EDMONTON - Lovingly preserved time capsules from the '70s and '80s were unearthed last night at Rexall Place. And while Aerosmith may have headlined the show, Motley Crue often felt more like just a few old friends dropping by for a visit.
And you need a pretty big, fire-retardant house when the Crue comes calling with its deafening sound, blinding pyrotechnics and girls, girls, girls ... The burlesque beauties were suspended above the stage in cages, by silks or lead singer Vince Neil's lapels. Who could blame the guy for locking lips with one of the stiletto-heeled hotties?
It sure looked like a snapshot of the band's heydays. Or maybe even more recently. The Crue's been here a few times in the last year and they could have easily top-lined last night's show, garnering a huge response few "opening" acts are accustomed to.
Bassist Nikki Sixx fondly told the crowd, as he's doubtless told crowds here before, that Edmonton was the Crue's first-ever Canadian concert date all those years ago. And the first half hour of the band's set was all '80s: opening with Dr. Feelgood, Shout at the Devil (updated with big-screen imagery of President George W. Bush), Looks that Kill and Live Wire.
It sounded right.
Neil is still sufficiently raspy - fudging a few lines here, filling in the blanks there - but winning it by smashing a guitar in the end. Plagued by back problems, Mick Mars doesn't move as well as he used to, but his fingers had no trouble working the guitar through a few solos. Sixx is the only one who still has the hair and, guys, your girlfriends still want to make it with the lithe Tommy Lee.
It's hard to talk about Aerosmith, if only because Motley Crue's performance ran late, the sheer scale of the Hollywood bad boys' stage set up took a while to dismantle and laptops are hard to type on while standing up.
By comparison, Steve Tyler and the boys didn't opt for the excesses - their stage set up was minimal. But the leopard print-wearing Tyler, perhaps even more than Neil, is the consummate showman. He swung around a mike and, for effect, mike stand, but he worked the crowd perfectly by dipping way back with Toys in the Attic as their opener.
They then went Walkin' the Dog and had a little Love in an Elevator, most everything taking on bluesy hues. From where I was writing in Rexall, I managed to hear a really tight cover of Baby Please Don't Go - a classic that's been done up by the likes of Muddy Waters and Them, Tyler's own rasp would have, indeed, been a good fit for it. I regret having missed, I'm sure, Sweet Emotion and other classics Aerosmith has built up over four decades.
There aren't many rock concerts parents bring their kids to, but last night's era- friendly showcase of rock 'n' roll struck a mighty, positive blow for family togetherness in this festive season.
