Las Vegas Weekly

August 3, 2009 · 1:58 PM

Joint’s pulse quickens as Motley Crue pays another visit to “Dr. Feelgood”

By John Katsilometes

Motley Crue at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel.

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabik.com

Motley Crue is our Las Vegas house band. For big events, such as closing The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel, give ’em a jingle. To fill an open date at the new Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel with a six-hour rock fest, well, just back up the trucks. The Crue is glad to load in.

Saturday night, the band that fits the city like a snug pair of faded jeans amped it up for the second installation of CrueFest. Similar to most “fests,” it was a multi-band showcase that shook the new concert hall for more than six hours. Preceding the Crue, in thunderous procession, were Charm City Devils, Drowning Pool, Theory of a Deadman and Godsmack. There was some debate in our suite -- if you consider shouting at the person next to you to be heard over the dueling drum solo during Godsmack’s set a "debate"-- about just which band was loudest. Hard to say, since from the second song in the Charm City Devils’ set, my head was ringing like the bell on a San Francisco cable car. But I will give the audio nod to Motley Crue simply because they played last, and the event was actually their showcase. The others were great, and satisfactorily loud, but they were still guest stars. If you’re Las Vegas’ own Vince Neil and you’re putting forth a show called “CrueFest 2,” named for your own band, you don’t allow a band from Canada (even a fine band, like Theory of a Deadman) to out-octave you on your home court.

(For a full scan of what happened last night, as it happened, click on the Tweets of the Johnny Kats. My thumbs have been as sore as my ears since the show.)

For Crue fans, and the hall was brimming with such, the highlight of the night was a recasting of “Dr. Feelgood,” Motley Crue’s blustery, chart-topping release from 1989. At one point, Neil asked if anyone owned this album on vinyl, and yo! I did. I believe it was the last actual vinyl music I purchased. The cover made a great beer-bottle coaster.

For this landmark event, the Crue hit the stage for the title number encased by a remarkably effective stage set that drew down, rather than up-scaled, the production. It was a rubber room-styled hospital set that brought the musicians/health care together in tight formation. I loved it. What followed was familiar fare for anyone who played and partied and resorted to all sorts of immoral acts to “Dr. Feelgood” back in the day: “Slice of Your Pie,” “Rattlesnake Shake,” “Kickstart My Heart,” “Without You,” “Same Ol’ Situation (S.O.S.),” “Sticky Sweet,” “She Goes Down,” “Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)” and “Time For a Change.” The post-“Feelgood” procession included “Wildside,” “Shout at the Devil,” “Home Sweet Home” and, amid a war zone-caliber indoor pyro show, “Girls, Girls, Girls.”

Why the lingering appeal of the Crue? Maybe it’s their unbridled, unambiguous message. Consider a song like “She Goes Down.” No hidden sentiment there, no deeper meaning to sort out. We get that song. Even so, I can say that when we played “Dr. Feelgood” in the weeks and months after its release, no one in the room (or, in some instances, the parking lot of the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico, Calif.) honestly felt we’d be attending Motley Crue shows 20 years later. Yes, the album was reportedly cut as the band collectively embraced sobriety, but we still didn’t believe the Crue would survive their own self-destructive tendencies to live another 20 years. Yet here they are, still, rocking, still relevant, even. Every so often, in these times of universal strain, we need us some Crue to remind us to kickstart our hearts, shout at the devil, perform some rattlesnake shake.

And for that peerless advice, we are eternally grateful.

Share This