Motley Crue is on tour with fellow 1980s glam rockers Poison. (QMI Agency file photo)

TORONTO - After 30 years as a group – well, four guys who shared the same stage a few hours each night – hard rockers Motley Crue find themselves in basically the same old situation as previous jaunts.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that in the eyes of their fans, it’s just that with the passing of time the usual “T&A” the hell-raising band saw throughout their notorious career now could be an abbreviation for tinnitus and arthritis.

Tuesday night at a near-capacity Molson Canadian Amphitheatre, the quartet ran through a roughly 90-minute hits package in celebration of the three-decade milestone that was a bit rough around the edges. Singer Vince Neil’s voice wasn’t up to par on a few songs with Shout At The Devil being more like a high-pitched yelp in the vein of Judas Priest’s Rob Halford.

Fortunately though guitarist Mick Mars and drummer Tommy Lee picked up whatever slack Neil may have had on Wild Side and the party-flavored Same Ol’ Situation (S.O.S.), the latter featuring two female dancers (and occasionally backing vocalists) strutted around church pews brought out for the number.

Bassist Nikki Sixx, when not ducking under his swinging microphone suspended from the rafters, later nicely asked the crowd to briefly sit down. When some refused he was a tad more forceful. “Sit the f--- down! You’re in the church of Motley f------ Crue!”

Although the faster, punk-influenced Live Wire fared well, Motley Crue’s first true highlight was the slow ballad Home Sweet Home with all four doing fist bumps before starting the tune. Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away) followed and more than held its own, complete with a snippet of Cee-Lo Green’s Forget You thrown in.

Halfway through the set Lee had his usual drum solo yet with a highly unusual twist. Because the kit was placed in a circular frame, Lee was able to do a series of clockwise and counter-clockwise revolutions to the delight of fans. Playing to dance music, Lee played upside down high above the crowd for a portion before bringing a fan up to sit behind him and share the ride.

From there Looks That Kill, Dr. Feelgood and Girls, Girls, Girls left Neil having to do little else aside from hold the microphone out to the crowd to sing along. Perhaps given how the pipes were less than stellar in spots, it might have been the wise decision.

Earlier in the evening, Poison celebrated its silver anniversary with a collection of ‘80s staples over an hour. After Rikki Rockett spray-painted “Toronto” and “Canada Eh” on both of his kick drums, the band led by energetic Bret Michaels (sporting a Canadian flag as his bandana) nearly gave the headliners a run for their money with Ride The Wind, Unskinny Bop and the signature Every Rose Has Its Thorn.

The only criminal element was glam rock gods New York Dolls opening the show to a slowly filling venue. The band’s polished half hour deserved a far larger crowd.