CONCERT REVIEW: Motley Crue/Hinder/Theory Of A Deadman...

...and The Last Vegas (ran out of room in the title line).


Motley Crue brought what they are now calling CrueFest2 to the Omaha Qwest Center last night (Feb. 10, 2009) with three opening bands, The Last Vegas, Theory of a Deadman, and Hinder. The show started at 6:30 and ran until 11:30, so we had 5 loud hours with the Crue and Co. We were in row 9, about 6 seats left of center, so there was no problem seeing and hearing the show, and Marie was excited as this was the closest she had ever been to the stage at a concert. The show was run VERY efficiently, with just 15 minutes between sets, with the exception of about 30 minutes before Motley took the stage as they were on a completely different, much larger stage than the opening three bands.

The Last Vegas opened the show. For those unfamiliar with this band, they are one of the many neo-70's/80's styled bands floating around right now. Originally from Chicago, this band of four won a nationwide contest for the right to be the opener for Motley Crue's current CrueFest2 tour; prior to that they won a contest that got a song featured on Guitar Hero II, so there must be something to these guys. I felt a little bad for the guys as the Qwest was only about half full when they hit the stage promptly at 6:30. Their set was limited to just 25 minutes, in which time they played 5 songs, all from their current, self-titled CD. The two songs that always get mentioned when The Last Vegas is brought up are "I'm Bad" and "High Class Trash". The crowd (what there was) was obviously not familiar with this band (I may have been one of about 100 people who had at least one of their CD's before the show), but these two songs did bring most people to their feet. The Last Vegas has a definite 70's hard rock groove with an 80's sleaze attitude that should interest most of the people who will show up early enough to catch them opening up. They also have just enough modern edge to make them attractive to the kids. One thing is certain, they do not lack for energy or effort, as the band was in almost constant motion, with the lead singer, who appeared to be going for an Alice Cooper meets Steven Tyler look, pretty much dancing and squirming himself all over the stage. Nothing overly original or incredibly flashy, but they were entertaining and I like their sound. I plan to snag their first two indie CD's as soon as possible, as I came away from the show a bigger fan than I was going in.

Next up was Theory of a Deadman. First off, let me say this...I have heard Theory Of A Deadman a LOT, as Marie is a huge fan. I'm not going to lie...I like these guys. I like their attitude and their approach and I think a lot of their songs are not only catchy but funny as well. But in no way was I prepared for how the band LOOKS. Seriously, I had never seen these guys before...no pictures, no videos, no concerts, no interviews, nothing. So when a guy who looks like a cross between young Elvis and Buddy Holly (minus the glasses) stepped up to the mic, needless to say I was a bit taken aback. I always envisioned more of a sweaty, southern-rock looking outfit for some reason. Not the case at all. The rhythm guitar player wore a baseball cap all night, the drummer had a mohawk, and the bass player looked like he could have been playing in an outlaw country band! Not what I had expected at all. Theory took the stage at 7:15 and the crowd had reached about 3/4 capacity by this time....and they were JACKED! I am pretty sure no one sat down the entire set and they were into every song these guys ripped through. Sticking mostly to songs from Scars And Souvenirs from 2008, the band played all of their radio hits, including "Nothing Could Come Between Us" from their 2002 debut album, as well as "No Surprise" from 2005's Gasoline. While both of those songs got a good reaction, it was NOTHNG compared to what happened when the band tore into the newer stuff. Opening the show with "So Happy" immediately got the crowd into things, and closing out with "Little Smirk", "I Hate My Life" and the monster hit "Bad Girlfriend" definitely left the crowd wanting more. Like I said, very few people stayed in their seats for the Theory Of A Deadman set, but a lot of people left their seats to go meet the band who went to the merch tables after their set to meet-and-greet, which I think is always a cool touch. Tight band who sounded very close to note-perfect, but not so much that you had to wonder if this was live or taped. Good 35-40 minute show....I'd pay to see them again.

