Motley Crue making a rare visit to UK shores and teaming up with Def Leppard in the process for a series of sixx co-headlining shows meant it was a case of Christmas come early for many and with both bands going head to head playing 90 minutes a piece it was all set to be a true clash of the titans. I went along to check out the opening night of this juggernaut sized tour to find out if these Eighties veterans could still cut it in 2011 but more importantly party like it was 1989.

Birmingham's LG Arena was the scene of the first battle ground and Motley Crue were the band to draw first blood. As the huge white sheet billowing in front of the stage was torn away 'Wild Side' erupted into a ball of fury as the Hollywood bad boys took charge instantly with a wall of noise under a shower of pyro. Tommy Lee's huge circular drum rollercoaster frame seemed to take up most of the stage and was rigged with spotlights that searched their way around the stage and arena crowd. The bombastic 'Saints Of Los Angeles' was quick to follow as Nikki Sixx prowled left right and centre leaving the enigmatic Mick Mars stage left to dish out riffs that lit up the set like a 'Live Wire', which coincidentally was next.

Vince Neil's voice, to be honest, wasn't that bad. Not as bad as you'd think reading some reports but good enough for a guy rockin' 50 this year and who's drunk more than seven seas of rye whiskey. But what he lacked in terms of the odd missed lyric, or sometimes line, he more than made up for in energy, endlessly bounding from one side of the stage to the other and back again, putting far more effort into his on stage performance than he does his backstage ones if things written on Metal Sludge are to be believed ;-)

Throughout the set there was a near constant stream of fireworks and more flames than a backdraft from Piper Alpha, the pyro and lights pulsing in unison with Sixx, Lee and Mars giving power to the music as the hard hitting 'Shout At The Devil' and 'Primal Scream' bookended a gloriously rampant 'Same Old Situation'. Tommy broke out from behind the drums and made his way towards a piano that now sat at the front of the stage. Chatting, no, shouting his way to stage front he managed to successfully fit either "Fuck", "Fuckin", "Fucked", "Fuckers" or "Mutherfucker" between every other word that stormed out of his mouth. Kinda funny that after such a shit storm of expletives he then sat down and with the rest of his Crue around him delicately wrapped the LG crowd around his ivory tinkling fingers with the power ballad elegance of 'Home Sweet Home'. The early days thrill of 'Looks That Kill' followed before the gritty inclusion of 'Mutherfucker Of The Year' grooved its snake like hips through the sleazily lit ambience of the NEC.

Time for the show piece and drum solo time. Lee has always been one of the best live drummers I have ever seen and his performance at the LG didn't take anything away from that opinion, but ultimately I found the rollercoaster solo a tad boring. This was mainly due to the length it seemed to go on for and no matter how impressive it is to play drums upside down the rollercoaster kit is a bit of a one trick pony. A circle, followed by a circle, then another circle and to finish a circle. Then after a "lucky fan" is supposedly chosen at random to ride in the spare seat next to Lee it all starts again. More circles. While it's still a massively impressive spectacle I cant help thinking that no trick kit Tommy has come up with post 'Girls Girls Girls' has ever topped that original spinning sensation that can be seen in the 'Wild Side' video and while Motley seem content to play endless greatest hits sets around the globe I just don't understand why they don't resurrect the greatest kit, the one everyone wants to see. I was lucky enough to have witnessed that original kit in the very same venue back on the 'Dr Feelgood' tour in '89 and nothing has ever come close to it. 

Staying with thoughts of '89 the thunderous strains of 'Dr Feelgood' reverberated around the cavernous NEC Arena as the four strings of Sixx hammered some teenage nostalgia into my heart before those 'Girls Girls Girls' sent glittering images of sunset strippers dancing into my head. The raucous pairing of 'Smokin' In The Boys Room' and 'Kickstart My Heart' wrapped things up as a blood spitting Sixx and white toothed Neil lapped up the last round of lust and affection as Mars cranked out more power like a man possessed. Demons in his fingers that fella and it's Motley's various demons that give them that fiery louder than hell edge of arrogance that they trade so well on. So how would Def Leppard follow such a fiery act?

On paper it looked like a pretty impossible task but I think where Motley fall down these days is being too predictable. The same songs are wheeled out each time with little imagination going into the set list. Greatest hits tour followed by greatest hits tour, all but under the guise of a different name each time. Where once they were the leading lights of a decadent generation they now, and I'm sure plenty of people will disagree and lynch me for saying it, seem to have become almost a parody of their former selves. A tribute act to the gory glories of 'The Dirt' because that's what keeps the money coming in. They've lived it so they have a right to live off it I suppose. Def Leppard on the other hand, although not strangers to making a bit of money themselves, seem to have nothing to live up to but everything to fight for, in terms of respect at least. One of the biggest selling UK bands from the Eighties they have lived with endless criticism regarding "selling out" and "turning American" due to their technically precise computerised sound. That's not an opinion I have ever shared though as many years ago I used to proudly wear my Leppard love on my sleeve but as the smoke cleared after Motley's set I wasn't exactly waiting for their appearance with bated breath. Let me explain...

