By Andrew Bansal
August 25th 2015, City Hall, Los Angeles CA: For a band with no members originating from the city, rock ‘n roll veterans Motörhead have established as much of a connection with Los Angeles as any hometown band. Fittingly, on their 40th anniversary this year, the Los Angeles City Council decided to honor the band in recognition of their achievements, in a brief ceremony held at the City Council Chambers in the Los Angeles City Hall on Wednesday August 26th 2015.
A small gathering of about 30 Motörhead worshippers and diehards lined up outside the Council Chambers starting as early as 8 AM. Doors opened promptly at 10, and some other items preceded Motörhead on the agenda, during which the metalheads maintained a pleasantly surprising degree of discipline and decorum. Shortly after, all three members of Motörhead appeared, taking time out specially for this ceremony even in the midst of their ongoing 40th anniversary US tour. Lemmy Kilmister, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee took a seat in the front row, and were soon called upon, as the excitement inside this room reached levels these government officials probably have never experienced before.
The president of the council said Motörhead were “clearly the headline act” of the day’s session, called this event “the only thing that could ever make the council chambers a cool place to be in”, and remarked that ‘this is the quietest Motörhead fans have ever been”. The mayor of Montebello, clearly a Motörhead fan, gave a heartfelt introductory speech about the band and invited all three members to say a few words. “None of us are from Los Angeles, so this is a very special and unexpected honor”, said Lemmy, and his band mates echoed the sentiment. Facing the council and not the audience, this was perhaps the first and only time Motörhead have made a public appearance with their backs to the fans, but once they were handed a resolution award on behalf of the city and mayor of Los Angeles, they turned around to thank the fans and let them take photos, after which they did a brief round of press and departed swiftly.
It is not everyday that you go to your local city hall and get to witness a rock ‘n roll band receive an honor largely unheard of in this genre, and for that, every single fan was grateful to be in attendance. On top of everything they have done, not only entertaining countless fans all over the world with their music and influencing several generations that came after them, Motörhead have now transcended their relevance beyond our community by being deemed honorworthy Angelinos, and will continue to do our city proud for all eternity. All in all, a special event for a legendary band.