Another quick 15 minute break and Hinder took the stage. While this may be sacreligious for many to hear me say, I think Hinder stole the show. Lead singer Austin Winkler goes non-stop like a man possessed on stage, and attacks each song full-force, regardless of if the song is a full-on rocker or one of their power ballads. Its amazing the man can even talk. Adorned in Tyler-esque scarves, Winkler took to the floor of the arena on two separate occasions (which has to irritate security), going several rows deep each time (Marie missed shaking his hand by a mere couple of inches), and even taking to the stairs and went several rows up as well, hugging fans and shaking hands all the way. The crowd totally ate it up! If anyone was sitting during the Theory Of A Deadman show, they weren't sitting now! Hinder only has two albums out, but the fans knew every word to each one, and Winkler used a lot of audience participation sing-along gimmicks to keep people pumped. The band was extremely tight and well-rehearsed, not missing a beat when Winkler would take off into the crowd or go off on a crowd-interactive section right in the middle of the song. The show started off with the lead single from the new Take it To The Limit album, "Use Me", and followed with several other cuts from this disc as well. Songs included "Up All Night", "Loaded And Alone", "Heaven Sent", and the title track. From their first disc, Extreme Behavior, the band played "Better Than Me", "Homecoming Queen", the huge radio hit "Lips Of An Angel", and set closer "Get Stoned". Hinder played a solid 50 minute set and the crowd would have easily given them another 20-30 minutes if they had the opportunity to go deeper into their albums. Very entertaining, very animated, and a very well mixed set...kudos to the sound guys on this one for sure! I would definitely go to see Hinder again, especially if they were given the chance to be the headliners rather than a support band.

Motley Crue took the stage at about 9:15 and it was a non-stop audio assault. In fact, the band was so loud you could almost say they were distorted at times. The crowd was already berzerk by the time they launched into "Kickstart My Heart", and didn't let up at all. While the set-list is not guaranteed to be 100% in order, I think this is pretty dang close...:

Kickstart My Heart
Wildside
Shout At The Devil
Saints Of Los Angeles
--Mick Mars Solo--
Live Wire
Too Fast For Love (first 2/3 of the song...)/On With The Show (last half of the song...)
Louder Than Hell
--Tommy comes out to talk--
Motherf**ker Of The Year
White Trash Circus
Don't Go Away Mad
Same Ol' Situation
--Nikki talks to the crowd--
Primal Scream
Looks That Kill
Girls, Girls, Girls
Dr. Feelgood
Encore:
Home Sweet Home

While definitely not the great set-list that they put together for the Carnival Of Sins tour, it was the first time in the last three tours that they played "Home Sweet Home" at (at least at shows I have been to). They missed some obvious fan favorites like Helter Skelter, Red Hot, Smokin' In The Boysroom (which I haven't heard live in YEARS), If I Die Tomorrow, and Sick Love Song, but overall, they kept the crowd more than involved and happy.

There was a Mick Mars guitar solo, which lasted about 7 or 8 minutes, with Tommy joining him very briefly on drums for part of it. Mick is very hunched over now, and shuffles about for the most part, but he performed well, was very solid with his leads, and looked to be enjoying himself when he clowned to the crowd a bit.

There was no Tommy drum solo, although he did come out and address the crowd directly, passing around a bottle of Jagermeister to the fans, kicking a beach ball around, catching bras that were thrown at him, etc. He is easily the biggest kid I have ever seen and always looks happy to be in front of a crowd.

Nikki Sixx is still one of the most commanding stage presences out there, in my opinion, and oozes rockstar. He also addressed the crowd, reminding everyone they were no the Jonas Brothers, but Motley F-ing Crue.

Vince Neil looked to be in good shape and was sober. I would say he sang 2/3 of the lyrics, which anyone who has attended a Crue concert will tell you is a pretty good number, as I have also been to shows where it was lucky if he hit every third word in any given song! He was pretty much word for word on the new stuff as the crowd didn't know the songs nearly as well.

My biggest issue with this show was the video display. There was CONSTANT nudity and pornography being shown...and yes, I mean soft-core porn, not just naked pictures, and snippets of S&M videos were shown interlinked with other images. I also had a big, personal problem with inverted crucifixes, complete with Christ, being shown raining down on the screen, as well as other images that I took as blatantly anti-Christian. Now, I am NOT saying that I thought the Crue was a Christian band. But, I had never seen this level of, for lack of a better word, filth displayed in one of their shows, and I have seen at least 6 different Crue tours now, and 9 or 10 shows in all. I expected the anti-George Bush pictures and the like, but a lot of this went WAY TOO FAR and was actually a distraction. I had to force myself to focus on the band exclusively, which is hard because I tend to look at video screens a lot to see if they are showing different perspectives of the band that I can't see from where I am sitting. Anyway, Motley played for pretty close to 90 minutes, if not just a bit more.

