The Original Bad Boys of Rock n Roll.
Has it really been 30 years since Motley Crue released their debut sleaze rock masterpiece Too Fast For Love? Indeed it has, and what better way to celebrate three decades of debauchery than to kick it old school in true Crue style. The original bad boys of rock n roll did not miss a beat when they brought their Sunset Strip brand of sleaze metal to the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. They looked great and sounded even better. I saw the Crue back in their heyday and can attest that they STILL have what it takes to put on one hell of a show. The set list did not disappoint as it was a “hitsapalooza” of crowd pleasing favorites including “Same Ol Situation,” “Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)” which included a cleverly placed sample of Cee Lo Green’s “F**k You,” “Dr. Feelgood,” “Looks That Kill,” “Wildside,” “Shout at the Devil”, and of course their signature power ballad, “Home Sweet Home.”
The Crue have truly embraced technology around the current tour as well integrating live streaming Tweets scrolling across the speakers in between sets which read like a laundry list of half written comedy bits.
In traditional Crue fashion, one of the highlights of the set was Tommy Lee’s drum solo. Every tour Lee strives to outdo himself, and this time was no exception as he brought a roller coaster ride drum set that goes in a continuous loop. Lee made it look effortless as he was strapped into his drum kit doing a complete 360 degree loop over and over again playing along to some techno driven electro-rock beats. To take it one step further, Lee grabbed a scantily dressed female fan from the front row and strapped her into the passenger seat directly behind him, giving her a amusement park style ride while appropriately enough drumming along to “Roller Coaster of Love”. Check out the video below if you are still confused.
Setlist:
- Wild Side
- Saints of Los Angeles
- Live Wire
- Shout At the Devil
- Same Ol’ Situation
- Primal Scream
- Home Sweet Home
- Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
- Looks That Kill
- Dr. Feelgood
- Too Young To Fall In Love
- Too Fast For Love
- Girls, Girls, Girls
- Smokin’ In The Boys Room
- Kickstart My Heart
Check out the slide show which I shot from the first three songs of the set.
The legendary New York Dolls opened up the show, giving Crue fans a great opportunity to see the band that paved the way for glam rock. Surviving original members David Johansen and Sylvain Slyvain led the group through favorites “Personality Crisis,” “Dance Like a Monkey,” “Pills” and “Cause I Sez So.” I had never seen the Dolls before and I have to say that they were killer. Johansen strutted across the stage with a swagger that would make both Mick Jagger and Iggy Pop take notice while the rest of the band turned it up to eleven with a raucous post-psychedelic glam infused boogie that got the night off to a fantastic start.
Poison took the stage celebrating their 25th anniversary opening up with the classic “Look What the Cat Dragged In” clearly sending the message, “we are ready to party”. Not one of my favorite bands from the glam rock era, but I have to say that they were truly entertaining. Their set list was full of fan favorites as well including “Nothing But A Good Time”, “Fallen Angel”, “Unskinny Bop”, and the song that started it all, “Talk Dirty To Me”. Beyond that Brett Michaels is still the classic party band front-man and just a likable guy on stage, while CC Deville was on blazing on the guitar, turning the party metal songs in to a pure shred-a-thon.
Did you see the show? What did you think? Please share your comments below.
