Jan. 29 

Motorhead: Who'd have thought this band - forever fronted by singer-songwriter-bassist Lemmy Kilmister - would be around, and so vital, in 2009? Lemmy is always Mr. Motorhead. These days, his mates are guitarist Phil Campbell and drummer Mikkey Dee, though Dee drops off the tour Sept. 8  Believe it or not, he's filming a Swedish version of "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!" in Malaysia. His replacement is ex- G 'n R skin-pounder Matt Sorum, currently serving time with Velvet Revolver. But here at the House of Blues, Sunday Sept. 6, we got Mikky before they droop him in a jungle. Now, fans debate which if Motorhead's many lineups is the best, but, really, what we're talking about is a body of work - punk/heavy metal - that has remained remarkably consistent since 1977. Lemmy, god love him, is 63. I've interviewed him a bunch over the years, and I remember him grumbling something about Motorhead being described as "gorillas in leather jackets." I said, "Oh, yeah, right, that's good." And he said, no, that was the misconception. They play wild, fast, crunching and super-loud rock 'n' roll, but they're not goons. If you listen to "1918," you'll actually here one of the best anti-war ballads this side of Eric Bogle or Billy Bragg.

 debate which if Motorhead's many lineups is the best, but,  really, what we're talking about is a body of work - punk/heavy metal - that has remained remarkably consistent since 1977. Lemmy, god love him, is 63. I've interviewed him a bunch over the years, and I remember him grumbling something about Motorhead being described as "gorillas in leather jackets." I said, "Oh, yeah, right, that's good." And he said, no, that was the misconception. They play wild, fast, crunching and super-loud rock 'n' roll, but they're not goons. If you listen to "1916," you'll actually here one of the best anti-war ballads this side of Eric Bogle or Billy Bragg. But, Motorhead is noted for putting the hammer down and injecting as much melody as they can do into the mix. Lemmy's often downplayed labels and said he was as much a Beatles fan as anything else. And, contrary to what you'd think, getting older in the Motorhead world is not a negative, whereas every other aging metal band tends to look ridiculous. Lemmy looks right where he's supposed to be, straining to reach that microphone on stage, barking out coarse vocals and songs that are to some degree a variation on "Ace of Spades." Here's something most fans probably don't know or care about: Motorhead won a Grammy in 2005 for a cover of Metallica's "Whiplash." Grammys are not why fans young and old flock to Motorhead, which they should be doing Sunday where the band plays - as they have previously - with like-minded souls Nashville Pussy and the Rev. Horton Heat (not a real reverend, we think) at House of Blues. The show starts at 8. Tickets are $29.50 - $35.00

15 Lansdowne St., 617-931-2000 www.livenation.com