Motley Crue DVD news... SWEET!

[Joe Shmoe]

Here's what our local reporter wrote up in today's paper on the Crue Show last night:

Vince makes ya wince: Crue zoo was a kick to behold, but listening to Neil was torture

Thursday, April 28, 2005

By John Serba

The Grand Rapids Press

You'll thank modern technology for the overdubs.

When Motley Crue's much-hyped live DVD -- filmed Wednesday night in Van Andel Arena in front of a near-capacity crowd of more than 10,000 -- hits the store shelves, don't be surprised if Vince Neil's voice sounds, you know, surgically modified.

Kind of like his face was recently.

The dirtball-rockers' inexplicably popular reunion tour has been, and will be, packing hockey barns all year. Too bad Neil has been subjecting rabid audiences to his half-hearted, watery warble.

He doesn't just skip words when he sings, he skips consonants, choosing to sing mostly vowels. Who knew Bob Dylan has been giving him enunciation lessons?

Crue's weakest link

All night, Neil was off-cue and off-key, either out of breath or just not giving a rip. Any notes he hit were most likely accidental. With bassist Nikki Sixx, guitarist Mick Mars and drummer Tommy Lee pounding away competently, Neil had all but neon arrows pointing at his mouth to designate the weak link.

Of course, I'm not being fair here.

The Crue's big-top-circus-themed show was entertaining in every other aspect, being an exercise in nostalgic rock-radio hits and casual nudity (more on that later). Sure, Neil exhibited a fair amount of physical energy and frontman demeanor -- he didn't want to be upstaged by a flame-spitting midget, scantily clad dancing girls, contortionists, crew members in evil-clown suits, etc. -- he just had a hard time vocalizing his enthusiasm.

What the film crew captured and the crowd experienced was a no-surprises run-through of Motley's best Hollyrock, a good balance of spunky glam and street-level grit.

The first 45 minutes didn't venture beyond 1985 in the band's discography. Out spewed "Shout at the Devil," "Too Fast for Love," "Too Young to Fall in Love," "Looks that Kill" and "Live Wire," Sixx and Lee grimacing behind their warpaint, flamepots exploding, thonged chicks writhing, beer-drinking fans quaffing and fist-pumping.

A 10-minute intermission followed, after which the band took the stage on choppers, revving engines to the opening chords of "Girls Girls Girls."

And thus began a trek through '89: the rippin' riffs of "Wild Side," dopey sing-along "Same Ol' Situation," the Neanderthal skull bash of "Primal Scream" and "Dr. Feelgood," a gloriously cheesy medley of "Glitter," "Without You" and smash hit "Home Sweet Home."

Outside of long-winded prog-rock luminaries such as Yes and Tool, the Crue is one of few bands capable of wedging 22 songs into 150 minutes. Yes, there were a few distractions from the music, such as Sixx's "solo," which found him wailing on a keyboard and a theremin while standing in a shower of sparks.

Lee's "solo" consisted of his strapping on a truss and flying up near the ceiling, where two percussion kits hung on platforms -- one an electronic set, the other consisting of saw blades, an oil drum and beer kegs. With no Bonham-esque "Moby Dick" thuddery to be had, it was quite a letdown -- and the perfect time to take a snooze or go grab an order of $8 nachos.

Later, Lee grabbed a handheld camera and proceeded to berate female patrons into nuding it up a bit -- some apparently were strippers planted in the crowd. The shtick took about 15 minutes. Then we realized a good half-hour had passed with approximately one song having been performed.

Actual new material

So the Crue made up time by treating us to two new songs, uptempo rocker "Sick Love Song" and cornball pseudo-ballad "If I Die Tomorrow," followed by "Kickstart My Heart" and an encore consisting of two well-mangled covers, "Helter Skelter" and "Anarchy in the U.K." Only "Smokin' in the Boys Room" was left out of the set.

The promise of new, exciting stuff for the DVD filming appeared to be nothing much beyond publicists huffing hot air.

Still, it will be an unusual experience to see some Grand Rapidian faces (and naked torsos) when you spin the DVD or watch the show on TV, which Neil told the crowd would be seen on Showtime later this year. The only unique treat appeared to be a stage manager, preshow, baiting the crowd to scream and fake it like the band was on stage so the reaction could be captured on film. That's Hollywood for you.

Maybe producers were scared that Neil's embarrassing lack of vocal prowess wouldn't incite the crowd to worship. Such fears were probably unnecessary, because G.R. loves the Crue, and most fans likely overlooked it, screaming themselves raw and relishing the electric, pro-party atmosphere. The dedicated fans, unlike clanky-pipes Vince, can't go back to the studio and fix their performance.

© 2005 Grand Rapids Press. Used with permission

[colterphoto1]

sounds about right.