POP MUSIC REVIEW : Motorhead Still the Ultimate in Heavy Metal

With a demure curtsy, Motorhead mainstay Lemmy Kilmister accepted the crowd’s well wishes from the Whisky stage on Thursday as he celebrated his 50th birthday and the seminal band’s 20th anniversary with grace . . . in his own heavy-metal fashion.

“It’s not my fault,” he barked of reaching the landmarks. “I didn’t ask for it.”

He apparently didn’t expect to make it this far--a not uncommon opinion regarding the gnarled, notorious fast-liver. But he’s not slowing down to mark the occasion. Thursday, even powerhouse Metallica couldn’t keep up.

Making an unadvertised appearance as the Lemmys, complete with Lemmy-like long, dark wigs, black togs and mutton-chops ‘n’ mustaches facial hair, Metallica offered a half-hour set of Motormania to the delight of the packed house, including such celebs as Tom Arnold and Mike Piazza.

But ain’t nothin’ like the real thing, and Motorhead’s after-midnight set left no doubt about who’s the real-est. The secret of this band’s survival--and relevance--through metal’s myriad mutations is its unmatched purity. The trio, founded by ex-Hawkwind bassist Kilmister in London and also now including longtime guitarist Phil Campbell and more recent dynamo drummer Micky D., is to metal what hydrogen is to the elements, the most basic and essential manifestation of the form.

It’s no better expressed than in the band’s opening number Thursday, “Ace of Spades,” a 1984 song that still ranks as the best pure-metal song ever written, with its speed-riff rush and frills-free aggression. Such other highlights as “Killed by Death” and “Born to Raise Hell” merely offer slight variations on the formula. And we can only hope it sounds the same in another 20 years.