Gigantour: Megadeth, Motörhead, Lacuna Coil, Volbeat
The Theater At Madison Square Garden
Saturday, January 28

Better than: The World Needs a Hero in its entirety tour.

Dave Mustaine has spent the better part of this young decade on a mission to restore his image. He's put out a bestselling autobiography; he brought longtime bassist Dave Ellefson back into Megadeth to tour their thrash masterpiece Rust in Peace in its glorious entirety; he swallowed his pride enough to play five songs with Metallica at their final 30th anniversary show. So despite his constant snarl and "everyone hates me" attitude, it seems like he's settled into his place in the world. But if he decides to use that place to put on whisper-quiet headlining sets that last barely an hour, he may want to re-evaluate things.

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Joey Ramone would have been 60 years old on May 19. This week, in celebration of the birthday of the Queens-born gone-too-soon punk legend, Sound of the City will run a series of features on his life and his legacy.

Imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery--and whose style has been aped more than the Ramones--but what do you call it when no less than Lemmy himself writes a song in your honor? From sincere homages to nonsensical rave ups, The Ramones have inspired scores of bands to literally sing their praises. Here is a list of our favorite songs about Forest Hills' own Fab Four.

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Just don't get between Lemmy and the bar, or the women. Pics by Phil.

Motörhead/Clutch/Valient Thorr
Best Buy Theatre
Monday, February 28

Better than: Any other 65-year-old still making (rock) music.

Bassist/vocalist/negative role model Lemmy has always insisted that Motörhead are not a metal band. His first words to the audience (OK, after "Everybody doing all right? Well, we'll soon fix that!") were "We are Motörhead, and we play rock 'n' roll!" And the set list for this tour, which supports the band's 20th studio album and the rapturously received documentary Lemmy: 49% Motherfucker, 51% Son of a Bitch, indeed focuses on the more conventionally rockin' side of the band's output, avoiding thrash-punk assaults in favor of slower songs like "Stay Clean," "Metropolis," and most surprisingly of all, two numbers that are the closest thing Motörhead's ever recorded to slow jams. "The Chase Is Better Than the Catch" is an underrated slow-burner from the Ace of Spades album, a stalking blues with a bass break made for audience participation, while "Just 'Cos You Got the Power" is a seven-and-a-half minute (!) rant against the money-hungry bastards who run the world (a favorite Lemmy target, along with those who declare war, those who run major world religions, and anyone getting between him and the bar, or him and the nearest available woman), punctuated by multiple stinging guitar solos from Phil Campbell.

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Now here's a fuckin' movie. The Lenny Kilmster documentary, wonderfully titled Lemmy: 49% Motherf**ker, 51% Son Of A Bitch and apparently a big hit on the international festival circuit ("Best Documentary" in Chile!), is finally hitting the U.S.A. in early 2011, including an engagement at Cinema Village starting January 28. The DVD will be out in February, affording you the opportunity to gush over Jarvis Cocker (!) gushing over Lemmy in the privacy of your own home. Hopefully someone from Apple is in this thing, to explain the "if you type 'Motörhead' in an iPhone notepad, it auto-corrects to add the umlaut" thing, which is totally real. Trailer below:

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