Photographs by Steve Dormer
OSHAWA, ON May 11 2013 – Mötley Crüe brought Sex, drugs, and rock & roll to a sold-out GM Centre in Oshawa on Saturday night and gave the crowd a set full of old and new hits, some Sex, and a pretty impressive stage show that includes Tommy’s roller coaster. The GM Centre smell of hockey bags and sweat was quickly replaced by the incense smell of hash and weed, giving the venue a more proper concert atmosphere.
The show opened with a countdown clock and a few smoking hot Mötley Crüe women carrying MC flags through the crowd towards the stage while the band members slowly crept onto the stage, as if part of a soon-to-be sacrifice of one of the Crüe babes.
The four band members made up of Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil, Tommy Lee, and Mick Mars, have performed together for over 30-years, opened up with Saints Of Los Angeles and went right into a great version of Wild Side. Vince Neil looked right at home with his Crüe women dancing and flirting with each other through the songs. Through the night they played other great versions of Shout at the Devil, Don’t Go Away Mad, Live Wire, Dr. Feelgood, Girls Girls Girls, and finished off with Kickstart My Heart.
One of the moment of the nights, for me personally, was Home Sweet Home. Tommy Lee played on a baby grand piano that was lowered from above the stage to his waiting fingers. As a teenager, I played that song over and over and watched the video thousands of times and learning to air piano as if I were Tommy. That song made me the Mötley Crüe fan I am today.
As soon as Home Sweet Home song was over the crowd got what they were all waiting for, Tommy’s Roller Coaster ride. Tommy Lee does a drum solo while he and his drums begin to move on the coaster into an upside down position and loop, driving the crowd wild and wanting more.
A very frail looking Mick Mars did a guitar solo and showed off he isn’t just a hair metal guitarist and he actually knows how to play a six-string. Mars has been battling a crippling form of arthritis named Ankylosing Spondylitis, an inflammatory condition affecting parts of the spine. Last week at another Canadian show, an overly excited idiot leapt on stage and went to hug Mars and knocked him right over, causing some delays to the show and almost threatened the early ending to the show.
When all the lights went on and the show was over I was thrilled with the show. My few weeks prior countdown to the show by pounding Mötley Crüe music, wearing Mötley Crüe bandanas, and attempting to stretch my old white tiger striped spandex pants from a medium to an extra large was well worth it. I didn’t go away mad at the end, I just went away, with a big smile on my face. Mötley Crüe’s new release SEX can be found online and at a store near you.
