I got to DK Gorbunova (it's also unofficially called as Gorbushka or Gorb) about 12:00.

The first persons I met there were Ed Ratnikov and Hobbs — so the truck was already near the venue. Some serious amount of Russian dudes who were going to help with installing the gear was there, too.

Leo, Mat and Mike.

I brought a few bottles of our vodka and presented a bottle to Tony and the other one to Leo and Mat. It wasn't our best vodka, but good vodka, hopefully it didn't give the guys a strong hangover. Leo and Mat presented me a cool pocket flashlight — a necessary thing for any tech! What excellent dudes they are, that was very thoughtful of 'em. Mat and Leo, 'emselves, are like real brothers, they were even joking that they are twins.

Hobbs & Co taking a look around.

The crew leading by Hobbs were examining the venue for some time and then the work began. I was about to join the guys who were getting the stuff out of the truck, but suddenly I was told by Ed Ratnikov that he got a personal task for me. Ed said that the Motorhead drivers wanted to visit the Red Square and I should get a car to get em there.

So I headed to the Motorhead buses and met the guys, there were 4 of em. They told me that they wanna buy some Russian fur hats and visit the Red Square. We left Gorb and went to get a car.

I halted one, and 5 passengers, including me, packed in it. So the car got 6 big dudes, counting the driver, inside. It was really cramped but it was OK. V tesnote, da ne v obide. This Russian saying that means 'in the narrowness, but not in complaint' perfectly described our situation.

First of all I told the driver to get us to some special kind of souvenir market, izmailovsky vernisazh, because the guys wanted to buy some Russian fur hats, as I mentioned above, and that market was the best place to buy the desired stuff. We arrived and started to check out the market. The Motorhead drivers bought some serious amount of hats (some of em were meant for their friends in England I suppose) and other Russian souvenirs like matrioshka and stuff. The guys immediately wore the hats they just bought, and the Russian hats were fitting their new owners so damn fine, and I thought, "Holy Moly, if I didn't know these Englishmen and saw em for the first time, then I'd never doubt that they are Russians!"

The Red Square. Mike and the guys.

Afterwards we returned to the waiting car and drove to the Red square. The dudes started to photograph everything all over the place, seemed they were impressed. We also checked out the GUM moll, but that shopping center is motherfucking expensive even for English people. So we said fuck it and left the GUM.

By that moment I started to feel pretty fucked up, because the only clothes I had on me were a shirt and a thin leather whereas the weather was too cold. When I left home, I didn't suppose being outside for such a long time. I thought I'll be working in the venue, helping the crew to drag and setup the equipment.

The drivers probably noticed that I started looking sour and didn't insist on longer staying on the Red square despite there probably were more things they'd have liked to see. So we returned to the venue and then an episode followed that touched me a lot. The driver Dave and the guys gave me a bundle of roubles, they said I deserved it for my time and my being good to 'em. I tried to refuse saying that I did what I had to do, that I did my duty, that I don't deserve such a serious amount of money they are giving me. But they insisted on taking the money. (Hopefully I didn't "take the blame" afterwards.)

I wasn't touched. I was DEEPLY touched.

When we entered the venue, almost all the gear was already installed.

In the kitchen. Dave, Mikkey Dee.

After some time, I got out a bottle of finest Russian vodka, Crystal black label. It was originally meant for Mikkey Dee. But I already told about the way I felt, and I presented the bottle to Dave.

Lunch in the kitchen followed, Mikkey and Phil appeared by that moment.

"Gonna be a rock'n'roll singer!"

Time was running slowly, in order to kill it I was filming the backstage and preparations that were way too interesting.

Lemmy and Tim Butcher.

Finally, the time of the soundcheck came, and I got more lovely things to film — Mikkey's drumming and then Phil's jamming when he came to the stage. That kicked ass. "And when will Lemmy show up?", I was thinking. I had Phil in the objective and decided to move it to catch the opposite end of the stage and get the common view. And then I did that, the objective found Lemmy smoking a cigarette! He was there! Lem appeared so sneaky, I didn't even notice how he got in.

Uncle Lemmy took his legendary Rickenbacker, inserted the cigarette between the strings and rock'n'roll started. Shoot You In The Back, Overnight Sensation and No Class followed. It was around 1,5 hours before the show, but even the mighty Motorhead soundcheck kicked my ass enough.

Lemmy: "He's ok, gave me an admiral hat!"

When the soundcheck was finished, I roamed and filmed around a bit, then my Motorhead CDs were gotten out and I went to sign them. When Lemmy was signing my Motorhead disks, I said that Lemmy, Slim Jim and Danny B release was brilliant and asked if he's planning the next solo album. Lem got surprised a bit because I said I liked a lot his solo release, he probably thought that my generation doesn't accept his old rock'n'roll covers — but yes, we adore cool Lemmy's work. (I used to listen to a lot of Beatles and Elvis before getting into Motorhead.)

