Saw the Crüe yesterday ...

[uwe]

Cologne again, but this time Mötley Crüe, not The Eagles, you know how eclectic my musical tastes are!

Duff McKagan's Loaded opened and while their type of punkish power pop (chord-, rather than riff-oriented, tell me when did good riffs die out in rock music and rhythm guitar became a lead instrument for so many bands?   ) is not exactly my taste (hadn't heard any of it, not bad, just unoriginal, their take on The Stooges' I wanna be your dog was a highlight), Duff has a surprisingly tuneful, strong and clear voice. He's a simplistic rhythm guitarist (his weapon of choice in this solo project), but I liked it better when he strapped the Fender P down low at the end of the set (with the bass player playing rhythm guitar on a bow to the past: snatches of Paradise City), it just looks more natural to me. He's an amiable frontman thoroughly enjoying what he's doing, crowd response was friendly, no doubt people remember where he comes from.

Back to Nikki and his men. I have never seen them before and their studio albums (I only have the Conrabi one, the two CD Anthology and their latest) did not set me on fire in the eighties. Like with Ratt and a host of other L.A. metallists, I wondered what the buzz was about. My son has recently discovered eighties L.A. hair metal as God's gift to music and absolutely wanted to go, so on the eve of his 15th birthday we went.

But live they are a different proposition. I've rarely seen a fourpiece (with the singer only playing rhythm guitar on two or three songs) with as full and massive a sound. Mars' lead guitar can only be described as commanding. With his new-found scrarecrow meets Alice Cooper look, he plays both a dense riffing guitar and fires off solos, which are an interesting mix of blues roots, slide work, metal clichées of the worst kind, whammy bar acrobatics and plain white noise. Entertaining to watch and hear though his solo alone on stage could have been shorter without detriment to the evening's musical nutrition value. I now know that he has a fine-working echo gadget and that his guitar stays in tune even after the fiercest whammy yanking, thank you.

Nikki played his new signature model TBird throughout. On one song, where he played a couple of rock'n'roll lines, you could even hear a TB sound, otherwise he is one giant thud together with Tommy Lee's bass drum sound. I had expected Sixx to dominate the stage a bit more, but Mars swallowed up all my attention. Bassist or not, Nikki just doesn't play anything interesting ever! Lee, otoh, never fails to entertain, be it his flailing arms drumming, his silly, but likeable stage raps, his pleasant piano playing or his method acting in, errrm, adult home videos. (Mötley's backdrop film clips are interspersed with porn and fetish scenes, but always blurry and artsy enough to not have the prosecutor coming. Don't know whether Tommy contributed home scenes though.)

Vince. (Or should that be Wince?  ) He still sounds like Mickey Mouse o.d.'ed on helium/Geddy Lee kicked in the balls, but to his credit: his sqeals are as high (and largely in tune) as they used to be and he worked the audience hard. Better singers (formerly) are today in much worse shape than he is. And if the Crüe ever stop touring, he can always get a job doing credible voice-dubs for Speedy Gonzales in old WB cartoons. Practice that rrrrolling "r" on "Arriva, arriva!", Vince!  

Good, honest concert.

Uwe

PS: Speaking of Crüe: I only found out today that Nigel Benjamin (the Mott singer who unenviably followed Hunter and whose work on "Drive On" and "Shouting and Pointing" is often - unjustly I think, the guy had both great range and an interesting Brit sneer - belittled like all of post-Hunter Mott's work) used to be with Nikki Sixx in London, the pre-outfit to Mötley Crüe?   I had no idea that he was washed up on the shores of the Pacific after Mott's punk revolution-induced demise. George, didn't you see London once in concert? With Nigel Benjamin? How was he? He states in a web bio that he was even slated to be the singer with Mötley, but declined the offer given his differences with Nikki.  

[Freuds_Cat]

tell me when did good riffs die out in rock music and rhythm guitar became a lead instrument for so many bands?  ) i

Hallelujah

[rahock]

This is something I've been pondering for quite some time also. I like a good rhythm chop as much as the next guy, but there are far too few lead players out there who can really light it up these days. I'm not talking effects loaded,self indulgent crap.....just a couple times around with some nice tasty licks is good for me.
Rick

[uwe]

Billy Corgan said in an interview: "All the good riffs have already been written, that's why I don't use them. Whenever I think I have come up with a good riff, I eventually find out that I subconsciously lifted it off Deep Purple's Made in Japan or something ...".

Trademark riffs such as Burn, Smoke on the Water, Satisfaction, Black Dog, Locomotive Breath etc are certainly not en vogue anymore.

[gearHed289]

I've rarely seen a fourpiece (with the singer only playing rhythm guitar on two or three songs) with as full and massive a sound.

