Mötley Crüe finally on the final tour in Basel

Luckily, the days of glam rock, backcombed hair and spandex pants are long gone. But some bands hold out to this day. With Mötley Crüe, one of the prototypes gave up yesterday, November 9th, 2015, finally and with a loud bang. The supporting act that evening was the 67-year-old shock rock veteran Alice Cooper. The Crüe will play their very last concert on December 31 in Los Angeles, and anyone who wants to know what real megalomania looks like on stage has always found what they are looking for at Mötley Crüe, including yesterday. The band put on the biggest show in their history, with massive pyro effects - including a fire-breathing bass for Nikki Sixx (Rammstein sends regards) - and drums mounted on tracks, the «Cruecifly«, with which drummer Tommy Lee whizzed through the St. Jakobshalle like on a roller coaster.

Yesterday evening the hour of farewell came for the fans of the glam metal band Mötley Crüe. Mötley Crüe, one of the most scandalous bands of all time, for many metal fans just posers who can hardly hold their instruments in their hands, are one of the most dazzling musical representatives of the 80s. Now Nikki Sixx, 56, Vince Neil, 54, Tommy Lee, 53 and Mick Mars, 64 on their last tour, briefly announced by the band as the "Final Tour", played their definitely last gig in Switzerland. Mötley Crüe's impressive career is set to end on December 31, 2015 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. But before that they will play their "Final Tour" and also made a stop in Basel on Monday to say goodbye to the fans in the St. Jakobshalle. Contrary to Appearance 3 years ago in the same location, the hall was only half full this time and I have never experienced that the upper tiers of the hall had to be covered by a black curtain. The audience was also mostly fans who lived through the band's heyday, but younger metalheads were there to celebrate an excessive farewell with the band and the rest probably stayed at home and watched «The Walking Dead», yes almost the same…

When singer Vince Neil, drummer Tommy Lee, guitarist Mick Mars and bassist Nikki Sixx got together in Los Angeles in 1981, they only had one thing in mind: to get by with sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. Nikki, whose real name is Frank Ferrano, meets Tommy Lee in LA, who at the time is nicknamed T-Bone because he hardly has any meat on his bones. Next they encounter guitarist Robert Alan Deal, who soon changes his name to Mick Mars. In the search for a rhythm guitarist they finally stumbled across Vince Neil Wharton, who as a singer was a perfect fit for the trio and a little later they played their first gig supporting Y&T. Already in the first months after the foundation, they attracted attention with their extreme passion for partying and colorful costumes. They add umlauts to their band name, a deviation from ‹Motley Crew›, in German ‹colorful bunch›, because they consider Löwenbräu their favorite beer.

They record their debut Too Fast For Love (6000) for $1981. Initially only available at their performances, they signed an official record deal with Elektra in 1982. At that time they were already doing their first headlining tour through Canada, but mainly playing in smaller clubs and gay bars. But already with their second album "Shout At The Devil" they made their breakthrough in 1983, which brought them big concerts in California, an Australian tour supporting Kiss and a US tour with Ozzy Osbourne. Europe is slowly starting to enjoy the band, too, as the support act for Iron Maiden the quartet uses up quite a few cans of hairspray. But no success without a scandal is her motto. First, a 'Committee On Pornography In Rock Music' of the US Senate criticized the band for glorifying violence and misogynist lyrics. Then a coked up, naked Sixx crashes his Porsche into a pole. Finally, Neil causes a horrible accident when he crashes into another car while drunk. His co-driver Razzle, drummer from Hanoi Rocks, dies and the occupants of the vehicle involved escape with life-threatening injuries.

