The Motley Crue-hosted Crue Fest was rude, libidinous and at times nude (above the waist, anyway) and the fans wHO filled trinity quarters of Mansfield�s Comcast Center loved every mo of it.
The heavy-metal gala affair spanned sise hours and showcased basketball team bands, all seemingly fixated on a word that begins with �f� and ends with �k.� The profanity was repeatedly delivered to a sea of sunburnt tattoos as noun, verb and adjective, and never failed to receive a raucous response.
The grinning ringleaders of this obscenity circus were Motley Crue, truthful rock �n� roll survivors, who damn through fan favorites including the pyrotechnical bombast of the opening �Kickstart My Heart,� as well as cuts from their recent �Saints of Los Angeles.�
For a band that has taken as many lumps as the Crue, it still delivers its particular brand of raunch with the heedless abandon it deserves. Guitarist Mick Mars stood only onstage and absolutely sliced post-apocalyptic covers of Van Halen�s �Eruption� and Jimi Hendrix�s �Voodoo Child.�
In plus to thrilling the audience, it gave singer Vince Neil, bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee a quick breather, a well-paced and hardly noticed practice the band employed frequently passim the present to keep onstage zip levels high.
When it was the everlastingly childish Lee�s turn, he immediately passed an open bottle of Jagermeister into the billowing general-admission �pit� in front of him. Following a prerecorded video of backstage hijinks with shapely groupies that was played on the video screens, Lee re-emerged, camera in hand, encouraging distaff attendees to expose themselves and finding no shortfall of volunteers. This punch-drunk display only fired up the crowd for the set�s closure triumvirate of �Looks That Kill,� the strip club classic �Girls, Girls, Girls� and the former Top 10 individual �Dr. Feelgood.�
Los Angeles cronies Buckcherry preceded the Crue with tether singer Joshua Todd much resembling a tattooed adaptation of player Jim Carrey. The quintet performed a sludgy set that failed to bill even when its biggest hit, �Lit Up,� american ginseng the praises of cocain. Their rude closing tune, �Crazy Bitch� is unlikely to overshadow the Beatles� �I Wanna� Hold Your Hand� as a lover�s anthem anytime soon, despite the funnily appropriate inclusion of a riff from local boy Billy Squier�s �The Stroke.�
Papa Roach played in the middle time slot and was the first gear band to lure early arriving attendees off the concourse with a herculean set that culminated with its receiving set hit, �Last Resort.� Most of those fans had either been in beer lines or the parking lots during earlier sets by Trapt and Sixx:AM.
CRUE FEST, featuring MOTLEY CRUE, BUCKCHERRY, PAPA ROACH, SIXX:AM and TRAPT At the Comcast Center, Mansfield, Friday night.
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