Ramone Reviews: Motley Crue

So, Motley Crue.  What happened?

I know it's the opening night of the tour and there will be some kinks that needs to be worked out, but Jesus Christ, the night was filled with poor sound, technical difficulties, and sloppy playing.  They opened the set with a track called "Mother F***er of the Year" and they had so many damned flash pots and fireworks going off when they took the stage that you couldn't hear a thing.  I honestly had no idea what song they were playing until halfway through, and I had this problem all night long.  A lot of that has to do with poor sound.  I don't understand how Alice Cooper had great sound, and the headliner sounded so awful.  Put "Shout At the Devil" on the loudest possible volume your stereo will go and stick your head in a 5 gallon bucket filled with mud.  That's what it sounded like.

Three songs into the set, Tommy Lee had an issue with his drum kit.  Apparently his bass drum broke, and that needed to be repaired.  So Mick Mars starts doodling around, and that was cool for about three minutes, and then it was just awkward watching him try to think of things to do to occupy the time.  After his solo, Vince Neil announces the issue and asks us to be patient while the problem is being resolved.  OK, this stuff happens, I get it.  But it continued to happen throughout the entire show.  At one point, the band had to stop and start over because they forgot their own song!   Vince's voice is shot, and he only sings half the words to the songs.  Example: "She's a wolf, lonely in the night.  Stay yay yayge!"  By the way, did I mention the sound was God awful?

I'll give them this, it was a good stage production, great setlist, and Tommy's drum roller coaster was pretty sweet, but I can live without his industrial sampling during his solo.  Now, I know it's the opening night, and I can forgive them for the technical difficulties and even the sloppy playing (it usually takes a few days for the whole crew to get into a groove), but the poor sound is inexcusable.  Alice Cooper sounded killer, and he was the opening act!  What is this 1973 where the opening act blows the headliner off stage?  Well, that happened last night.  Alice Cooper proved, once again, that he's still a dominant force in rock.

Now, I'm not telling you to give up on the Crue.  Who knows, maybe in a few weeks when they play Detroit they'll have all the kinks worked and and they'll put on a killer show.  However, I doubt that.  They were pretty terrible when I saw them open for KISS in 2012.

After 33 years, Motley Crue decided that all good things must come to an end.  After seeing them play last night, I know why they're retiring.

If you would like to read more about Motley Crue's opening night, check out this great article on mLive.  It's better written, and has some great photos.