The Saints of Los Angeles bless Greenville, SC…
On Wednesday, February 25th, 2009, the kings of debauchery also known as Mötley Crüe made their way through Greenville, SC with their Saints of Los Angeles 2009 Tour. Opening acts for the Crüe were The Last Vegas, Theory of a Deadman, and Hinder.
The first band to play was The Last Vegas from Chicago, IL. Having never even heard of these guys before, I wasn’t sure at all what to expect, but I definitely liked what I heard. From the bit of their set I caught, I can most accurately describe them as a raunchy mix up of Mötley Crüe and Guns ‘n’ Roses. They played pure Rock ‘n’ Roll and I loved every minute of it!
The second band to play was mainstream act Theory of a Deadman. To be perfectly honest, I thought I was gonna have the most hope (other than Mötley Crüe) in this band for this show, but I was utterly disappointed. Not being very familiar with their work, I didn’t know quite what I was getting into and I’m definitely not in line with what I witnessed. I really don’t feel like they fit the bill at all and I just didn’t like their performance whatsoever, but you can’t like them all I suppose!
The third and next last band to play was my personal underdog from the start, Hinder. Getting right into it, I have to sincerely admit that I was pleasantly surprised at what I saw. I won’t ever be known as the biggest Hinder fan, but I have a lot of respect for their live performance and I was surprised to see that I really did enjoy them. Just as with the previous two bands, I was (and still am) unfamiliar with their work aside from their big hit song “Lips of an Angel” (which, of course, was part of the set list). Based on that, I didn’t really expect to like them at all, but I can’t stress enough how wrong I was. They put on an excellent live show their material wasn’t all that bad.
The last band to play was the one I’ve been waiting to see for quite some time, Mötley Crüe! As soon as they hit the stage, the level on intense energy stayed through the roof until the point they finished their one encore (“Home Sweet Home”). With a stage set up consisting of LOS ANGELES spelled out backwards from right to left in light up metal frames, tons of lights that came down from the ceiling on scissor lifts, Tommy Lee’s over-sized bass drum/drum kit, Nikki Sixx’s and Mick Mars’ spiral mic stands, and an insane pyrotechnic show (the first I’ve ever seen in person), this show was immediately sky rocketed into the top three concerts I’ve been too! With a set list containing songs from their newest album Saints of Los Angeles as well as Shout at the Devil, Dr. Feelgood, and more, the Crüe kicked off with “Kickstart My Heart” and “Wild Side” followed by songs including but not limited to: “Saints of Los Angeles”, “White Trash Circus”, “Girls, Girls, Girls”, “Looks That Kill”, “Same Ol’ Situation (S.O.S.)”, “Shout at the Devil”, “Dr. Feelgood”, “Live Wire”, and their version of the classic “Jailhouse Rock”. One of the most memorable parts of their performance for me was when guitarist Mick Mars launched off into a short montage of Jimi Hendrix songs as one of his solo performances. On top of the musicians sounding good, Vince Neil’s voice was excellent and helped make this performance almost exactly how I would have dreamed it.
Overall, this show was definitely was, again, one of the best concerts I’ve ever been too and it was definitely worth a 3 1/2 drive both ways and I’d do it all again if given the chance!
