Motley Crue: Going Out On 'Not'
Saturday, February 27, 2016 at 12:01AM Today's post is by our friend HIM.
Readers of BBG! are a fickle and passionate lot. We squabble. But, most times, we make up. And, even when we don’t, we keep at it and keep posting . . . and squabbling.
No subject in recent memory brought out as much passion and side-taking as Motley Crue’s final tour. We all know the sides that people took. We all know the jabs that people, myself included, made.
Case in point: I argued that the whole PR nonsense of the Crue “going out on top” was just that, nonsense. It was as calculated as most of the recent music that they put out. It was sterile and devoid of real grit as, well, anything that the Crue had done in the last decade or so.
Oh, the responses! Defenders bashed fair-weather fans. They overlooked the spectacle that was that final tour, spectacle that covered a host of sins that went on each and every night. Mind you, not sins in the classic “This is sleazy, so take it easy” sorta’ way. Bad singing. Mechanical performances. Stage gimmicks that seemed more energized—except when they weren’t—than the musicians on the same stage.
So imagine my surprise when the conductor of this closer finally came out and said what I had been thinking. Nikki Sixx, in a recent Classic Rock interview teasing the band’s off-stage final show interview (to be released at a later date) had this to say about the as-yet-unseen discussion:
“It’s interesting, because we talk about each other in a way that’s endearing – but not. We say where we’re really at. We talk about the drama and the pain of being in a band that has ceased to run on creativity, just on pure, mechanical motions.”
I am not going to push this farther than it actually goes, even if it confirms what I already said. “Going out on top” is about creativity; it isn’t a mechanical act. Sixx knew that. So did the other members of the band. That we are getting a sense of where they might be headed suggests that the creative spark that once pushed the Crue to great heights is now better found in other bands and ventures.
I also won’t begrudge those fans who bought into the hype. If they heard it differently and loved it all the same, who am I to judge? I’ve done that too. If they saw a band that didn’t really exist and found passion in their projections, that is all well and good. Again, I am guilty.
All I say is this: when our idols are honest, we need to own up to our own lies. Even then, we can feel some comfort in knowing that, as fans, we are willing to put up with a lot because of the music we love. No amount of calculation can take our memories away from us.
The Crue is dead. Long live the Crue!
Reader Comments (9)
Fast forward 10 years. That final tour stage show,to me at least,with all its Kiss like theatrics,was not " to give the fans what they want", but to cover over the robotic performances of an aging, many times bored, band. Do you guys think that Nikki,being the businessman he is, would've paid the multi-millions it took to keep all that on the road for like 15 months if they could've just gotten away with a wall of Marshalls as their backdrop and spirited, intense performances from the band every night? Yeah, me neither. It had to take about 50 people minimum to set that up,tear it down,and transport it around the country/world.I'm NOT condemning them one iota for this. You do what you gotta do and say whatever it takes about it to survive. We all gotta eat and support ourselves. They will always be my favorite band out of the entire era,bar none. I just chose to skip the circus on this last go round. (even though it came within an hour of me on THREE different occasions during its epic jaunt.) Lol.
I heard it straight from Vince's mouth when he was touring for Exposed. And I quote "I f*ckn hate those guys but you know for a million bucks, I'll get back together with them". And Corabi was out and the rest is history.
That said, I enjoyed seeing them in August a lot. They did a great job that night.
I'll miss them.
The stupidest thing that we as humans ever developed was the concept of money. Money is the driving force behind our natural predatory instinct.
Integrity will always lose out to the all-mighty dollar. Look at the new commercials for Subway. they tell you over and over again that $6 foot-longs are a great deal. Those very same foot-longs were a dollar cheaper a couple months ago, but Subway knows that if they continue to manipulate people's perceptions repeatedly through mass media, that many people will eventually believe the lie and part with their hard-earned money, and even feel good about it.
It's the same thing with Motley crue. Even though each of them has more money than you and I will ever see, they still naturally want your money as well, so if they have to lie to your face to make you give them your money, of course they will do it.
For those of you who haven't read it, here's my review from the last time I saw them in 2011. I stand by every word:
http://www.bringbackglam.com/journal/2011/8/15/festival-review-outlaw-jam-part-ii.html
Quick without thinking, name all 4 members. How many bands can you really do that to ? Sure we are all diehards and know more than most Average Joes. But average joes are able to do it to this band !! Why ?!? Because they were all unique individuals that we gravitated towards. Each was a "character" and still is. Vince, Mick, Nikki, and Tommy.
They made some great music, its really too bad on their final, final, final tour. They couldn't reach back and play the music that they had to enjoy themselves at some point, let alone US the fans. What makes a band stale ? Playing the same shit over and over. (I'm looking at you Bret Michaels). You had the chance to play Theater of Pain front to back in select cities, tonight at MSG, we are going to do Shout at the Devil front to back, and while we are in Phoenix, you get Dr Feelgood, etc... Their final tour could have been so much more. Its a shame.
Its too bad they couldn't put a stamp on we are Motley F*ckin' Crue, as Vince would scream out. That being said, I'll still travel to hear Vince get through the songs as a solo act, looks like Mick's project may have some newly acquired grit and balls to it, Nikki ? Sorry, Sixx AM has yet to do anything remotely want to see them in concert. Tommy ? Please don't go do that stupid rap, drum, funk, shit or whatever it was that you were doing. And please, don't put out another solo album. You are Tommy Lee... crowd pumper, character, drummer extraordinaire... some super group yet awaits your talents.
rock on, MC peeps.