(Images and video: NYCDreamin Archives)
Read Part I - New York Dolls HERE.
After a nice amount of time spent outside to smoke a few cigarettes and to call the Gorgeous One to see how she was doing (she reported not feeling much better and was glad she hadn't come to the show), and mostly to purposely miss as much of Poison's set as possible, I felt that maybe they were just about finished so I went back inside the Target Center and headed back upstairs to the upper level. I returned to my seat just in time to witness C.C. Deville finish doing his guitar solo. It wasn't mind blowing, but it wasn't too shabby either...the man can play a guitar, there's no denying that.
From there Poison continued on through their set, the crowd, now noticably much higher in numbers but not quite sold out, on it's feet partying like it's 1989 as the band rocked it's wasy through Unskinny Bop, Fallen Angel and Nothin' But A Good Time. Then, mercifully, it was over. I guess you can't argue with the fact that the entire place was rocking out, hands in the air like they just don't care...but for my money, I still could have done without them. It's just me...I liked 'em in back in 1987...not so much so in 2011. Sorry to all you mega Poison fans but that's just the way it is - I'm over it. But congrats to the band on a well received set.
The stage crews set about the task of removing Poison's gear and replacing it with Motley Crue's and thankfully the set change between the evening's co-headliners took maybe just under 30 minutes. The standard between-set intermission music was coming over the PA and then suddenly, without any warning...
BAMMM! BAM! BAMBAM! BAMBBBAAAAMMMBOOOM!
Fireworks!!
Curtain Drop!
Motley...Fucking... Crue!
Wild Side
Saints Of Los Angeles
Sounds pretty good, eh? I'm not gonna waste alot of time writing about the show - you can see for yourself the band was in pretty good form last night and delivered a smokin' set of musical nostalgia that kept the nearly-sold out Target Center crowd on their feet for the duration of the evening. Even Vince Neil was a bit more impressive than I'd hoped for, he seemed to have a bit better vocal control, not gasping for air and actually seemed to be trying to sing as many of the lyrics as possible, something he's not always known for these days.
Live Wire
Shout At The Devil
S.ame O.le S.ituation
Primal Scream
Home Sweet Home
And then...the moment that people in the crowd had been anticipating all evening... Mr. Lee's fabulous 360* roller-coaster drum-solo! Hang on!
Tommy Lee Drum Solo
THAT was pretty impressive. All the haters will say, "Yeah, but his solo sucks." To which I reply, "Yeah, probably. But that was entertaining as hell and there's nothing wrong with being entertained once in a while either." And all you have to do is listen to the rest of the show to see that Tommy Lee does NOT suck as a drummer, he's a powerhouse...always has been. Maybe his solo isn't so technically proficient...and I don't think he's really trying to outdo Neil Peart or anything anyway. Tommy just wants you to watch him and go..."Bro, that is fucking bad-ass!" There's not another drummer out there that has consistenly brought you visual entertainment on that kind of scale for three decades.
Looks That Kill
At this point in the proceedings, my trusty Nikon was about to give out, so I reached in my pocket and grabbed the reserve unit, our old Sony that I haven't used in almost a year. I finished shooting the rest of the show with that and as you can see the picture quality is not quite that of the Nikon, but I did the best I could as the band continued on...
Dr. Feelgood
Too Young To Fall In Love
Girls Girls Girls
About midway through G.G.G., I decided that I'd had just about enough for one evening and that it was time to head for home. The band continued blasting away as I rose from me seat and made my way to the exit, I didn't even pay attention to what song it was though. The band had proven their point...after 30 years, Motley Crue are still a bunch of bad m.f.ers - and they still deliver the goods when it comes to getting your entertainment dollar's worth for a great evening of classic rock and roll.
This photo sums up the evening perfectly...
UPDATE:
Check out the Minneapolis Star/Tribune show review and some great photos HERE.
No comments:
Post a Comment