Mötley Crüe nears end with final North American show
SPOKANE, Wash. — Palpable energy and excitement surrounded fans walking into the Veterans Memorial Arena on Saturday night: the prolific heavy metal band Mötley Crüe was about to play its final North American show, and they were about to witness it.
After 33 years and more than 100 million records sold worldwide, the seminal quartet decided earlier this year that it would call it quits after its appropriately named Final Tour. (The members even signed a "cessation of touring agreement," which prevents them from hitting the road after the end of next year, to make it official.)
Despite a history of run-ins with the law, substance abuse and temporary lineup changes, Mötley Crüe — drummer Tommy Lee, guitarist Mick Mars, singer/guitarist Vince Neil and bassist Nikki Sixx — has moved past its tumultuous past, using the Final Tour to celebrate all the band has accomplished since forming in 1981.
The two-hour show played like a greatest-hits collection as the band pulled songs from across its extensive discography, including Live Wire; Girls, Girls, Girls; Dr. Feelgood; Kickstart My Heart, which was famously inspired by Sixx's near-death experience after a drug overdose; and the group's cover of Brownsville Station's Smokin' in the Boys Room.
More recent material, such as Mutherf----- of the Year and Saints of Los Angeles, the title track from the band's latest album, also made the setlist.
Lee took his drum solo to a new level — literally — as he and his drum set climbed up and over the sold-out crowd along a roller-coaster-like track, called the "Crüecifly," while performing along with songs by Fall Out Boy, Jay Z and Rage Against the Machine.
After Lee traveled from the stage to the back of the venue and back again, Mars launched into a guitar solo that, while not as flashy as the "Crüecifly," exuded his quiet confidence.
Earlier in the night, Neil, whose unparalleled charisma led the band for decades, invited Sixx to give the audience a brief retelling of the band's origin story.
Sixx spoke of riding a Greyhound bus from Jerome, Idaho to Los Angeles where, through almost fateful decisions, he rounded up Lee, Mars and Neil. The band had practiced what would become its debut single, Live Wire, at its first rehearsal — and the rest is heavy metal history.
This tour allowed the band to play into the theatrical persona it has built over its career, with an impressive amount of pyrotechnics, lights, smoke machines and bursts of flames, as well as a pair of flashy back-up singers/dancers.
As the final notes of the band's encore, crowd-favorite Home Sweet Home, rang out across the arena, a montage of video clips from the band's career played on a large screen, highlighting the bittersweet, monumental moment. While the band is set to play a handful of international dates in 2015, this show marks the end of its tenure in North America.
"This is not goodbye," Sixx said earlier. "This is not farewell, because, I swear to God, our music will haunt you until the day you die."