LIVE: Motley Crue with Alice Cooper & Muscle Car – Melbourne, 12 May, 2015

LIVE: Motley Crue with Alice Cooper & Muscle Car – Melbourne, 12 May, 2015
Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, – 12/5/2015
Review & photos by Shayne McGowan

First up for the night is Melbourne’s own Muscle Car. Rod Laver Arena is a far cry from the dark and boozy bars that the band is used to playing, but you wouldn’t know it. Muscle Car takes to the arena crowd like they have been doing it for years. The sound isn’t perfect, but that is to be expected of an opening band. Front man, Damo, interacts with the crowd like a pro, and the band legitimately smash it out of the park. I have to say, it was brilliant to see so many people hit the arena early to support a local band.

Alice Cooper is next up, and this is an important bucket list moment for me. I have been a fan since my childhood, and never actually seen him live. I’m not ashamed to admit that the emotion almost got the best of me when Coop hit the stage. At age 67, Alice Cooper is still going strong, maybe even stronger than ever.

 

His band is arguably the best he’s ever had, with Chuck Garric and Glen Sobel forming an unstoppable rhythm section, and the triple guitar attack of Ryan Roxie, Tommy Henriksen and Nita Strauss simply kills it. Alice and band give us hit after hit, while providing all of the gimmicks that Alice Cooper has become known for. Alice is electrocuted, gassed, turned into a giant Frankenstein version of himself, wrapped in a strait jacket and beheaded in a guillotine. Alice Cooper is the consummate showman, and truly gives us a show to remember.

Last, and most definitely not least, is Motley Crue. They are one of my favourite bands of all time, and this is the final time that I will see them perform live. It is the fifth time that I have seen the band, but knowing that it’s the last time, the emotion almost gets the better of me for the second time tonight!

 

To say that the Crue are rock n roll excess personified would be a massive understatement. In a 34 year career, they have quite literally done it all, lost it all, and done it all again. Taking many a queue from KISS, Motley has enough pyro to burn the entire arena to the ground tonight, and of course, for the first time in Australia, the Cruecifly drum rollercoaster.

It’s a greatest hits set tonight, and that’s fine with all in attendance. The band is all business too. Not a lot of banter with the crowd, just a lot of classic hard rock, like only Motley Crue can deliver. As usual, Vince allows the crowd to do the majority of the heavy lifting, but that’s ok, we’re used to that. They sound great, they look fantastic, and I for one am going to miss the hell out them!

My only issue is that it would have been nice for all of their albums to be represented on the final tour. They didn’t play anything from Generation Swine, New Tattoo or the self-titled record. I can understand why New Tattoo and self-titled didn’t feature (neither album featured the full original line up), but Tommy could have played along to a bit of Hooligans Holiday on the Crucifly instead of the dub step stuff… It would have been a nice touch. Anyway, it’s not a big enough issue to take away from the night as a whole.

R.I.P Motley Crue 1981 – 2015
Alice Cooper Set List:
Department of Youth
No More Mr Nice Guy
Under My Wheels
I’m Eighteen
Billion Dollar Babies
Poison
Dirty Diamonds
Welcome to My Nightmare
Feed My Frankenstein
Ballad of Dwight Fry
Killer
I Love the Dead
School’s Out (featuring Another Brick in the Wall)

Motley Crue Set List:
Saints of Los Angeles
Wild Side
Primal Scream
Same Ol’ Situation
Looks That Kill
On With the Show
Too Fast For Love
Smokin’ in the Boys Room
Motherfucker of the Year
Anarchy in the U.K
Dr Feelgood
Shout at the Devil
Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
Drum Solo
Mick Mars solo
Live Wire
Too Young to Fall in Love
Girls Girls Girls
Kickstart My Heart
Home Sweet Home

Category: Live Reviews