By all accounts, Lemmy Kilmister should be dead. He drinks a fifth of Jack Daniel’s a day, been smoking since he was 11 and eats only meat and cheese. Anthrax’s Scott Ian put it best when he said Motorhead is one of those metal bands that’s cool for the punks to like. They’re fast, dirty, and louder than a 747. Lemmy, however, has always said Motorhead is not metal band, they’re a rock ‘n’ roll band. They’ll play Thursday at the San Jose State Event Center as part of Megadeth’s Gigantour.

With more than 30 years under their belt and over 20 albums, they show no signs of slowing down. After being fired from Hawkwind in 1975, for “doing the wrong drugs,” Lemmy formed Motorhead, a name derived from a slang term for speed freaks and a song he had written. Throughout their career, they’ve spawned numerous iconic songs, including “Bomber,” “Killed by Death,” “Overkill,” and, of course, their signature “Ace of Spades.”

Also performing at this Gigantour show is Megadeth, a band Dave Mustaine formed out of spite after being fired from Metallica. He wanted to be faster, heavier, and was out for their blood. Their second album, 1986’s Peace Sells…but Who’s Buying? is an essential thrash metal assault, and 1990’s Rust in Peace is the highlight of their career.

Danish rockers Volbeat and Italian gothic metal band Lacuna Coil start things off. – Beau Dowling

Megadeth has had a lot of ups and downs over the years, which is probably fitting for a band that started basically as a grudge after Dave Mustaine got thrown out of Metallica. It’s been one crazy story after the other, but the craziest yet may be that Megadeth is back in top form, a decade after Mustaine broke up the band to undergo a year of shock therapy and re-training on his arm for severe nerve damage that could have meant he’d never play again.

Instead, their latest, Thirteen, has been nominated for two Grammys and is easily their best album since 1990’s Rust in Peace. To support it, Mustaine is restarting his heavy metal festival Gigantour, with Motorhead, Volbeat and Lacuna Coil joining Megadeth for a tour that comes to the San Jose Event Center on Thursday, Feb. 23.

The first song off the latest record. “Sudden Death,” was released in 2010’s “Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock” game, and was nominated for a Best Metal Performance Grammy. Now the single “Public Enemy No. 1” (which features a pretty hilarious video starring an outlaw monkey) has been nominated in the category as well.

Tickets for the San Jose Event Center date are on sale now. The band is coming off its historic “Big 4” shows that saw the once bitter enemies Megadeth and Metallica joining up with Slayer and Anthrax, uniting the four biggest bands in thrash metal. Megadeth also toured with Slayer on the recent “Carnage” tours.

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