My wife used to like Motley Crue so when I found cheap tickets to their farewell tour about 8 years ago we went along. What a clusterfuck it was. A bunch of fat old men trying to relive their glory years from 30 years earlier. Vince could barely catch a breath while he walked around the stage.
The truly funny bit was that the support act was Alice Cooper and his show was amazing as always.
Recently some colleagues mentioned wanting to see Motley Crue when they tour soon and I told them not to.
My wife was trying to convince me to go see the Beach Boys this year. I really didn't want to watch a bunch of old men wheezing on stage (and Brian Wilson wasn't even going to be there). But then I was saved because the same venue decided to host Ted Nugent and we said fuck no to giving them money.
I saw Motley at a stadium tour they did a couple years ago and Vince was awful. They could have pulled literally anyone from the audience to sing and it would have been better than Vince.
I seen that tour too. Alice was fucking awesome. So glad I got to see him. Was going to see him on the Frankenstein tour but it got canceled. They were playing with Judas Priest as well, which would have been fucking awesome. I never got to see Priest, but real happy I got to see Alice. Guy still puts up a great show.
For Motley Crue... Yeah Vince is fucking awful. Lol skipped every other word because he was out of breath and mumbled the rest. The YouTube videos just don't do justice to how bad he is live. I thought Mick Mars was pretty good though. He could still shred on the guitar, which is amazing with the pain he played through.
Saying this as a lifelong Crue fan, they’ve never been a good touring band. Even in their heyday it was, at best, a good time with a crowd of like minded people who were mostly stoned or drunk out of their minds. Vince has never been a good live vocalist, he’s just had enough good days to mange to put out a couple of live albums of cherry picked performances.
Cooper has a nodding acquaintance with old time showbiz - you can see elements of Vaudeville as well as some of the more radical musical theatre in his stuff, and he's had excellent work ethics the whole time. I always found it amazing that the metal magazines used to write about him golfing with Bob Hope and totally approving. Alice can do no wrong.
The problem here is that they used an old photo and shopped Mick Mars out and John5 in, because they either can't be bothered to take any new promo photos of the band, or the difference between how much better John 5 looks than the rest of those washed-up has-beens is so stark that they don't want to.
By "removed" I mean they clearly photoshopped Mick out of this photo. I have no problem with Motley Crue continuing on without him (other than Vince Neil being fucking awful). But take some new photos with the current band for fucks sake. Shopping a longtime band mate out is disrespectful, shitty, and mildly infuriating. Especially since he retired due to a painful and crippling disease.
And if this is a promo pic for the tour, wouldn't advertising the band with a member that won't be there inaccurate marketing?
These guys aren't writing music anymore. They're going out and (mostly) playing to backing tracks and hamming it up for the crowd. The crowds know what they're getting and don't give a shit. Fools, money, soon to be parted, all that.
God, Retire already! You're not in the 80s anymore!
At least some bands from the 80s realized this, which is why they've spent some of their albums on experiencing new sound. Iron Maiden has done it, which is why they're still awesome, they aren't relying on their old reigns because they're a talented band that can evolve.
Motley Crue, can't do that. They're a one-era trick playing pony.