8/30/14
For the record, I don’t like Vince
Neil’s voice, it is whiny. I could only
take an hour of it till my ears were pained. I left the venue half way through their set
and was in my driveway just as the concert ended. I beat the traffic and my ears were grateful. Vince’s voice and the insincere theatrics are
the main reasons why I was never a fan.
For a final tour, these guys acted like they should have called it off
before the tour bus hit the road. But
let me tell you, there are songs of theirs which I enjoyed, She’s Got the Looks
that Kill, which is off their Shout to the Devil album and Girls, Girls,
Girls. The video for Girls was a hit on
MTV when thirty plus years ago the channel played videos…hello YouTube. Back then, heavy metal had its own show on
the channel and this band had…and still has its own legion of fans. It looked like a sellout, maybe after Groupon
promoted $20.00 tickets to the nose bleeds.
The Crue tipped into the glam
metal category of plastic, sugary, sweet metal which was like Poison, Quiet
Riot, Ratt and a wish washy band like White Snake. They were merged into the soft metal,
malleable; like their talent. The video
for Girls captured what was important to Crue. The rock stars at their finest; on their choppers
cruising on Hollywood Blvd, smoking cigarettes, tattoos and making the rounds
of famous topless clubs in the country. “Hey
Tommy, over there!” Whistles. I wish I can whistle like that. This band and like their fellow clones - were
all about the image. These men captured
the gluttony of heavy metal, the excess, sex, alcohol and drugs. These artificial influences eventually made
their way into their music which gradually suffered over time. Listen, their song Dr. Strangelove – sucks. Like all good things, there is a time and
place for it. It took place back when
most of the audience was a lot younger, there was no care to what they listened
to - most of them accepted the music and the band without really critiquing or
learning what good metal was. Inset your
favorites, AC/DC, Metallica, Zep. Most
of us grew up and moved away from the Crue.
Vince gained weight (and has
gained more weight) Tommy made a famous video; Nick suffered from abuse and the
other quiet guy, Mick Mars nearly died and looks like a ghost, but what a great
guitarist. The Crue were the
eighties. So with all the criticism why
was I there? Two reasons, the protagonist
for a novel I am working on is a heavy metal fan and I wanted to experience a
heavy metal concert, the pyro techniques, the leather, the woman and the
concentration on their boobs (thank you) and the exuberance of being an
American male. All of that was the first
reason. The second was - Alice Cooper
was the opener. I always wanted to see
Alice Cooper.
Before the show, walking through
the parking lot, the men and women drank their alcohol out of plastic cups, ate
their dinners and it struck me. We are
all about the same age. I was not out of
place. I saw more bald heads, out of
shape bellies, big bottoms, dyed hair, reading glasses in that parking lot and
for a few minutes there was some semblance and association to the decay. Some things don’t change. The teenage girls
who got tired of waiting in their long line to take a piss were now middle aged
women with children in college, but they didn’t care -they barged into the
Men’s bathroom and yelled, “We’re not looking!” Hold it. This is why most of us were here, the
exuberance of being an adolescent, the salute to the American; a bold proclamation
of being middle aged adults - who still had a reverence for their heavy metal
and faded concert t-shirts which they bought after the show in the parking lot.
Nick shared the story which he
repeats in each venue, how the band started in ’81 in L.A. when new wave was
popular, the only bands around LA were The Go Go’s and The Knack. “I wanted to play my own fucking music in my
own fucking way and didn’t want to answer to anyone.” He sought and found the musicians because as
Nicky so eloquently stated, “It all…begins…with a thought. We are here because it began with a
thought.” And he closes with a
declaration, “We’re going to rock you till your dead.” Yeah? I
don’t think so you middle aged make-up wearing freak. Besides, I’d rather listen to The Clash than
the Crue.
I read their set list, they would
play, the songs I mentioned as well as the Sex Pistols, Anarchy in the UK, Smoking
in the Boy’s Room, and before one mellow song Vince declared, “If you’re 25,
your parents probably played this song as they were doing something
nasty.” I could see the youngsters
throwing up in their seats.
Alice Cooper put on an incredible
show. This is a man who knows how to get
the audience pumped, the way he twirled his cane, swung swords, popped large
white balloons which were kicked into the audience and were pushed back to the
stage. He was captured in a strait
jacket, beheaded in a guillotine, jabbed with needles - it was a wild show. His
band was tight, Ryan Roxie on lead, Nita Strauss, also lead and an incredible
drum solo by Glen Sobel and least I forget a native Long Islander, Chuck Garric. The classics were played; 18, Schools Out, No More Mr. Nice Guy, Hello
Hooray, Welcome to my Nightmare. Alice’s
strong voice growled a raspy vengeance.
His stage theatrics were incredible and I would love to see him
solo. These days he is opening up for
more acts, so I may be reduced to seeing him open for Rob Zombie – which I
wouldn’t mind. This is the man who
influenced the dark image in heavy metal.
He is a true artist and compared to the headliner – he and his band took
the opportunity to prove to anyone why he still has it and will not stop.
Oh yeah, The Raskins opened the
show to a nearly empty theatre.
Thank you for reading this.
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