In the almost 24 hours since the death of Lemmy Kilmister—rock'n'roll warthog, heavy-metal deity, streetwalking pirate, Nazi fetishist—friends and fans have taken to telling tales of the legendary Motörhead frontman. Expectedly, many involve drugs, drinks and groupies. But according to a post on Ground Kontrol's Instagram page, his thirst for whiskey and women was equaled by only one thing: his love for the game Tempest.
One fall night in 2009, before Motörhead played the Roseland Theater a few blocks away, Lemmy apparently ambled into the Old Town arcade and proceeded to put up the second- and third-highest scores on the old-school Atari machine. Then he put everyone on the guest list.
Apparently, Lemmy died as he lived: According to a letter on Motörhead's Facebook page confirming his sudden death at age 70 from an aggressive form of cancer, Kilmister passed while playing a video card game he procured from his favorite bar, the infamous Rainbow in Hollywood.
I can't recall why, but I missed that Roseland show, and thus my only opportunity to see Motörhead live. Earlier that year, however, I did get a chance to see Lemmy play '50s rock covers with his side project, the Head Cat, at Dante's. Here's my review of that show, along with a couple photos. Godspeed, Lem. May you dominate the great Tempest machine in the sky.
Willamette Week