It's '80s Flashback Night

Yeah, so, I went to a Mötley Crüe concert the other night just to go to a Mötley Crüe concert.

No punchline needed here; the jokes write themselves.


...Actually, on second thought, I do have some things to say about the show.

Being 35 years old, I'd like to think that I've changed over the years, that I've matured and adapted, in my appearance, my style, my likes and dislikes, to progress with the times. I'd like to think that most people have done the same. But, based upon the people I saw at the show, it's almost as though Doc Brown hooked the flux capacitor up to a jumbo jet and Back to the Future'd half the attendees of this show back from the Crüe's '80s heydays. Either that, or some of these people just got out of a "Do Not Open Until 2009" time capsule, and were oh so pleased to find that the Crüe is still touring.

On the other side of the spectrum, there were some shockingly young kids there as well, kids that weren't even born when Dr. Feelgood came out. I pointed out a group of kids to The Girl whose combined ages weren't greater than The Girl's and mine. I thought I felt old when I saw 12-year olds at a Nirvana concert back in '93; now I feel ancient.

And, despite the fact that I saw the show in my hometown, I only saw one person I went to high school with. But she actually works at the venue, so my chances of seeing her were roughly 100%.

As for the show itself, there were a ridiculous number of opening bands, three to be exact. The Last Vegas played for about five minutes; their set was about over before we even sat down. Theory of a Deadman was next, followed by Hinder. What I didn't get was that Theory of a Deadman, a good bad with three platinum records, is limited to a six-song set, while Hinder, which has the one record, with the one song, played for what seemed like an hour and a half. Back in '97, I saw Limp Bizkit open for Faith No More. I unceasingly screamed at them to get off the stage. (See, I'm a Limp hater from waaay back.) I've never wanted a band to get off the stage as badly, at least not until Hinder took the stage. When they came out, I was hoping they'd just play "Lips of an Angel" and get off the stage. But it was not to be. While it would have been futile to scream "YOU SUCK" over a stadium of screaming fans, if the band could have heard my comments exchanged with The Girl, they'd have run off the stage crying.

And then it was the Crüe's turn.

Believe it or not, the Crüe still puts on a good show, top-heavy with songs from Feelgood and older. And even though the boys are in their late-40s (except for Mick, who's nearly 60), they still played with all the energy of their younger days. Vince tended to get out of breath from running around stage and had to "yada yada" his way through parts of songs, much the way Elvis did in his later years, and Mick, who has a debilitating form of spinal arthritis, pretty much just stood in the same place on stage, but his hands are still good, so his guitar work was top-notch. Decent music, with tons of pyrotechnics and thousands of screaming fans; it was the '80s all over again.

Would I go to another Crüe concert? Probably not. Did I enjoy myself the one time I did go? Of course I did; it's Mötley Crüe, for Christ's sake!

What's not to like?