Things went off with a hot bang two nights ago at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
Eighties rockers Motley Crue (U.S) and Def Leppard (U.K) lit a fuse that burned industrial- strength-loud and off-the-grid bright for three straight hours.
SCENIC WRITER’S SHACK was ringside. Here’s eight highlights…
Motley Crue’s frontman is the one-and-only renegade VINCE NEIL. I knew his singing voice very well but had never heard his speaking voice.
These days Vince isn’t someone you’d ordinarily describe as CUTE. Back in the 80’s – 40 kg lighter – different story (in the opinion of female fans). But his speaking voice? It’s gentle, soft, cartoonish and, maybe best described as – wait for it – Daffy Duck-ish. CUTE ? Probably that too.
RICK ALLEN has been DEF LEPPARD‘S drummer since 1978. In 1985 he lost his left arm in a car crash. How he re-taught himself to play one-handed and continue to serve as the mega-group’s sticks man is easily one of rock music’s most inspirational stories.
Naturally SWS had seen all the song videos over the years featuring Allen. Live on-stage however, was a whole ‘nother level of breathtaking.
WILD SIDE, the song MOTLEY CRUE opened with, pretty much summed up the band’s mind-hemorrhaging and all-round five star dynamite performance on the night.
This 1987 video for the song is, I reckon, (now) hilarious. I say hilarious because in it drummer Tommy Lee is eerily without a single tattoo and lead-singer Vince Neil looks, well… not like the Vince Neil we have today. Still, it gives some vibe of the glittering mayhem that went down on Wednesday night.
Every man, woman and child (there were a few of those there as well) at the concert on Wednesday night was waiting for this song. When it came, it shook the rafters and didn’t disappoint. Stadium rock at its nut-cracking finest.
Motely Crue’s cover of the Beatles classic HELTER SKELTER was pretty special. Their version of the Beastie Boys FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT wasn’t bad either.
Looking but NOT buying at concert ‘Merch’ tents is always a self-belief pleasure for me. $65 t-shirts I can get on-line for $15 is not my idea of a wise-spend. Learnt that from my wife, btw.
Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee gave added meaning to the term FLASH MOB when he grabbed the mike and encouraged the females in the audience to flash their breasts. Three did. The four-story high video screens on each end of the stage shared the moment with, well… everyone.
For two bands whose heyday was way back in the eighties, the silver-fox brigade was more than well represented in the audience. Incredibly, there were also almost just as many people in their twenties.
In the seats immediately behind me were three teenage girls. I’d put each of their ages at no more than 15. To give a mental picture, the trio resembled a cross somewhere between the 1960’s-like innocence of image A and the slightly harder-edged sass of image B.
The three left halfway through the second act (Def Leppard) I’m guessing ’cause they had to front up at school the next morning. SCENIC WRITER’S SHACK’S #1 thrill of the entire night was hearing these girls sing along – word ultra-perfectly – to EVERY SINGLE SONG Motley Crue played.
By some other-worldly means I still can’t completely account for, these eye-liner heavy pubescent teens had somehow committed to memory every syllable of every word of every lyric of every song this four-decades old band performed for 70 continuous minutes. It was so freakin’ time-defying awesome.
So who was better? While DEF LEPPARD were amazing, nothing could compete on the night with the raw animal energy of MOTLEY CRUE. They owned the stadium and were nothing short of ferocious.
On a slightly different musical note…It may be old news by now, but last week fans of THE BEATLES got what they’d waited for for such a long time – a new song!
How exactly was it done? Let’s just say it had something to do with AI machine learning plus the combined talents of Paul McCartney and filmmaker Peter ‘King Kong’ Jackson. For the full story, go HERE.
To check out HAPPY DAYS go clickety click HERE.
I keep forgetting this is the band with the one-armed drummer. That really IS an inspirational story that I remember and look on with awe and immense admiration.
I love that the lead’s speaking voice is like Daffy Duck. OH MY GOD. That’s hilarious.
It sounds like you had a great time. It’s hard not getting caught up in the excitement of the event along with everyone else and not buy exorbitant stuff. Admittedly, I did that once in my life at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. The Yanks were on a winning streak and I was a big fan back then–even though, I know, I know, how could they NOT be good, considering all the $$ thrown at them to be that way–but I splurged on a Yankees short-sleeved uniform shirt. Still remember how much it was–$80!!! It hurt to buy that thing, Neil. So your wife is UBER wise when it comes to these things.
I still do have it, however.
The three girls behind you who knew all the lyrics was great too. I hope they didn’t have trouble waking up for school the next day! lol
Your comments always show that you’ve actually READ the post. That is such the compliment Stacey. Thankyou. Yeah, I think allowing ourselves some over-priced memorabilia, impulse buys, frivolous spends or whatever every now and then, when the urge takes us, is healthy. And you still have your Yankees shirt! Being too ‘tight’ with money all the time can drive a person… silly, I reckon.