Motley Crue...done?

[THEDOCTOR]

Vince was never super great live. I saw them as far back as '88 and he was lazy, leaving words out, not trying screams,etc. The only lazier singer I saw was Steven Pearcy.
I saw him early 2000's on his own and he could barely stand , much less sing.
In the past few times I saw Crue(including this tour), I was actually impressed that Vince seemed to be doing a bit better, but it's hit or miss with him.

[Terry]

Saw The Crue twice.

Once in 1984, opening for Ozzy, and once in 2014 on their "farewell" tour.

Vince wasn't particularly good either time, although I recall he actually sang quite a bit more back in 1984. And whatever shortcomings he had in the vocal department were basically made up for by the rest of the band being fairly energetic. As it was an opening slot, there wasn't much in the way of stage effects for them to fall back on: a bit of dry ice at the beginning of their set, and that was about it. I also recall thinking that while they didn't suck live, that they were quite a bit better on record, taking into account that they only had their first two albums out when I saw them in 1984. And neither of those albums had masses of overdubs and production tricks, so being as they were pretty stripped down recordings it shouldn't have been too hard for the band to replicate them live. They were decent.

In 2014, it was a bit of a different animal. Vince was clearly overweight, and it showed in terms of him barely moving, as if he were fatigued or something. He was pretty terrible vocally live in 2014. His whole performance kinda smacked of him not so much phoning it in, but rather just not being capable of singing any better or moving around any more than he was. It was clear the backing vocals were augmented by piped-in tracks. In addition, there were clearly backing rhythm guitar tracks being piped in for the group to play along with. I mean, there's only two stringed instruments onstage, so obviously one shouldn't clearly hear rhythm guitar tracks whenever Mars was soloing (particularly since Sixx's bass was virtually inaudible to begin with, which I really didn't mind one way or the other, since he is a hack/ham bass player at best anyway). In the case of Mars, the guy has been ill for quite a long time, so the backing guitar tracks didn't really bother me: shit, just the fact that the guy was still standing up there playing is amazing in itself.

I will say Tommy Lee was a standout at both shows. While age and life have clearly debilitated Neil and Mars, Tommy Lee was as spot on in 2014 as he was 30 years earlier.

Should Motley Crue pack it in? I mean, I have no interest in seeing them again regardless, so I suppose it doesn't matter. It would probably be a good thing if they did in terms of quitting while they were still able to basically deliver the goods, as it were. I mean, I don't realistically think Mick Mars can be expected to keep touring, and Vince Neil really isn't up to it anymore: were it not for the killer stage show/production effects and assistance from the backing tracks vocally, and the band in 2014 had to rely solely on their musicianship (such as it is) to pull them through, the show would have kinda sucked, to be honest. However, the stage show, backing tracks and the fact that it was (supposedly) the last time they would be performing allowed one in 2014 to overlook the shortcomings and enjoy it for what it was.

[Seshmeister]

It was clear the backing vocals were augmented by piped-in tracks. In addition, there were clearly backing rhythm guitar tracks being piped in for the group to play along with. I mean, there's only two stringed instruments onstage, so obviously one shouldn't clearly hear rhythm guitar tracks whenever Mars was soloing (particularly since Sixx's bass was virtually inaudible to begin with, which I really didn't mind one way or the other, since he is a hack/ham bass player at best anyway). In the case of Mars, the guy has been ill for quite a long time, so the backing guitar tracks didn't really bother me: shit, just the fact that the guy was still standing up there playing is amazing in itself.

Not amazing enough for me, it's like going to watch Madonna or Beyonce mime along to their songs except they actually at least move around a bit.

What's the fucking point?

The great irony is that the only reason we know that the whole thing isn't just a backing track is that the lead vocals are so bad.

[cadaverdog]

I went to two shows Motley Crew played at. The US Festival and The Sky Show in San Diego later that year. Didn't see much of the set at Us We were trying to work our way through the crowd to get to the front for Ozzie and Judas Priest. Only heard them at The Sky Show. Both shows were totally oversold.

[Seshmeister]

Police Lieutenant: Well, Denham, the airplanes got him.

Carl Denham: Oh no, it wasn't the airplanes. It was booty killed the beast