I hate to brag, but sitting in fifth-row seats for last night's Motley Crue/Poison/New York Dolls bill was pretty awesome.
I could see everything -- C.C. DeVille's blond highlights, Mick Mars' 2-inch-thick shoe soles, the spit flying from Nikki Sixx's mouth, the bedazzled details on Bret Michaels' jeans and Vince Neil's junk, right in my face.
are the only original members of the group, one of the
more legendary glammy punk bands of the '70s. This year, the Dolls released their
fifth studio album, Dancing Backward in High Heels, but they only performed two songs -- "Talk to Me, Baby" and "Kids Like You" -- from the new record.
The band preferred to stick to its hits from circa 1973, like "Trash" and
"Personality Crisis," but even these seemed to be mostly lost on the
generally uninterested crowd. I can safely say that after the set, when
Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine" came on the PA, there were more catcalls and applause than there was for Johansen's limp-wristed
finger snapping and strutting. Maybe they still haven't forgiven him
for the Buster Poindexter years?
a rose smoking a long, filtered cigarette. It was very pre-Ed
Hardy. Bret Michaels two-stepped across the stage, looking like a
million bucks. Despite recent health problems (massive subarachnoid
hemorrhage, a hole in his heart), he seemed unfazed. He wore a
perma-grin the entire show and was brimming with what my companion and colleague Peter Rugg referred to
as "unbridled enthusiasm." He was very happy to be playing for this
crowd.
Also looking like a million bucks: guitarist C.C. DeVille. In keeping
up with new millennium glam, DeVille appeared to have veneers and facial
microdermabrasion. He played a sweet-ass guitar solo on a GMP Flying V
after "Your Mama Don't Dance," a song performed with Michaels on
harmonica and pink pyro effects in the back. Michaels congratulated the band for "25 awesome years" before launching
into "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," a crowd favorite that had a good chunk of the Sprint Center lit up with raised cell phones.
Motley
Crue came on literally with a bang. The curtain dropped, and flames came
up. Vince Neil didn't even start talking until after the fourth song,
"Shout at the Devil," which had the two hot backup singers/dancers in
lingerie grinding on each other in a church pew. "We've been together for 30 fuckin' years!" he exclaimed into his
sparkly microphone. "We're here to play all of your fuckin' favorite
music." He also claimed Motley Crue was "KC's band." The crowd ate it
up.
Neil looks his age (50). I was surrounded by attractive groupie typeswhere I was standing, so Vince spent a lot of time by my end of the
stage. He didn't give Peter and me handshakes, though. "We totally just got denied by Vince Neil," I shouted at Peter. "Yeah, but he killed a man, so fuck him," Peter said. Fair enough.
from other cities have cited Tommy Lee's circular roller-coaster drum
set as a highlight of the show. I wouldn't call it that, but it was
pretty cool. He got a woman to come up onstage to ride it with
him. "Get your steps on, bitch!" he playfully yelled. He was
disappointed that she wouldn't remove her shirt.
Vince Neil said it was the best night of the tour. Nikki Sixx's Twitter feed said the crowd was the loudest so far on the tour. KC represented -- of course KC represented. When it comes to butt rock, that's just how we
do.
SET LISTS:
New York Dolls
Looking for a Kiss
Dance Like a Monkey
'Cause I Sez So
Pirate Love (?)
Talk to Me, Baby
Kids Like You
Pills
Trash
Personality Crisis
Jet Boy
Poison
Look What the Cat Dragged In
Ride the Wind
An American Band (Grand Funk Railroad cover)
Your Mama Don't Dance (Loggins & Messina cover)
Fallen Angel
Unskinny Bop
Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Talk Dirty to Me
Nothin' but a Good Time
Motley Crue
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/Fuck You (Cee Lo Green cover)
Looks That Kill
Dr, Feelgood
Too Young to Fall in Love
Too Fast for Love
Girls, Girls, Girls
Smokin' in the Boys Room/Rock and Roll Part 2 (Gary Glitter cover)
Kickstart My Heart
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