Eight years have passed since Def Leppard and I parted company after a particularly nasty gig at the Plymouth Pavilions. Crowd trouble had been brewing all night between opposing factions and as Leppard's set was getting fired up so were tempers and fights were breaking out all around between old school fans and nu-metal fuckwits that had been let out for the night. It got to the point where the band stopped the show and Mister Elliott told everyone that was fighting that they should "Fuck off and listen to Metallica." That comment, at that point in time when Metallica were probably the gayest band on the planet, having therapy and confiscating people's hard drives left me feeling that Leppard were incredibly out of touch with the state of things and the whole episode left a decidedly nasty taste in my mouth. Enough for me to have pretty much ignored their activities over the last few years and having this hanging over me meant I wasn't really that interested in watching them this time around as I'd only really shelled out to see Motley. But having grown up with Kiss and Iron Maiden I'm a sucker for a big show and this was a big show. Style over substance some may say but fuck it, flashing lights make me happy and Leppard had a lorra lorra lights. When they said they were bringing over their full US Arena production they weren't lying.

Huge video screens spanned the entire width of the LG stage and dwarfed Sheffield's premier rock brigade. 'Undefeated' kicked off the second 90 minute set of the night and its accompanying visuals lit up the LG like Las Vegas at Christmas. Underdogs and champions flashed across the screens throughout the never surrender anthem and when the last few photographs focused on the world's unluckiest band with newspaper stories of Rick Allen's horrendous car crash and some poignant images of the late Steve Clark I was sold and bought into the show hook, line and sinker. I don't mind admitting that I had a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye. Maybe that's just me, easily manipulated, but as the opening song ended and the low beat shuffle of 'Rocket' launched the show headlong into a classic Clark era tune I could feel my long lost Leppard love racing back to me with its harmony loving arms wide open.

Some sweet Sweet 'Action' warmed the glitter rock cockles and threw down the cover song gauntlet to Motley Crue's Brownsville Station trip. But the Crue boys took that one on points I think, even if the LG security did their best to take the rock 'n' roll edge off proceedings by telling people to put their cigarettes out. Smokin' ain't allowed in school or the LG Arena either it would seem. Overall Leppard were holding their own following the Crue and I was mightily impressed with the show and the delivery, Joe's voice having faired slightly better than Vince's over the years. Tripping back to the second album some of that early rock 'n' roar from 'High And Dry' really put the big cat amongst the back combed pigeons with the fantastic 'Let It Go' seeing Vivian Campbell and Phil Collen riffing out some of the old Willis/Clark magic. 

'Gods Of War'. Epic! Pure and simple. Highlight of the night for me. Brilliantly bright and stunning visuals continued to stream from the screens as Sav's power pulsing bass lines grooved seamlessly alongside the Thunder God's drums. 'Gods...' was immense, loud, soul shaking, everything quality "arena rock" should be. What "arena rock" should not be though is lame and wet and getting out three acoustic guitars was a little worrying following such a gigantic anthem like 'Gods...'. The Nineties slush of 'Two Steps Behind' provided croon-along with Leps time and it was painfully noticeable though by this time that the crowd weren't being exactly vocal with the lyrics, loud applause yeah but some of the sing-alongs were frankly embarrassing. The sublime 'Bringing On The Heartbreak' which followed 'Two Steps...' was shockingly a victim of such apathy, even Motley's 'Home Sweet Home' hadn't raised the roof like it did in '89. I don't know, if you're gonna go out then rock out!

Thankfully though the majority of the crowd did finally start to find their voices when a few more of Leppard's big hits were aired and 'Armageddon It' and 'Animal' set up the pace nicely as the clock ticked closer to 90 minutes. A push towards the final whistle saw more nostalgia as 'Photograph' was accompanied by hundreds of early days shots of young Leppards raining across the screens which got the cougars and kitties in the crowd purring nicely for the sugar pouring frenzy that was the last song of the main set. 'Let's Get Rocked' unsurprisingly had one of the best responses of the night as it opened the encore but in the end it was a climactic 'Wasted' from 'On Through The Night' that brought the house down (for me at least) in a youthful burst of NWOBHM magic.

For me Def Leppard were the band of the night. I thoroughly enjoyed Motley but the Leps simply knocked it up a gear outplaying and outclassing the Crue. Even though there were four ballads in their set compared to Motley's one the inclusion of those rugged early album classics balanced it all out nicely and their set never sagged like I felt Motley's did during solo time. Anyway, I'll get my coat now and leave, let you all argue it out amongst yourselves as to who was best, I'm off to listen to some Metallica ;-)

[Photos by Matt Phelps]