“Pretty much the greatest Rock’N’Roll show you’ll ever see…”

So I realize it’s fun (and easy) to make fun of Motley Crue, but I think they just might be the greatest “hard rock,” band of all-time (Now whether...

So I realize it’s fun (and easy) to make fun of Motley Crue, but I think they just might be the greatest “hard rock,” band of all-time (Now whether that’s something to be proud or ashamed of is an entirely different argument.)  I mean, sure they’re basically bros who’ve ventured well into their middle-ages looking like particularly gluttonous members of Toecutter’s gang, singing songs about blow and blowjobs, to the backdrop of pseudo Hellfire and skanky blondes in Hell’s Angels Halloween costumes… But isn’t that sort of the point of “Rock’N’Roll?” And wouldn’t Uncle Nikki be a helluva lot cooler than your uncle with a taste for Bermuda shorts and college football?  And can we admit that they’re at least good for songs about blow and blowjobs (whatever credibility that might lend them)?  And there’s nothing particularly edgy about fire, hydraulic stage wings, smashing guitars, or backup singers who look like they’re from Hustler’s “Pride of the South” special… but it does tend to look a little cool when it all comes together just right…

https://youtu.be/IwAme8lLpAk

Well, out today, courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment, is Motley Crue: The End – Live in Los Angeles, a DVD/CD or Blu-ray/CD package, which documents the band’s final concert… And it’s pretty much the greatest Rock’N’Roll show you’ll ever see… Although there’s nothing particularly surprising about it, other than maybe the sheer volume of clichéd rock pomp.  In addition to an abundance of pyro fit to burn Rome, cherry pickers that carry Vince and Nikki to the corners of the venue, and Nikki’s flame-throwing bass, Tommy actually rides a roller coaster over the audience during his drum solo. It’s all very cheesy, but the tweenage rocker in you can’t help but love it.  And yeah, hovering around the age of 50, the black denim and leather armor could be considered laughable… but it also kind of rules… It’s kind of like Spinal Tap, but if it totally worked.

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During the day Izzy Cihak teaches transgression, subversion, and revolution at Temple University. At night he haunts Philthy's best venues to cover worthwhile acts for Philthy Mag. Morrissey is everything to him and, in their own heads, all of his friends see themselves as Zooey Deschanel.

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