Any Phoenicians venturing out early to Crüe Fest hoping to catch Nikki Sixx's side project Sixx A.M. were out of luck. As late as 5 p.m., all the members of Mötley Crüe were still in Los Angeles, where Mayor Tony Villar officially named it Mötley Crüe Day. A tip to future LA rockers - write an album about your city with a name like Saints of Los Angeles, premiere it in the Rock Band video game, and the keys to the city are most assuredly yours.
Of course, no Sixx A.M meant an early playing time for Papa Roach who finished their set in full daylight.
Buckcherry played next. Watching lead singer Josh Todd-an agile cross between Iggy Pop and Tommy Lee-work the crowd, you can't help but think of how the former Guns N' Roses guys got it wrong when they ditched him for a Scott Weiland-led Velvet Revolver.
Judging by the rousing answer to Todd's query of "How many bought our last album 15?," the audience was there as much for Buckcherry as it was for Mötley Crüe, although you have to wonder what would happen if for once someone would ask "How many have illegally downloaded our last album?" It would've been an apropos question for Too Drunk, which was leaked on Bit Torrent sites this summer and slated for their Black Butterfly album, out next month. Then you wonder how many people know that the band's own management was the source of the leak? Either way, it achieved what a month of radio airplay did in the old days-fans seemed familiar enough with its Walk This Way scat singing and swagger.
Then came something you rarely hear at a show-after the band ripped through the AC/DC worthy Out of Line, people in the row behind were still singing the chorus. During their last number, Buckcherry had the good grace to incorporate The Stroke for those who couldn't also attend Ringo's 10th All-Star Band show last night and honor Billy Squier in person.
During the wait between Buckcherry and the Crüe, latecomers had to content themselves with the amateur bands cranking out the hits in the Rock Band 2nd Stage Experience tent. It wasn't Saints of Los Angeles you heard but In Bloom, which reminded one of how Nirvana's arrival threw a monkey wrench into Mötley Crüe's second decade.
Thankfully Mötley Crüe didn't open with L.A.M.F, the pretentious spoken intro from the new album Saints of Los Angeles that's one-part Bowie's Future Legend to three-parts Spinal Tap's Stonehenge. Instead they had a brief preamble about how we're all going to hell, complete with a devil and rubber pitchfork and angel with Victoria's Secret wings engaging behind a sheer black curtain. And off to hell we went with a double whammy of Kickstart My Heart and Wild Side that had enough fireworks and skyward propane flames to make Beelzebub and any July 4th barbeque enthusiast jealous. There wasn't a single un-extended pinky and index finger in the house during Shout at the Devil, which featured the repeated video images of a young George W. Bush giving the audience back a one-finger salute.
Throughout the show, live video feeds of the band shared jumboscreen time with stag film imagery, upside down crucifixes, and provocative news images that may make a political statement but may not.
During Same Ol' Situation, we were treated to girls spanking girls, Adolf Hitler, Mr. Spock and assertions that 911 was an inside job. But mostly girls spanking girls. Mötley Crüe knows where its bread is buttered.
Yes, Tommy Lee and his one-handed video cinematography were in full effect as he perused the audience. Seventeen pairs of breast were captured on screen, not including the pair in the row behind me-ready, willing and flashing but never called on. There's only one thing worst then being exploited and that's not being exploited. Didn't Oscar Wilde say that?
In lieu of any Peter Pan aerial drum solos, you got Tommy Lee in an extended comedy video clip of him backstage looking for his camera in the ladies' room. For a band that sued its own drummer for appearing on reality shows they claimed ruined the band's image, Mötley Crüe seem pretty willing to trade on that goofy notoriety. As well they should. He's easily the most likable of the bunch. At one point, he remarked of an audience member, "This guy has the same exact tattoos as me. It's freaking me out."
Far more collateral damage in the image department was likely incurred during Vince Neil's VH1 shows (The Surreal Life and Remaking: Vince Neil). Who wants to come to a show thinking about liposuction? That new look was nowhere in sight. He looked the same as he did at the start of his rock star makeover show. I've heard complaints from Crüe fans that in the past tours Neil has slacked off and pointed the mike for the audience to do his job. Tonight he did a lot of that but he also used the downtime to store up some generous high pitch screams for the ends of songs.
The only member of Mötley Crüe to have not starred in a reality show or hosted a VH1 series, Mick Mars merely has to show up and be worshipped as a miracle of science. His arthritic condition (Ankylosing Spondylitis) that has left him unable to move his head and judging by the final bows, unable to raise his arms above his chest, renders him a more heroic and more elusive on-stage figure than ever before. In his brief solo spot before Live Wire, he did peel off a neat snippet of Hendrix's Voodoo Chile. Those who watched the screen intently caught a glimpse of his nose and several teeth when he ventured to the mike to sing backups on Looks That Kill. And what looked like it could've been a grin. Also on the screen, Quentin Tarantino's Chicks With Guns video from Jackie Brown that combined to make Looks That Kill seem like a great long lost James Bond theme song.
The band only aired two songs off the new album, the title track and "MF of the Year," which was surprising since it's their most committed sounding record since Dr. Feelgood. And speaking of Dr. Feelgood, it was the last song of the set where they detonated any remaining sparklers, propanes and M80s. A piano was wheeled out for their lone encore, Home Sweet Home which sentimentally retraced the band's history, omitting any trace of John Corabi or Hole's drummer filling in for Tommy Lee. If a 13-song set seemed skimpy compared to past tours, no one complained. Men exited the Cricket Pavilion yelling "Yeah" and I witnessed at least two incidents of girl-on-girl violence on the way to my car. Crüe Fest Two? More than likely!