Rock News
Gig Review: Motley Crue Blew The Roof Off Rod Laver Arena In Melbourne Post by: Matt Fitzpatrick 25 September, 2011 - 3:29 PM
(Photo: Richard Lipp/Triple M)
Melbourne certainly isn't a city devoid of entertainment options. On Saturday AFL fans watched the Cats at the MCG. Down the road the Sydney Myer Music bowl saw dance heads at the Parklife Festival, while AAMI park saw the Melbourne Storm play for a spot in the NRL Grand Final. Then, at a sold-out Rod Laver Arena, three rock legends, Doc Neeson, Bret Michaels and Motley Crue got 10,000 fans standing in their seats for nearly three hours of iconic rock.
Despite the awesome support acts, there's no doubt it was Motley Crue the people came to see. Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Mick Mars and Vince Neil may have signs of aging with their fading tattoos and weathered skin, but their ability to rock out an arena is as good as ever and they showed that these old dogs still have a few tricks up their sleeves.
From the first riff, the Motley Crue boys hosted a gig that felt like they were playing in front of 10,000 of their best mates. Vince Neil refused to push on to the next song without checking in with his crowd, asking how they’re doing, letting us all know how hot our Australian women are, and he couldn't resist throwing in some interstate rivalry: 'The people in Brisbane said that Melbourne sucked ass and Sydney said you Melbourne people were a bunch of candy-asses! Well they can suck my d***!'.
Vince Neil for one of the closing tracks, a brilliant rendition of classic "Dr Feelgood", draped himself in the Australian flag and won over any member of the audience that wasn't already completely loving the gig. "Dr Feelgood" sets the room on fire, enormous flames and pyrotechnics heating up the already sweaty crowd, with images of molten lava rolling down the walls on enormous LED screens.
Their awesome heavy metal rock sounded perfect booming through Rod Laver Arena. You could feel it rattling your ribcage but they didn't let go of their playful side. Nikki Sixx picking his nose on stage in front of a camera filming him from the pit, only to wipe what he’d found up there on the lens of the camera filming him!
Tommy Lee belted those drums as though his life depended on it. He was one of the highlights of the show, a giant circular steel frame that surrounded his drum kit rotated and entire 360 degree revolution while he performed a drum solo suspended completely upside-down!
Watching Tommy Lee drum upside down for minutes suspended in front a packed out Rod Laver Arena was simply incredible. The guy standing beside me yelled to his mate "That is the craziest f#*%ing thing I have ever f#*$ing seen!"
Tommy Lee took it one step further, by making one fan's night and picking out a member of the audience called 'Glenno' to ride the drum kit with him in front of the area.
Tommy Lee promised that for the next tour, he'd get an extra 10,000 seats built in so we could all have a go and that sums up the spirit of the night. You could get a feel from every member of the band that although they rock out as hard as any, they love their fans.
Their performance was hard-rocking and pitch perfect, but also completely inclusive, creating that kind of connection with fans that pop singers can only dream of.
Wearing the Aussie flag, embracing interstate rivalry, covers of songs you'd never expect them to do, and giving a guy the ride of his life on an upside down drum kit. The Motley Crue boys did absolutely everything they could to give an unforgettable performance for their Melbourne show and the crowd lapped up every second of it.
Were you there? What what was your highlight?
