Four Dumfries bands will come together to pay tribute to the legendary Motörhead founder Lemmy Kilmister who passed away at the end of 2015.
The Uzis, on this occasion renamed, The MotörUzis, The Zeebos, The Stefan and Chasin the Train will each take to The Venue stage to play sets that will contain works from Kilmisters long and varied career on a night that will benefit Macmillan Cancer Support and Diabetes Scotland.
While not strictly a charity event, it was felt a night like this, which is to celebrate the life of a man who has influenced band members on the bill and countless more besides, should also be used to play a little part in helping the work that these charities do.
Given that Lemmy lived with diabetes for many years and that he was diagnosed with cancer just before he died, it seems fitting to split the admission donations, which will be made in his name, to charities that reflect that.
The Uzis, who will play the classic No Sleep ‘Till Hammersmith album in full said “the influence of Lemmy Kilmister cannot be overstated, he came up the old fashioned hard way and even through all of his health issues towards the end still powered through shows. Still doing it at 69 years old he also showed that you are only too old for rock n roll if you think you are. So to be able to pay tribute along side bands whose members go back so many years is something we’re very much looking forward to.
Local favourites, The Zeebos, will make a welcome return to The Venue stage and vocalist Scott Burns added, “We’re glad we can lend our support to these two charities, we will be playing some rocking Lemmy songs and maybe a few other surprise covers! Looking forward to rocking out and raising some money for these two amazing causes.”
In a career that spanned 50 years from The Rockin’ Vickers all the way through to Motörhead, Lemmy never compromised and his attitude to life and his fans has made the desire to pay tribute a strong one for the bands as stated by The Stefan frontman Andy Macmillan; “The Stefan can’t wait for this gig, It’s going to be an awesome celebration of a legend and all in aid of some brilliant causes. Bring it on!”
Peter Jamieson, bassist with Chasin’ The Train, “Lemmy is one of those larger-than-life players – like Keith Richards – who always seem to have been here, so his death is doubly sad. We respect the fact that he knew what he wanted to do and stuck to his vision when it was deemed unfashionable. To say that his music and style will continue is stating the obvious – there are so many bands that cite him as an influence.”
He had the self-deprecating humour common to many musicians, and said of Motörhead that, “We were a blues band, really. Although we played it at a thousand miles an hour, it was recognizable as blues – at least to us it was; probably it wasn’t to anybody else.”
No Sleep ‘Till The Venue: A Tribute to Lemmy Kilmister, will be held at The Venue, Dumfries on March 4th. Doors at 7pm with entry by a minimum donation of £4, all money donated to Macmillan Cancer Support and Diabetes
