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In 1990, Motley Crue exploded the minds of an unsuspecting Albany, NY crowd

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J

Joe

Member
This is during the Dr. Feelgood Tour, the absolute height of the band's popularity.

Now imagine being 16, 17, 18, or 19 years old at the time. You live in Albany, NY and you're a rabid Motley Crue fan. Your only access to the band at the time is your tapes, the radio, the random music video playing on MTV, and the occasional interview in a rock magazine.

You're listening to the radio and the DJ says Motley Crue announced they're touring and holy fucking shit they're coming to Albany fucking New York.

You and a buddy wait outside of the stadium ticket booth overnight on a long line filled with sketchy people months in advance.

You wait, wait, and wait some more and then finally the night finally comes.

You get to the arena. The parking lot is packed with people acting crazy, tailgating, and blasting Motley Crue music. You find a spot in a far corner of the lot. You enter the arena, they rip your ticket, and you settle into your seat.

You can't even believe that Motley Crue is in the same town as you right now let alone the same building. The entire place goes dark and the intro begins.....Holy shit they have computer graphics on the screen....What fucking creepy voices is this?! The spotlight turns on...HOLY SHIT ITS TOMMY LEE....he starts beating on the cymbals, and then the tom-toms, he's building up to a crescendo.......and then BOOM. The crowd loses their minds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVBatUGgwI0


Could you imagine being there?

The entire intro is so amazingly late 80's/early 90's it hurts.

It's an absolute perfect showcase of mainstream American culture at the time. The sound, the fashion, the theatrics, the special effects, and the energy.
 
V

vas_a_morir

Banned
That's a pretty sick intro, honestly. The band lifts off from under the stage... so much could go wrong but they came out like champs.
 
B

bill0527

Member
wow look at that. Thousands of people having a good time and not a single mouth breather holding up a goddamn tablet or phone obstructing your view.

Those days really were the absolute peak of our civilization.
 
F

FrsDvl

Member
I wish they still rocked like this. Saw them last in 2010, and it was quite shit.

Going to see them again for the last time, in December. Not expecting much, but can't miss out on their very last tour. Plus Alice Cooper will make up for it.

I envy the people who got to see them in their prime.
 
way more

way more

Member
Did they have some sort of agenda against Albany? Was there a feud they settled? Were concerts banned from Albany ala Dirty Dancing?

What am I missing here?
 
Liberty4all

Liberty4all

Banned
bill0527 said:
wow look at that. Thousands of people having a good time and not a single mouth breather holding up a goddamn tablet or phone obstructing your view.

Those days really were the absolute peak of our civilization.
Click to expand...

There were no tablets or phones back then ... Edit: Woops that's the point of your post

I've had too much to drink
 
Trojita

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
mac said:
Did they have some sort of agenda against Albany? Was there a feud they settled? Were concerts banned from Albany ala Dirty Dancing?

What am I missing here?
Click to expand...

I don't know what I'm missing either lol. Wouldn't this happen with any great band in any location?
 
D

DonasaurusRex

Online Ho Champ
Joe said:
This is during the Dr. Feelgood Tour, the absolute height of the band's popularity.

Now imagine being 16, 17, 18, or 19 years old at the time. You live in Albany, NY and you're a rabid Motley Crue fan. Your only access to the band at the time is your tapes, the radio, the random music video playing on MTV, and the occasional interview in a rock magazine.

You're listening to the radio and the DJ says Motley Crue announced they're touring and holy fucking shit they're coming to Albany fucking New York.

You and a buddy wait outside of the stadium ticket booth overnight on a long line filled with sketchy people months in advance.

You wait, wait, and wait some more and then finally the night finally comes.

You get to the arena. The parking lot is packed with people acting crazy, tailgating, and blasting Motley Crue music. You find a spot in a far corner of the lot. You enter the arena, they rip your ticket, and you settle into your seat.

You can't even believe that Motley Crue is in the same town as you right now let alone the same building. The entire place goes dark and the intro begins.....Holy shit they have computer graphics on the screen....What fucking creepy voices is this?! The spotlight turns on...HOLY SHIT ITS TOMMY LEE....he starts beating on the cymbals, and then the tom-toms, he's building up to a crescendo.......and then BOOM. The crowd loses their minds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4_bgxALTc8


Could you imagine being there?

The entire intro is so amazingly late 80's/early 90's it hurts.

It's an absolute perfect showcase of mainstream American culture at the time. The sound, the fashion, the theatrics, the special effects, and the energy.
Click to expand...

more like the final moments of their time in the spotlight , from then on Tommy's Penis made more headlines than them.
 
C

Chainsawkitten

Member
bill0527 said:
wow look at that. Thousands of people having a good time and not a single mouth breather holding up a goddamn tablet or phone obstructing your view.

Those days really were the absolute peak of our civilization.
Click to expand...

Except for the guy filming, without whom you wouldn't be able to see it.
 
A

aku:jiki

Member
I don't like this band but that is a pretty fucking rad way to enter the stage. None of the shows I've ever seen have done anything that cool.
 
Z

zerotol

Banned
I think it was the tour before this one that had Tommy in a drum cage thing that spun upside down. Theater of Pain maybe? I remember my brother went to it and was telling me all about it. I eventually saw Crüe open for the Stones in 2005 and my seat was right next to the side of the stage. When the pyro went off next to tommys drum kit I could feel the heat, can't imagine what it felt like being right next to it.
 
A

AMUSIX

Member
Theater of pain had a huge ramp that lifted the drums up almost 90 degrees so that Tommy's drumming could be seen by the audience.
Girls Girls Girls had the cage that did flips and everything.
Dr. Feelgood had a drumset suspended by a track that went to the back of the arena.

