Mötley Crüe leaves Royal Farms Arena, Baltimore with a bang

Since Vince Neil, Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars and Tommy Lee founded Mötley Crüe more than three decades ago, the band has never been solely about the music.

It’s been about, as its name suggests, a motley of vices that defined the band’s rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle that’s endured long after the so many hair bands of the 1980s expired years ago.

Mötley Crüe has left an indelible mark made by nine albums, more than 100 million albums sold and a legion of fans from Anaheim to Australia. But it has also left a stain of drug overdoses, booze binges, sex tapes, a vehicular manslaughter conviction that landed Neil in jail and who knows what else happened in the back of tour buses.

At 54, Vince Neil's career with Mötley Crüe is nearing an end. (All photos by Chris Swanson)
At 54, Vince Neil’s career with Mötley Crüe is nearing an end. (All photos by Chris Swanson)

“I hope we left a deep scar in rock ‘n’ roll history,” Sixx told the crowd. “But we aren’t Mötley Crüe: You are Mötley Crüe.”

Mötley Crüe’s time on stage is drawing to a close, as foursome rolled into Royal Farms Arena on Wednesday for its first show in six years at the relic on the corner of Baltimore Street and Hopkins Place, which it first played when Ronald Reagan was in the White House.

Neil, Sixx, Mars and Lee have spent the past few years trying to squeeze every riff out of Mötley Crüe’s storied career that will culminate with ”The Final Tour - All Bad Things Must Come To An End” on New Year’s Eve in the band’s hometown of Los Angeles.

Mötley Crüe wasn’t at its best in Baltimore, but that was expected, considering Mars in his 60s, Sixx is 56, Lee is 52 and Neil is 54. But they gave the best the had, which was good enough for the crowd that saw the band that put the “fun” in dysfunctional turn back the clock a couple of decades and return to its raunchy roots, when it burst out of the Sunset Strip in a blaze of hairspray.

There was Mars, whose painful arthritis and spinal condition will prevent him from touring on his own, using his fingers to pluck the sounds of his Stratocaster in a way only he can. And there was Sixx, in his outrageous makeup, showing why he’s still among the best bassists in the business.

Even in his 60s, Mick Mars is still one of the best guitarists in the business.
Even in his 60s, Mick Mars is still one of the best guitarists in the business.

And yes, Neil’s voice has deteriorated over time. But it was brought to life by an alcohol-fueled, Generation X-dominated crowd who reveled in singing many of the sounds that made up the soundtrack of their youth, whether it was Primal Scream, Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room, Looks that Kill, Same Ol’ Situation or Live Wire. 

And there was Lee, the bad boy who stole the show with Cruecifly, the name of his drum setup that was attached to roller-coaster tracks, enabling him to soar and spin 360 degrees high above the crowd as he traveled across the arena as he pounded out beat after beat like a metronome.

“I’ve been waiting my whole life to pull this off,” Lee said.

The show wasn’t a concert as much as it was a spectacle. Flames roared out of Sixx’s guitar during Shout at the Devil, hot women in short shorts and tight tops gyrated to Girls, Girls, Girls, with explosions, fireballs and flames lighting up the stage during Saints of Los Angeles, Dr. Feelgood and Kickstart My Heart.

Alice Cooper used a live snake as a scarf, pretended to cut his head off in a guillotine and brought to life as 12-foot tall Frankenstein while opening for Motley Crue.
Alice Cooper used a live snake as a scarf, pretended to cut his head off in a guillotine and brought to life as 12-foot tall Frankenstein while opening for Motley Crue.

Mötley Crüe hasn’t changed in decades – and neither has Alice Cooper, the proclaimed “Godfather of Shock Rock” who opened a show that would have been as popular in 1985 as it is 30 years later.

Like Mötley Crüe, Cooper’s time on stage is nearing an end. At 62, Cooper is like a great athlete in the twilight of his career, as fans hope to see a glimmer of his former greatness, knowing his best days are long gone.

Cooper played 13 songs, including megahits I’m 18, Billion Dollar Babies, Poison, No More Mr. Nice Guy and Feed My Frankenstein before closing with School’s Out.

Still, Cooper’s use of a live snake as a scarf, a guillotine that chopped off his head and a walking 12-foot tall Frankenstein couldn’t upstage Motley Crue, who were the same profanity-using, leather-wearing, hard-rocking foursome who were as integral to the heavy metal era of the 1980s as lipstick, hairspray and makeup.

Of course, those days – when Def Leppard, Poison, Cinderella, Twisted Sister, RATT and Guns N’ Roses ruled the airwaves and Walkmans – are dead.

But for one night in Baltimore, Mötley Crüe brought them back to life.

Setlists

Mötley Crüe: Girls, Girls, Girls; Wild Side; Primal Scream; Same Ol’ Situation; Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away); Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room; Looks That Kill; Anarchy in the U.K. (Sex Pistols cover); Mutherfucker of the Year; Shout at the Devil; Louder Than Hell; Drum Solo; Guitar Solo; Saints of Los Angeles; Live Wire; Dr. Feelgood; Kickstart My Heart. Encore: Home Sweet Home.

Alice Cooper: The Black Widow; No More Mr. Nice Guy; Under My Wheels; I’m Eighteen; Billion Dollar Babies; Poison; Dirty Diamonds; Go to Hell; Feed My Frankenstein; Ballad of Dwight Fry; Killer; I Love the Dead; School’s Out.