When ‘The Stadium Tour,’ featuring Poison, Def Leppard and Motley Crue, rolled through LA’s famed SoFi stadium, it was obvious that Motley Crue would be closing. And they did it in true, pure ‘Motley’ fashion.
Opening with the signature ‘Wild Side.’ The Crue took the stage at approx. nine thirty p.m.. They came out swingin’ with the hits. Which mostly comprised of their fifteen song set list. ‘Should At the Devil’ followed and was well received by the fans. Vince gave a short speech after, thanking the fans and calling the night out for what it was, a homecoming. The original ‘Too Fast For Love’ riled up the stadium while the jumbotron screen lit up with nostalgic memorabilia.
The hits kept coming with ‘Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away),’ ‘Saints of Los Angeles,’ ‘Live Wire’ and ‘Looks That Kill.’ All while accompanied by a trio of the typical ‘hot rocker’ dancing gals. Don’t get me wrong. They were beautiful. But their choreography was lame as all hell. I understand that it’s Motley Crue. But honestly, they sounded decent enough to rest on the laurels of their musicality and song writing. I saw Motley Crue in 2015 at the Hollywood Bowl. On their so called ‘Farewell Tour.’ And they sounded significantly better at SoFi stadium seven years later. Mostly due to Vince Neil getting his act together just enough to pull the shows off.
The Crue continued with their newest track ‘The Dirt.’ The theme from the Netflix biopic film. Which, in all honesty, has a really great chorus hook. However, the song is wrecked by Motley Crue’s need for modern relevance. Bringing in Machine Gun Kelley’s rap break during the post chorus. I get it, he played Tommy Lee in the movie. But it just didn’t work. The band then paid homage to their influences with a megamix of covers. Including ‘White Punks on Dope,’ ‘Helter Skelter’ and ‘Smokin’ In the Boys Room.’
Tommy Lee then came out from behind his drum set to woo the crowd. Confronting his recent Twitter debacle of posting a nudie. Asking the crowd if they wanted to see his ‘weiner.’ Before pulling his dachshund out of his shorts. A clever gag. But also quite juvenile for a man that’s 61 years old. Eventually, the band moved into ‘Home Sweet Home.’ Which resulted in the audience lighting up the venue with their cellphone lights. An epic moment indeed. The final five big hits: ‘Dr. Feelgood,’ ‘Same Ol’ Situation,’ ‘Girls, Girls, Girls,’ ‘Primal Scream’ and ‘Kickstart My Heart’ closed the evening out.
Overall Motley Crue sounded pretty decent. Especially compared to how they’ve sounded over the past five to seven years. Even if the soundboard mixer was crap. Everyone knows the songs. So despite rough audio waters, the set mostly went off without a hitch. Tommy Lee’s drums were monstrous. Nikki led the gang with confidence. Vince had clearly worked on his voice. However, it was still pretty bad at points. And the stoic Mick Mars held things down with his consistent guitar playing. There were many naysayers about this tour. But Motley Crue are proving that they can keep rocking into their 60’s. Overcoming hardships and endless obstacles.