To clarify...I'm not saying I wouldn't go see the band again, but there is NO WAY I would take a minor to this show, and I am warning anyone who plans to do just that...this show is a VERY HARD "R" RATING, and actually more of an NC-17 rating. Also, for anyone attending, we were told it was a request of the band that no cameras, video cameras, or camera phones be brought in (though there were obviously a lot of camera phones), and I did see some phones taken away from people. They also turned people away who were wearing chains of any kind, and no bottles, whether beer, soda, Gatorade, water, whatever, were allowed...everything was poured into cups.


Awesome night and Marie said it was the best Christmas present she received this year, so that was good enough for me!


Arttie

Sounds cool. Anyone taking a minor to see Motley Crue is just asking for the kid to see some questionable things, video screen or not. I've never more woman flashing boobs--or just rocking out for a whole set without a shirt on--than I have at a Crue show. Kids shouldn't be in that crowd if a parent wants to keep them a PG-13 virgin.

Great review. Theory is pretty much the only band I like out of those 3 but I wouldn't mind seeing Motley Crue. I'm surprised how Hinder played after Theory though. Theory has a bigger catalog but maybe a lot bigger in Canada then the States.

Sounds like you and your wife had a blast and thats all that matters.

Eyesore wrote:

Sounds cool. Anyone taking a minor to see Motley Crue is just asking for the kid to see some questionable things, video screen or not. I've never more woman flashing boobs--or just rocking out for a whole set without a shirt on--than I have at a Crue show. Kids shouldn't be in that crowd if a parent wants to keep them a PG-13 virgin.

I love how some overprotective parents worry about their kids seeing tits, but for a number of them, their kids seeing brutal violence is OK.

Required Fields wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

Sounds cool. Anyone taking a minor to see Motley Crue is just asking for the kid to see some questionable things, video screen or not. I've never more woman flashing boobs--or just rocking out for a whole set without a shirt on--than I have at a Crue show. Kids shouldn't be in that crowd if a parent wants to keep them a PG-13 virgin.

I love how some overprotective parents worry about their kids seeing tits, but for a number of them, their kids seeing brutal violence is OK.

There's a huge difference between the two.

You know, I didn't see ANY women flashing at this show... Some bras went flying, but I didn't see anyone expose themselves, which was indeed odd for a Crue show.



Arttie

I've never heard a single note from those 3 opening bands, but your review has me curious, especially for The Last Vegas.

The last time I saw the Crue, Tommy came to the front of the stage with a video camera in his hand, with the pic being sent directly to the video screens behind him. I may have seen a boobie or 20 that night.

Not to hijack this review, but when I saw AC/DC a few months ago, I noticed that they didn't show any flashing or nakedness on the screens. This was the 4th or 5th time I've seen these guys over the years and they ALWAYS had girls flashing. It got me wondering that since they had an exclusive deal with Walmart for their last cd, if anything in that deal was mentioned about concert nudity, profanity or anything else that Walmart would find objectionable. Just a thought.

Eyesore wrote:

Required Fields wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

Sounds cool. Anyone taking a minor to see Motley Crue is just asking for the kid to see some questionable things, video screen or not. I've never more woman flashing boobs--or just rocking out for a whole set without a shirt on--than I have at a Crue show. Kids shouldn't be in that crowd if a parent wants to keep them a PG-13 virgin.

I love how some overprotective parents worry about their kids seeing tits, but for a number of them, their kids seeing brutal violence is OK.

There's a huge difference between the two.

I know there is. I was just pointing out how I think some people have odd standards.

The last two Crue shows I have seen have had more nudity and boobies flashed than every other show I have attended combined. Maybe it is a New Mexico thing but lots and lots of it, most were pretty good to see but there are some out there that should never been seen much less blown up 500% on a jumbo screen for the world to view.

Thanks for the great review, Arttie! I'll be seeing CF II in August in ATL. Can't freakin' wait! The Crue will perform "Dr. Feelgood" in its entirety! YES! TOADM will also be there, as well as GODSMACK, who ALWAYS put on a killer live show! Rumor has it that Tommy Lee will join Sully and Shannon for a triple drum solo! :hails: