still bummed about Lemmy's death, as he was one of two apparently bulletproof men I met in my lifetime. The other was outsized explorer and adventurer Douchan Gersi (RIP), who once saved me from a deserved pasting. If these so-called Teflon Men ultimately can't live up to their billing, then what chance for we mere mortals?

My profane Lemmy story can be found by following the link at the bottom (spoiler alert: strongest narcotic I ever ingested).

I'll play you out with a track my band made sampling a rant Lemmy offered my camera for the documentary "Ghost on The Highway: A Portrait of Jeffrey Lee Pierce and The Gun Club" (free on Youtube with no refunds). Although recorded late in his life, the sample displays that Lemmy retained to the end his disgust for conformists, bean-counters, money men. He saw the role of the artist as Puckish, a calling meant to challenge and subvert norms and societal controls. But at core he was a sweet, caring and very sensitive guy. Which is why his friends such as Dave Grohl were so genuinely gutted and emotionally distraught when he died. "any mans death diminishes me," aye. But Lem's especially so.

 

[monsterthompson]

I had a drink with him about 9 years ago. I got to ask him a few questions, and hear a few stories. He made a few subtly bitter comments about the music industry, indicating he'd been on the bad end of some financial transactions. I asked him how he kept the inspiration to write angry music for all these years. He said to look at the world around us, and there was plenty of inspiration to be angry.

Overall, he was a nice guy. I'm glad I got to meet him for that brief moment.