***Guest author to Decibel Geek, Laura Suchan, is a true Motley Crue fan and has seen nearly 80 Motley Crue shows over the years!! Laura is catching several more Crue concerts during the All Bad Things Must Come to an End tour, including the final performance in L.A. Who better to review a few of these final Crue performances than such an expert on the subject? Here’s her thoughts on the August 22, 2015 show in Toronto.***
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Motley Crue is spending 2015 on a world tour saying good bye and thank you to their legions of fans. My personal good bye to the band I’ve followed for 30 plus years will take me to 3 countries and 7 shows.
Motley Crue at the Air Canada Centre, Toronto August 22, 2015.
I will admit to some trepidation as I walked into the Air Canada Centre (ACC) in Toronto for Motley Crue‘s final visit to the City. Afterall this was the final leg of their All Bad Things Must Come to an End tour and the Crue‘s final show ever in Toronto. I needed this to be good because the last time I saw the Crue was at the Sweden Rock Festival and it truly was a forgettable performance, definitely not one of their best.
I was pleased to see many of the seats in the ACC were starting to fill. This was something I was worried about given that good seats could still be had a few days before the show. The indoor rollercoaster known as Cruecify was making its debut in Toronto and even without Tommy‘s drum kit and the lighting, it was a sight to be seen. Many of those around me were also suitably impressed.
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n true Motley fashion the band started with a bang. Not many would expect to hear a song from The Sound of Music as part of a Motley Crue set however “So Long, Farewell” was well chosen as a playful take on the cessation of touring agreement the band publicly signed in January 2014 which is set to take effect at the end of this year. This was the final tour and it is indeed time to say good bye.
From the opening notes of “Girls, Girls, Girls” I could see the band was in fine form and ready to bring down the house. The show was loud, full of explosions and the set list spanned their entire 34 year career. The first thing I noticed was the opening had been switched to “Girls, Girls, Girls” on this leg of the tour from “Saints of Los Angeles”. The setlist in fact had been switched up somewhat from the 2014 leg. I missed “On With the Show” and “Too Fast For Love”; “Too Young to Fall in Love” and “Without You” not so much. In fact I thought Motley played it too safe with the setlist. It’s the final tour, time to take a risk. Why not break out a song that is unexpected, perhaps “Stick to Your Guns”? The rather bland “Smokin’ In the Boys Room” and “Mutherfucker of the Year” are two songs that could have been switched out in my opinion, for the stronger choices of “Red Hot” and “Ten Seconds to Love”.
“Primal Scream” was most definitely a highlight of the show. Not only were Neil‘s vocals spot on but the swaying columns of pyro were perfectly choreographed.
The show moved along at a good pace until it was time for Lee‘s drum solo. The stage darkened and “O’Fortuna”, based on the 13th century poem, came on. The break was long enough that many people in the audience were wondering what was going on. In fact the pause is necessary to secure Lee into Cruecify. Since last year’s venue, The Molson Amphitheatre, could not accommodate the massive structure of Cruecify, this was the first glimpse of the rollercoaster for Toronto fans. If you haven’t had the opportunity to witness Cruecify in person I would suggest seeking out a video of it in action. The pure spectacle of the rollercoaster detracts from the fact that Lee‘s solo is rather lame but it can’t be easy to play drums while moving along a rail, spinning and being upside down. Lee said Cruecify was a culmination of a life long dream for him and what better place to realize that dream then a final tour.
Not to be outdone by Lee and his Cruecify, the remaining 3 members of the Crue have their turn to fly in the air during “Kickstart My Heart”. Neil and Sixx board platforms which carry them over the audience bringing them to the far reaches of the arena while confetti and streamers rain from the rafters. Even Mars, known to be rather fragile due to his degenerative disease, is thrust many feet in the air aboard a riser on the main stage. I found myself silently hoping he didn’t fall or injure himself in any way.
The encore would of course be “Home Sweet Home”. After a suitable amount of time to allow the crowd to grow more hoarse calling for an encore, the Crue were escorted to a smaller stage located near the sound board. The crowd erupted into cheers as the opening notes of “Home Sweet Home” were heard. It seemed like the entire audience was singing along with the Crue or at least that is what it sounded like from my vantage point.
As I left the ACC to Frank Sinatra singing “My Way”, I thought about how the Crue really did things their way. That attitude is what brought many of us here to witness this final farewell. I could honestly say I was completely happy with the Crue‘s performance. They had most certainly redeemed themselves after the Sweden Rock Festival. The Crue came, they played and they conquered Toronto. I was one happy Crue fan.
Laura Suchan
Set List
So Long, Farewell – Rodgers and Hammerstein
Girls, Girls, Girls
Wildside
Primal Scream
S.O.S. (Same Old Situation)
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
Louder than Hell
O’ Fortuna – Carl Orff 13th century poem
Drum Solo
Guitar Solo
Saints of Los Angeles
Live Wire
T.N.T.
Dr. Feelgood
Kickstart My Heart
Encore Home Sweet Home
My Way – Frank Sinatra
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