There are very few shows that take me back to my younger days. When I turned 20 years old, I got to see Motley Crue play the The Aud in Buffalo on their Dr. Feelgood tour. I considered this one of the best shows I have ever witnessed for years following. In January 2014 Motley Crue announced they would be calling it quits and signing a declaration stating that they would not be able to tour again using the name. Since that time the band has gone on a world tour and as they are winding it up one of the last U.S. shows took place at the First Niagara arena in Buffalo, NY. I was actually really looking forward to coming full circle with the band.
A few hours before the show some of my sources texted me that Tommy Lee would not be performing (he did play piano on “Home Sweet Home” with one hand) and that no “Crucify” would be set up either. The “Crucify” is the roller-coaster that Lee performs over the crowd during his drum solo. Many including myself, have waited anxiously to see this along with the band’s very theatrical show. I was extremely disappointed to hear and then see this when the curtain dropped and Alice Cooper drummer Glen Sobel was behind the kit. Lee’s excuse was waking up with tendinitis. Not sure if that was indeed the case but whatever it is I can say it left a hollow feeling in the show itself.
The band came out and tried to give the fans in Buffalo a great show but it just wasn’t to be. The band lacked the energy and most of all chemistry. The ever so reliable and underrated guitarist Mick Mars even was off par as I noticed a few miscues throughout the set. Vocalist Vince Neil who was never known for being a great vocalist, fumbled words and forget to sing some others. This happened even with the aid of a teleprompter, which you could see from various video angles shown throughout the set. Speaking of video images, I was hoping to see the band add more video clips or stills from the past to give it an encompassing feel. Not one image or photo was shown from their storied history.
Neil and bassist Nikki Sixx both went above the crowd on hydraulic lifts for the last song of the evening “Kickstart my Heart” before the encore. They all walked to the back of the arena to play “Home Sweet Home” where Lee joined them to play the piano on one hand. For the Crue, overall the show got off on the wrong foot and just never seen to steer itself back in my opinion.
Opening the show was the true original shock rocker Alice Cooper. You can’t find a more solid opener than in Cooper. He and his band pounded out an abbreviated 13 song set that included “Poison,” “No More Mr. Nice Guy” and “I’m Eighteen.” To really enjoy Cooper is to see him perform his entire set with theatrical gimmicks. I have never seen a bad Cooper show and can’t wait to see him again in a less restrictive setting.
Setlist:
Girls, Girls, Girls
Wild Side
Primal Scream
Same Ol’ Situation (S.O.S.)
Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room (Brownsville Station cover)
Looks That Kill
Mutherfucker of the Year
Anarchy in the U.K. (Sex Pistols cover)
In the Beginning
Shout at the Devil
Guitar Solo
Saints of Los Angeles
Live Wire
T.N.T. (Terror ‘N Tinseltown)
Dr. Feelgood
Kickstart My Heart
Encore:
Home Sweet Home
Alice Cooper setlist:
The Black Widow
No More Mr. Nice Guy
Under My Wheels
I’m Eighteen
Billion Dollar Babies
Poison
Dirty Diamonds (Bass, Drum and Guitar Solos)
Go to Hell
Feed My Frankenstein
Ballad of Dwight Fry
Killer
I Love the Dead
School’s Out
Editors Note: Photo passes were pulled for Motley Crue’s set before the show.
We would like to thank Natasha Desai from PMKBNC for the credentials for the show.