Lemmy said yes, he thinks about the next solo release that's supposed to come out soon. He also said that some Gene Vincent covers are gonna be on it. After taking a couple of pictures with Lemmy, I left the dressing room.

Phil and Mike.

It seemed that the band will hit the stage in several minutes, the atmosphere was very electrified. So I took the camera, prepared to film and took a position in the press pit.

The full pit.

Despite motherfuckingly expensive tickets, Gorbushka was fully packed. Motorhead didn't have any opening band, and that was good because opening bands usually suck. So the crowd was roaring: "Mo-tor-head!!! Mo-tor-head!!!" Screams like "Lemmy, come out!" were being heard.

But there was still nobody on the stage, and the audience was boiling, screaming for a rock'n'roll bite.

Finally, when the audience was about to go mad and blow up, Motorhead appeared, Lemmy threw out a cigarette butt and hoarsed "Good evening, Moskva! We are Motorhead, and we are gonna kick your ass!!!" The elastic bass riff of We Are Motorhead cut the air, and it all started!

The avalanche of sound kicks started falling on our asses and heads. The trio fired 3 shells — We Are 'Head, Bomber and No Class, and I turned off the camera (as in St.P, we were not allowed to film more than 3 first songs), left the press pit and got to the backstage.

Once again, I was watching the show standing behind the desk with Leo and Mat. And again, I ain't gonna describe the gig itself because that was done fine in the Part I written by Artyom.

The time passed even faster than in St. P — I felt that it were just 5 mins — and the band already finished Overkill. The show's over...

Mike after the gig.

Afterwards I met Artyom and a couple of other buds of mine who were in the pit. They were a bit contused and deaf but seemed happy. So was I. The work began — we started to remove the gear. It took several hours, but it was much faster than in St. P. It also left me some time to chat with the roadies. Brian (the lights tech) got me a used set of Lemmy's strings. It was a brilliant present for me, a real treasure. An excellent present from an excellent guy. I'm gonna be showing show these strings, these memories to my kids... (As soon as I get married and produce em, ha-ha!)

I was asked if I wanna become a Motorhead roadie, I'd definitely like to be the one... but I live in Russia, not England or the US. "Too bad, no magic, I'm afraid it's really tragic!"

Mike and Jack. This girl's a roadie. A real iron lady!

When almost all Motorhead artillery got packed to the track, me and Artyom started to leave. We said good bye to the roadies... We chatted with em, took some photos, and then time came to say 'good bye'. It was pretty bitter — your new friends are leaving, and you could not go with em. I could not go to Minsk where Motorhead had their next gig. Well, that's life... Til the next time, guys!

We left Gorbushka and went to the subway. It was like 0:30. We were kinda hammered by ton of the new impressions we just got these 3 days, but that was it — one more rock'n'roll chapter in our lives was finished.

And my report is about to get finished, too, but before it ends, I have to say following words that must be said.

Everybody knows the musicians, everybody knows the band, but not so many people know about the roadies and their humble but extremely important work. Well, Tim Butcher and Hobbs are known, they are most famous members of the glorious Motorhead crew. And what about the rest? The crew is like a part of iceberg that can't be seen whereas the band is like a top of iceberg.

Motorhead always tours. Motorhead's always on the road. And often every day has its another show in a different place. 'Another town, another place, another girl, another face, another track, another race'. It always takes plenty of time and efforts to setup all the mighty Motorhead gear on stage, and then to remove it after gig. Damned, bloody work. And sometimes the crew does it every day, They told me it doesn't give 'em good money. It's a real labour of love! It's a real way of life! Glory to the humble workers of Motorhead! They share responsibility for Motorhead's being loudest and fastest band in the world!

Artyom always says there's a real brotherhood among Motorfans. Generally that's right. And as for the Motorhead crew, it's a big family, a real big family working for Motorhead. And we felt this atmosphere. Artyom's seen the band several times, but for me it was the very first occasion to get a backstage pass and meet the band and the crew personally. I felt like I got into a big friendly family, they were treating me so damn nice, whereas they haven't even seen me before! Yeah, right. One family united under a motto WE ARE MOTORHEAD.

Motorhead always treat their fans alright. And that's the basic reason why we love Motorhead. They are definitely not like those arrogant assholes with 'We are stars, so fuck off' attitude. Yes, they are stars, but they are not assholes. It's an amazing feeling to chat with your gods whereas they don't consider you as a regular fan, but treat you as a good friend.

I realized one thing and I'm sure nobody denies it. MOTORHEAD IS THE BEST BAND IN THE WORLD, IT HAS THE BEST CREW IN THE WORLD AND THE BEST FANS IN THE WORLD!!! Yeah!!! Deeply hope to see you again guys. Possibly outside of Russia. Long live Lemmy, long live Motorhead, long live rock'n'roll!

P.S. Our thanks to Ed Ratnikov for organizing the Motorhead's Russian tourdates and treating us alright.