![]() And he let us have our photographs taken sitting on Motörhead's iconic stage prop, a huge scaffold Lancaster bomber. ![]() “He allowed us to have a close look in and around the stage area. The teenager was such a frequent visitor to the football ground that he and his friend got to know Motörhead's road manager, Mike Healey. “I was up there virtually every day as the event was being set up, watching the stage being erected and the sound system being built." “Coupled with the that fact I liked every other band on the bill – this was an absolute dream come true. “I was even more thrilled when Ozzy Osbourne, who was setting the world on fire with his new band, was announced as the replacement for Sabbath when they pulled out of the show. “I couldn't believe my luck because it was to take place virtually in my backyard – and at the ground of the team I supported. Speaking to StokeonTrentLive in 2017, Andy, of Everest Road, Whitehill, recalled: “A few months earlier I'd opened my Sounds magazine to see the announcement that Motörhead and Black Sabbath would be headlining the Heavy Metal Holocaust event. “At the soundcheck a guy rang up from four miles away to complain that he couldn't hear his TV."ĭo you remember Stoke-on-Trent's loudest ever gig? Share your memories in the comments hereĪndy Mackay was a 15-year-old 'heavy metal kid' from Bradeley in 1981. “At Port Vale we built the entire stage out of PA (public address system) – I mean everything it was all speakers, to the tune of 117,000 watts. Admittedly, we did like it loud – we couldn't hear it otherwise because we were deaf. Writing in his autobiography, White Line Fever, Lemmy, who died in 2015, wrote of the Burslem gig: “That was probably our loudest show ever, and by then we'd already earned a reputation for the sheer volume of our gigs. Ozzy Osbourne, Sabbath's original lead singer, stepped in to fill the gap left by his former band.Īlso on the bill were Vardis, Riot, Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush, and Triumph.īut despite a scare when one of a team of skydivers missed the drop zone and touched down outside the stadium, the gig was such a success that even the police congratulated the fans on their behaviour. ![]() Nearby residents who objected to the concert sought an injunction to prevent it happening.īut, at the eleventh hour, the event's promoters stepped in by providing a free day-trip to Blackpool – on the same day as the gig – for the concerned residents.īlack Sabbath were originally scheduled to top the bill alongside Motörhead, but they cancelled due to 'recording commitments' just weeks before the concert. Yet the gig, held on August 1, almost didn't take place. ![]() There was a keen sense of anticipation over the long-awaited return of Lemmy, the lead vocalist, bassist, principal songwriter and founding member of Motörhead, as well as a former member of Hawkwind. He later moved to Newcastle and Madeley as a child, before heading to Wales at the age of 10. It was a homecoming for Lemmy, who was born Ian Fraser Kilmister in the Mother Town on Christmas Eve, 1945. Rockers from across Britain and Europe descended on the Mother Town after getting sought after tickets to see Lemmy, the charismatic Potteries-born frontman of Motörhead. It's a day in Stoke-on-Trent's history that will live long in the memories of those who were lucky enough to be there.Įxactly 40 years ago today, in the summer of 1981, the Heavy Metal Holocaust festival was taking place at Vale Park in Burslem, the home of Port Vale.
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