MONDAY night at the Plymouth Pavilions was an exhibition of classic British rock and roll.

The UK Subs were the first on the bill, and did well at warming up the audience. The band oozes with rock star attitude and seemed to thoroughly enjoy playing their set. Fists were raised to their music and heads were bobbing approvingly, but it was the Anti-Nowhere League that brought about the first wave of mosh pits and metal horns. Frontman Nick Culmer has a powerful and dramatic stage presence which generates a whole new life to their live performance.

They engaged and enticed their crowd with their energetic statement of rock, then left us hungry for more.

More was exactly what we got and next on the stage were hard rockers, Motörhead. 'Everything Louder than Everything Else' is a great understatement of a live Motörhead show, for nothing can quite sum up just how loud they actually play. My ear drums will never forgive me for the sheer pain I inflicted on them on that Monday night in November but in honour of British rock, I endured.

Lemmy, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee drifted through their set as if being Motörhead was effortless. Their Plymouth crowd absorbed the music in awe and were stirred into a boisterous rock rage. Mass levels of testosterone were ingested by the audience with every over-amplified beat. During the set we saw a relentless drum solo from Mikkey Dee, a passionate serenade from Phil Campbell's guitar, and a whole lot of slurring and swagger from frontman and bassist Lemmy.

For over 35 years now, Motörhead have been major influences in the music industry, with many younger bands claiming to have been born on the back of Motörhead's very existence. Motörhead sing of presumptuous sex, abuse of power, illegal substances, war and gambling – all the things that embody rock and roll.

After all these years Motörhead are still riding the crest of the wave, leaving us all wondering how much longer they can keep it up, yet not doubting their abilities to continue at all. Will they grace Plymouth with their ear-destroying empowering music again? I hope so.

Leah Turner is studying English Literature and Creative Writing at Marjon