Backing tracks. I've heard from production guys out with the Crue that there are parts where Nikki can take his hands off the bass, and the bass keeps coming out of the speakers. Lots of subtle sweetening going on all around apparently.

I guess actually playing everything the audience hears went out with good riffs? Industrial rock and dance bands obviously need tracks. But a four piece rock band? That's weak. There's a very popular local cover band here in Chicago that uses massive tracks live, and nobody seems to care. They get to the chorus of any given song, and all of a sudden it's like, "hey, who turned on the radio?" They do sound Heavenly though!  

[uwe]

There definitely was a synth bass at work in some intros. But these days you get used to a keyboarder playing behind the backline or the wings, even though it is an unfortunate custom. Always thought it silly with Sabbath even in the seventies and Ozzy has continued the unfortunate habit in the Zakk Wylde line up. But in Crüe's case, not so much Sixx' mammoth (but tonewise indistinct) bass sound impressed me as Mars' enveloping guitar.

When my eighties hairrock band started considering taped backing vocals to be triggered by the keyboarder in 1989 (it was fashionable then), I thought it was high time to leave. And I did.

[Hornisse]

I've always liked Mick Mars.  He is the old man of the group though.  Must be pushing mid 60's by now.  I take it he doesn't sport the stylish facial hair like he did in this photo circa 1974? 



They played some live show on TV several years ago where the backing tracks got off on "Girls, Girls, Girls" and it was fun to watch.

[Hornisse]

One of my favorite videos is the uncut version of same song.  NSFW though!



Sixx plays a cool little riff that I always like to hear at the 3:37 mark.  Nothing special, just a cool tone.

[leftybass]

I've always liked Mick Mars.  He is the old man of the group though.  Must be pushing mid 60's by now. 

from wikipedia:

Mick Mars (born Robert Alan Deal,[1] May 4, 1951 in Huntington, Indiana [2] is the lead guitarist for heavy metal/glam metal band Mötley Crüe.

[Dave W]

I saw a pic of him a few months ago on some music news site. He looked well-worn but not that old.

[uwe]

I've always liked Mick Mars.  He is the old man of the group though.  Must be pushing mid 60's by now.  I take it he doesn't sport the stylish facial hair like he did in this photo circa 1974?  



They played some live show on TV several years ago where the backing tracks got off on "Girls, Girls, Girls" and it was fun to watch.

Very 'taching!


"The other three pushed me to do this!"


Whether pushing sixty or seventy, he does look frail on stage, Johnny Winter'ish even (skinny, pale, tatooed and not healthy-looking). Reminds me of Boris Karloff in The Mummy.


"I look a lot younger than I feel!"




"Now which mortal dared to utter I'm pushing seventy? May the holy scarabus devour his entrails ..."



I wouldn't discount that they had backing vox tapes yesterday too, but they used them rarely, because most of the Crüe's minimalist chorusses don't really need it. Audience was doing the backing vocals most of the time. But I do remember that reunion TV performance where the tapes went off wrong -ouch!

[Hornisse]

I read in Rolling Stone (back in the 1980's when I first saw this photo) that he was in his late 20's at the time. (1974)  So if he was 28 in 1974 he would be 63 now which sounds about right.  I was sure he was the only band member in his 30's when he joined Crüe.

[uwe]

Yes, he always looked older both by his demeanor and his appearance. He has the gait of an older man but his illness is more to blame for that than his age.

"Individuals afflicted with Mars' illness suffer from a fusing together of some or all joints and bones of the spine. The affected area becomes inflamed and some of the bone may erode, but only about six percent of sufferers of the disease need to undergo hip-replacement surgery. The illness cannot be cured but the pain can be minimized with anti-inflammatory drugs, according to the National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society."

He had stage presence though, I dare say he dominated it while the others were jumping around.

[Hornisse]

There's a very popular local cover band here in Chicago that uses massive tracks live, and nobody seems to care. They get to the chorus of any given song, and all of a sudden it's like, "hey, who turned on the radio?" They do sound Heavenly though!  

Ditto here in Austin.  The guy that played drums in my band for the past 8 years recently left to join another cover band.  They consist of guitar, keyboard, 2 vocalists and drums.  No bass player and plenty of backing tracks including vocals and instrumentation.   And nobody in the audience is the wiser. (except maybe the musicians)  He gets paid $300 a gig no matter the gig and they play 8 times a month.  I prefer to see bands do it live.  Some of my favorite bands to see here in Austin are Les & The Funk Mob and The Eggmen.  Smoking bass players in both bands (Nick Harris in Funk Mob and our very own Leftybass in Eggmen) and everything they do is real and live. (Unlike Strawberry Fields, where nothing is real......I know, I know)

[Hornisse]

He had stage presence though, I dare say he dominated it while the others were jumping around.

He always rocks.  Mick is a very good (and underrated) guitarist.  Always looks cool while doing it too.