Motorhead Cuts Salt Lake City Show Short, Cancels Denver Gig Due to Lemmy Kilmister’s ‘Altitude Sickness’
Mot?rhead got through only four songs at a concert in Salt Lake City on Aug. 27 before leaving the stage and calling off the rest of the show.
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According to The Salt Lake Tribune, frontman Lemmy Kilmister left the stage suddenly, returned after 10 minutes to joke, “Sorry about that. I’m old,” then told the crowd, “I don’t know how long I can do this. Sorry guys.” He then reportedly said that he was having trouble breathing before exiting the stage again.
A spokesman for The Complex, the show’s venue, told the publication that they were discussing whether or not refunds would be issued with promoter United Concerts.
Mot?rhead — currently on tour in support of the album Bad Magic — later released a statement on Facebook to explain what exactly happened to Kilmister.
“The people are great, but the air is just too thin,” the band posted on Aug. 27 in a Facebook update. “The high altitude makes it difficult for breathing, and that’s what happened with Lemmy tonight in Salt Lake City. He feels very bad to have cut the show short, but being that high up, he had some trouble breathing well. Lemmy appreciates everyone’s concern. The fans always rally round!”
Following the abrupt departure from the stage in Salt Lake City, Mot?rhead decided to call off the next stop on the band’s tour, Riot Fest in Denver.
“The Rocky Mountain High has affected Lemmy like the high altitude of Salt Lake City. It’s been quite a while since Lemmy was this ‘high’ in the US, and thus having got a burst of altitude sickness (which made it hard for him to breathe and sing properly) he has very reluctantly decided not perform in Denver,” Mot?rhead announced on Aug. 28, before going on to detail plans to continue with the tour in Texas.
Mot?rhead’s next scheduled tour stop is in Austin on Sept. 1.
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