Tommy's always wanted to get closer to the audience and he kept coming up with ridiculously awesome ways of doing that.


Recently, he's been riding a 'drum roller coaster'
oz6OWI1.jpg




Oh, and this thread will get hate, but I sincerely believe that Motley outdid so many bands in so many ways. They were the quintessential band for their genre, and all the typical stories of wild debauchery that come from the whole 'rock star' thing that get used in TV and film pretty much come from them.

If you haven't read it:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060989157/?tag=neogaf0e-20
MMprpFU.jpg
 
Z

zerotol

Banned
AMUSIX said:
Theater of pain had a huge ramp that lifted the drums up almost 90 degrees so that Tommy's drumming could be seen by the audience.
Girls Girls Girls had the cage that did flips and everything.
Dr. Feelgood had a drumset suspended by a track that went to the back of the arena.

Tommy's always wanted to get closer to the audience and he kept coming up with ridiculously awesome ways of doing that.


Recently, he's been riding a 'drum roller coaster'
oz6OWI1.jpg




Oh, and this thread will get hate, but I sincerely believe that Motley outdid so many bands in so many ways. They were the quintessential band for their genre, and all the typical stories of wild debauchery that come from the whole 'rock star' thing that get used in TV and film pretty much come from them.

If you haven't read it:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060989157/?tag=neogaf0e-20
MMprpFU.jpg
Click to expand...


Oh shit, this reminds me I need to read Dirt. I've only read the free 30 page sample thing available on my iPad. Not much of a fan of the band, but what I read was pretty entertaining.
 
P

Producer

Member
I went to one of their shows during the Route of All Evil tour. It was amazing though unfortunately i lost all the footage/pics. Wish i could have seen them during the 80's.
 
A

AMUSIX

Member
Sho_Nuff82 said:
Wait, why was the crowd unsuspecting if the tickets were on sale for months in advance?
Click to expand...

I can't talk for the OP, but I did go to this concert in Oakland, and, yeah, unsuspecting is a perfect descriptor. This was before social media, before camera phones, before everyone seeing everything before they experience it. We really had no idea what to expect. Sure, we had been to their Theater of Pain show and the Girls Girls Girls show, and a friend had heard from a friend that this concert was incredible and there was something about a flying drumset and that there was a huge laser screen....but that was pretty much it.

Yeah...we were definitely unsuspecting...
 
J

Joe

Member
AMUSIX said:
I can't talk for the OP, but I did go to this concert in Oakland, and, yeah, unsuspecting is a perfect descriptor. This was before social media, before camera phones, before everyone seeing everything before they experience it. We really had no idea what to expect. Sure, we had been to their Theater of Pain show and the Girls Girls Girls show, and a friend had heard from a friend that this concert was incredible and there was something about a flying drumset and that there was a huge laser screen....but that was pretty much it.

Yeah...we were definitely unsuspecting...
Click to expand...

Yes, this is what I was talking about.
 
S

SmackDaddy

Member
Jesus. I skimmed this thread title and thought it would be a story about a suicide bomber.

But YOOO DOOGG thanks for the recap of this cool moment. I've been at a few concerts that have felt really really electric- won't ever forget them. Only happened a handful of times... maybe I was just super high.
 
Hale-XF11

Hale-XF11

Member
Yeah, I would have pooped myself because I loved that album at the time, but I was still too young to go to concerts by myself or with friends. I didn't really see my first rock concert until 1991 when a friend's older brother took us to see KISS during their Hot In the Shades tour. Man, those were the days though. Those concerts were major events. Stadiums were just packed wall to wall with people. The crowd was loud and crazy. Pyrotechnics everywhere. Tailgating before the show. Haven't really experienced anything like that since then.
 
K

karmaforgotme

Member
I hated hair metal back in the late 80's. If it thrash metal or punk, it wasn't metal (hey I was a teenage skater idoit). That said I liked Motley Crue. I still think their first album. Too Fast For Love, was their best with Shout At The Devil close behind it. Also even the albums I didn't like that much had a couple of good songs on them. I hate that I never saw them live.

The concert that blew my 16 year old mind was Metallica in 1989 on the Justice For All Tour. I was right against the rail in front of James the whole time. From the opening chords of Blackened to Jason singing Whiplash at the end. After the show a girl I knew from school came up to me and gave me a backstage pass (she was a maid at their hotel). I met the whole band, and pretty much hung out with Kirk Hammet for 2 hours talking bullshit (edit this part out because I am unsure if true).

Fun fact this girl later appeared in Bret Michaels Rock Love.

I can't believe I actually found the setlist online.

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/metallica/1989/freedom-hall-civic-center-johnson-city-tn-33d6d4e9.html

Blackened
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Harvester of Sorrow
The Four Horsemen
Bass Solo
Master of Puppets
Fade to Black
Seek & Destroy
...And Justice for All

Encore:
Creeping Death
One
Guitar Solo
Battery

Encore 2:
Last Caress
(Misfits cover)
Am I Evil?
(Diamond Head cover)
Whiplash


http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/metallica/1989/freedom-hall-civic-center-johnson-city-tn-33d6d4e9.html
 
A

AMUSIX

Member
sooperkool said:
I went to the Monsters of Rock tour in '91

AC/DC
Mettalica
Queensrÿche
The Black Crowes
Motley Crüe

Was a damn fine day
Click to expand...

Ha! Caught this concert, too. Queensrÿche was incredible. I was convinced they were faking it because every note was pitch perfect.
 
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