Motley Crue Still Rockin' 30 Years Later

Motley Crue has still got it. The band that got started in L.A. in 1981, is still going strong 30 years later. They put on a show for a full hour and a half, where the energy never stops. This band has had their ups and downs over the years, but are stronger than ever in 2011. Their 2011 tour is with Poison and the New York Dolls.

The show I saw was in Toronto at the Molson Amphitheatre. To qualify my experience, I did not see Motley Crue, Poison or the New York Dolls at their height in the 80s. These bands as they have been over the last 10 years are my experience. The New York Dolls were a bit disappointing. I had expected the band that supposedly started glam rock to be glam rock. Instead they are a much more bluesy band. Their sound is similar to that of the Rolling Stones of the 70s. Once I got used to that, since blues are the basis for most of the rock music we know today, they were pretty good. The crowd wasn't really into them, I think because they were on early, at 7:00 so not in front of a packed house.

Poison was the next band up. They are celebrating 25 years together this summer. They have been together since 1986. In their 45 minute set, they ran through all their biggest hits including Every Rose Has it's Thorn, Talk Dirty to Me and Nothing but a Good Time to name a few. This band is a lot of fun. Brett Michaels can't sing the way he used to, but CC Deville sure can play. He had a solo in just about every song and really got the crowd going. Brett Michaels went through several costume changes through the 45 minute set, changing shirts (all were band t-shirts) and switching between his bandana and his cowboy hat. Poison is celebrating 25 years and hopefully we get a few more from them.

Finally Motley Crue hit the stage. After Poison's set, a curtain was pulled over the stage so you couldn't see the setup. The set started with a bang. All of a sudden, fireworks went off behind the curtain, the curtain dropped and Crue broke into Wildside. They know how to get the crowd rocking. The show started caused a little worry in that Vince Neil only sang about half the words to the song and his timing seemed to be off. That improved as the show went on. Next, they broke into Saints of Los Angeles, a song off the album of the same name, their latest from a couple of years ago. The setlist was chosen based on fan votes, so all songs were fan favorites.

Saints of Los Angeles was followed up with the classics, Live Wire, Shout at the Devil, Same Ol' Situation (SOS) and Primal Scream, all of which were played with a ton of energy, At this point, Tommy Lee came out from behind the drum set and got the crowd going. He, rather unexpectedly, sat down behind a piano and opened Home Sweet Home. This was brilliant! While he was getting the crowd going; the piano was wheeled out to center stage and nobody noticed. This song is always well done, and crowd pleaser even though it's slower than the majority of the remainder of the show. As you watch, you can tell just how into this song the band is. As the song got going, Tommy ducked back to the drums and the song went from acoustic to electric. He then finished it acoustically again on the piano. Motley Crue, immediately broke into Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away), and the crowd went crazy.

We had no idea what we were in for next. Everyone disappeared off stage, except for Tommy Lee. The drum kit was set up in the middle of a giant metal circle which appeared to be part of the set. It turned out that it was, as Tommy called it, a drum roller coaster. The drums with Tommy strapped in, moved up and down the sides of the circle, eventually going right upside down. Tommy did not stop playing the whole time. Once he got back around to the bottom, he stopped, pulled someone out of the audience, and took her for a ride on the roller coaster while he continued the solo. The whole process lasted easily 10 or 15 minutes. It was incredible to watch. Definitely among the highlights of this show.

When Tommy had finished his solo, Mick Mars came out to do his guitar solo. The guy can play. He has Ankylosing Spondylitis, but can still hold it together to play the whole set and this 5 minute solo.

The crowd absolutely loved both solos. Nikki Sixx and Vince Neil both came out at the end of Mick's solo and they started into Looks That Kill. I neglected to mention, in the tradition of a Motley Crue live show, at various times throughout the show. They were dressed or half dressed exactly as you would expect from Motley Crue. Their purpose early on seemed to be to help Vince Neil with the Vocals and backing vocals, but at this point it became obvious the real reason they were there. During this song, there was an opaque screen over a "window" that showed only the girls shadow as she danced to this song. They would appear and disappear behind the screen as the chorus was sung.

Dr. Feelgood, one of Motley Crue's biggest hits was up next. The crowd went crazy and that just fuelled the band as they continued with Too Young to Fall in Love and Ten Seconds to Love. In between these last 2 songs, Nikki Sixx came out to talk to the crowd. He asked everybody to sit down, and picked on the people who didn't. He then proceeded to thank the crowd for supporting the band for 30 years, and acknowledged the contribution of everybody in the band including Vince Neil (with whom everybody has had their differences). That ended their set.

Because the Molson Amphitheatre has an 11:00pm curfew, there was about 1 minute with the band offstage between the main set and the encore. Vince came running out, held the mic in one hand and with his other, made the motion of starting a motorcycle. That was followed by the motorcycle sound effect as he made the motion. Everyone went nuts as that is the intro to Girls Girls Girls. The amphitheatre was filled with energy for this song and drowned out Vince as they sang along. Since this song is about strippers, backup singers found poles on which to dance. They did not strip, but they also did not sing. At the end of that song, knowing exactly what song everyone was waiting for, they played their cover of Smokin' in the Boys Room, not the song we wanted, but at this point the energy in the place was so great it did not matter.

Finally, to end the show, Kickstart My Heart. This song had fireworks coordinated to coincide with certain points and was the perfect way to end the show. Everyone was waiting for this one and Motley Crue did not disappoint. Again, you could hear the crowd singing along while the girls on stage sported false mohawks and played with flame throwers. This show could not have ended on a better note.

After that show, it is safe to say that Motley Crue is still going strong with their original lineup after 30 years. They are still loved the same way and by many of the same people who loved them in the 1980s. They have another generation that loves them too. That's why the energy at this show was so good, and Motley Crue feeds off the energy of the fans to put on a great show. This band is getting better with age. If you have the chance to see them on this tour, it's not one to miss.