Motley Crue Basel 9.11.15

Instead of driving into construction for ages, Neil has to serve just 30 days, 200 hours of community service and pay $2,6 million in damages. After Neil undergoes therapy, the collective drinking continues happily. Although "Theater Of Pain" (1985) is dedicated to the deceased friend, nothing changes in the lifestyle of the party animals. On the tours that followed, the band's well-known drum riser was used for the first time, swinging Tommy Lee across the air during his drum solo and even playing it upside down. After Lee marries Heather Locklear in May '86, Neil finally finds the time to serve out his 30 days in prison, of which he only actually spends 18 behind Swedish curtains. On "Girls, Girls, Girls" (1987) the Crüe find their way back to their old theme, but are much heavier. The album reached number two in the US charts, only beaten by Whitney Houston. For the tour, the quartet first signed Whitesnake and a little later Guns N'Roses as openers. During a drug-rich evening in Slash's hotel room during the Japan tour, Sixx almost succumbs to a heroin overdose - as in "Pulp Fiction" an adrenaline injection saves him in the heart. According to his own statements, the bass player had already been in Valhalla for two minutes and probably laid a few Valkyries there. Elektra then gives the band the choice of withdrawing or standing there without a contract. She chooses the first option.

In the summer of 1989 they played in front of 100 spectators in Moscow with Bon Jovi, Ozzy Osbourne, Skid Row and the Scorpions. The live broadcast on television is said to be watched by a billion people. The global attention is bearing fruit: the album “Dr. Feelgood» reaches number 000 in the US charts and sells over three million copies in its home country. The album features a number of other guests alongside Bryan Adams, Steven Tyler and Skid Row. The subsequent mammoth tour around the world is almost completely sold out. Both Mick and Nikki get married in 1 and after the best of «A Decade Of Decadence» appears, new material begins. Not without problems, however, as Neil falls back on alcohol and is more interested in car racing than music. The band fires him and brings in John Corabi as a replacement. The result "Mötley Crüe" (1990) is their most expensive production to date, but sells sparsely, as do the tickets for the tour. Meanwhile, Neil continues solo and brings in former Billy Idol guitarist Steve Stevens and ex-Ozzy Osbourne bassist Phil Soussan for his band. The Vince Neil Band's debut sells decently, but the releases that followed aren't looking so rosy. After Corabi had to resign from Mötley Crüe, he started the band Union with former Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick. Since all this is not necessarily the yellow of the egg, Mötley Crüe get Vince back into the band.

In the meantime, only drummer Lee continues to make headlines. His antics are as famous as the Mick Jaggers, his marriage and feuds with Bay Watch silicone breasts Pamela Anderson have dominated gazettes around the world for years. A video showing the two having sex by the pool is overloading many an Internet line. In contrast, a children's party at Lee's villa made sad headlines in 2001 when the son of German actress Ursula Karven drowned in the pool. A manslaughter trial ends in acquittal. The activities surrounding Mötley Crüe are also less glamorous. Although Neil returns in 1997, after the album "Generation Swine" and a tour (partly as an opener for Type O Negative), which is determined by riots and arguments, Lee throws in the towel. While he founded the metal rap band Methods Of Mayhem and had great success with the album of the same name in 2000, his ex-band hired former Ozzy Osbourne drummer Randy Castillo. But with their joint studio work "New Tattoo" (2000) they landed a flop and the tour with Megadeth and Anthrax didn't bring the expected success either. After the publication of the readable autobiography "The Dirt" (2001) and Castillo's death from cancer in 2002, Mötley Crüe actually dissolved. Tattooed drummer Lee's main focus is on the opposite sex again, but Pamela Anderson sends him back into the desert. At the end of 2003, it was Pink who bit his fishing rod, but soon said goodbye. In the meantime, Nikki Sixx starts the Brides Of Destruction with Tracii Guns (Ex-LA Guns). He is also a busy songwriter and writes for Saliva, Drowning Pool and Tantric. Meanwhile, the media attention is focused on Tommy and in the background other people are imperceptibly pulling the Mötley Crüe strings.

One Mags Revell, UK promoter of Metropolis Music Group, is getting the ball rolling again by launching an initiative aimed at getting the original Crüe members to reunite. Thanks to the Internet, he soon received enormous encouragement from frustrated Mötley fans. He reserves venues in Great Britain on his own and basically forces the band to perform there, because otherwise the good Mags would have suffered financial shipwreck. Obviously, Vince, Nikki, Mick and Tommy needed this kick in the ass, because after realizing that tens of thousands of fans in the UK alone are drooling over a reunion, it finally comes to an official conclusion on December 6th, 2004. At a press conference, the quartet announced that they would be touring together again and that they would also like to record new material. The press fanfare surrounding Mötley Crüe even means that the server of the official site is on its knees because of this news, the interest of the fans seems to be really there. The motto of the tour, which only stops in the really big halls under the banner "Red, White And Crüe Tour... Better Live Than Dead", is not spills, but big.

In addition to the Motley reunion, Tommy Lee is also trying his hand at being a solo artist again. He records with members of Incubus and the Deftones, he also releases two solo albums "Never A Dull Moment" (2002) and "Tommyland - The Ride" (2005). After that, however, the Americans saddle up their chickens and go on an Australian tour with Motörhead. Before new material from the band comes onto the market, the biography «The Dirt» will be released as an audio book via Nuclear Blast Records, read by actor and jailbird Ralf Richter. In the summer of 2006 they are on a US tour with Aerosmith while at the same time working on a new album. Nikki meanwhile is active as Sixx AM, Mick helps out with the Finns of Crashdiet with ideas and also likes to use his songwriting qualities in other ways. In fact, they are back in 2008 with the strong «Saints Of Los Angeles». While Nikki in particular collects some merits as an author and photographer in addition to music, singer Vince Neil also tries his hand at this in 2010 and publishes "Tattoos & Tequila", both as a book title and as a CD. In 2011, there was even a tour with the rather less appreciated Poison, without the rags flying on or behind the stage. Obviously you're getting older, or more professional, or just tired of the never-ending sex, drugs and rock'n'roll.

So now the "Final Tour", for which Mötley Crüe even signed a contract that they may never perform together again afterwards. According to its own statements, the Crüe does not want to end up as an old joke. There would already be enough of that. Once cool bands that would have passed their prime but would continue to crawl around on any stage. In the end, the viewers would only have pity. We don't want that to happen to Crüe - they want to be remembered by the fans. "Tonight we celebrate 34 years of music by Mötley Crüe," announces singer Vince Neil. Then not only the pyrotechnicians, but also Mötley Crüe fire on all cylinders. At the start of the show, everything is exaggerated, as glam rock from the 80s demands: fireballs and showers of sparks shoot from the stage, background singers also act as lascivious dancers, Tommy Lee's drum kit moves along rails on the ceiling, so the drummer can play his solo upside down. The band lives up to their excessive image. Mötley Crüe are no friends of emotional speeches - even though they are on the road on the last tour in the band's history. They prefer to let their actions speak for themselves.

Motley Crue - Final Tour - Kickstart My Heart Live 2015

None of the hits like «Girls, Girls, Girls», «Dr. Feelgood», «Kickstart My Heart» or «Wild Side» they leave out in just under two hours. The four Americans are no longer the youngest, but they hardly show any signs of tiredness. It is not clear whether they have paid a price for all the parties and drug stories of their long career. But according to their own statements, Nikki's shoulders are broken, Vince's joints are damaged and practically everyone is numb. Today they all look at their health almost excessively in order to cover up the carnage they have wreaked on the body. "It's okay," according to Neil, "being alive is all that matters." "We've all changed, gotten older and wiser," Tommy Lee said in a recent interview. Since 2014 they have been touring around the world to say goodbye. "Sometimes it was a bit like going to a funeral," says Tommy Lee. In Basel it was a funeral in the best of moods and the fans dressed up for the occasion: hairspray manes, motorcycle leather jackets and bandanas. "Everything bad has to come to an end," Vince Neil called out to the crowd in Basel: "Always remember: We are Mötley Crüe!" Rest In Peace, Glam Rock Kings!

setlist:

Intro: So Long, Farewell (Rodgers & Hammerstein Song)
1. Girls, girls, girls
2. Wild Side
3. Primal Scream
4. Same Ol' Situation (SOS)
5. Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
6. Smokin' in the Boys' Room (Brownsville Station Cover)
7. Looks That Kill
8. Motherfucker of the Year
9. Anarchy in the UK (Sex Pistols Cover)
10. In the Beginning
11. Shout at the Devil
12. Louder than hell
13. O Fortuna (Carl Orff Song)

Drum solo
Guitar solo

14. Saints of los angeles
15. Live Wire
16. TNT (Terror ‹N Tinseltown)
17. Dr. Feel good
18. Kickstart My Heart

Encore:

19. Home Sweet Home

Outro: My Way (Frank Sinatra Song)

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