Crue Fest 1: The Movie - The Bring Back Glam! Review

Last night at select theaters across the United States, Motley Crue hosted a special one-time-only big screen showing of Crue Fest 1: The Movie. As the title states, the concert film takes viewers through one night at Crue Fest 208. The movie was shot at the Toronto, Canada stop of the tour.

Before the movie, a local Cincinnati radio station took a photo of the 40 or so of us that showed up. They also gave away some swag. I actually won a copy of the movie. I was thinking it was exactly what I was watching at the theater, but it turns out the DVD is actually a two disc set with many more performances than was shown during the "special presentation."

After the radio hoopla, it was time for Crue Fest. As expected, the movie featured a song from each band in this order: Trapt, SIXX: AM, Papa Roach and Buckcherry.

Trapt were featured doing "Contagious," SIXX: AM did "Life is Beautiful," Papa Roach performed "Last Resort" and Buckcherry owned about everyone with their live version of "Crazy Bitch."

About half of the Motley Crue portion of the show was cut from the theatrical release. Shown in theaters was "Kickstart My Heart," "Wildside," "Girls, Girls, Girls," "Shout at the Devil," "Dr. Feelgood" and "Home Sweet Home." I'm not sure what it is...but Vince seems to always sound a little rough on "Kickstart." I think the band needs a few good minutes to rev up and start working on all cylinders. After a few songs, Motley always seem to sound much tighter. The performance of "Girls, Girls, Girls" is pretty good on this release; "Home Sweet Home" has pitch problems.

Motley started using "Home Sweet Home" as their encore last year, specifically for Crue Fest. It's that whole nostalgia thing: a way for the band to thank their loyal fans for the years of dedication, while not pissing off the youngsters. When I saw Crue Fest in Cincinnati last summer, I was so impressed. The entire show was just non-stop fun and Vince sounded darn good. Most important, "Home Sweet Home" sounded great - and ended the night on a perfect note.

Should you buy the DVD of Crue Fest 1: The Movie? Yeah, if you're a die hard Motley fan. It's good fun to watch the backstage interviews, some of which were shown on the big screen. A downer was that the movie doesn't feature song titles at the beginning of each performance (at least this was the case in theaters). Sure, I know the names of all the songs - but it's still a nice touch. The double DVD set also includes six Motley videos: "White Trash Circus," "Saints of Los Angeles," "Primal Scream," "Looks that Kill," "Live Wire" and "Kickstart My Heart."  Motley's entire concert is also included as are more songs by the support bands. If anything, at least buy the DVD for Buckcherry. They are great here.

Crue Fest 1: The Movie will be released Tuesday, March 24, 2009.

What About ZZ Top?

ZZ Top have been around awhile.

Ok, so they've been around...forever. Since 1969 in fact. The band is good, classic American rock. Many of their songs are radio standards, especially "La Grange" and "Sharp Dressed Man..." but does this make them festival relevant in 2009?

Sweden Rock Festival thinks so. ZZ Top will play Sweden Rock 09, one of the biggest festivals in the world.

I guess I never really thought about ZZ Top as headlining a U.S. festival. I know the band is still quite active and performs regularly...they are just never on my radar. To be fair and completely honest, ZZ Top are not on my "ten favorite bands of all time" list. In fact, they are pretty far down that sacred list.

Since we're slowly learning of all the summer tours and festivals, I figured we might as well discuss ZZ Top. Should the band play Rocklahoma? Rock Gone Wild? South Texas Rock Fest? None of the above?

Here's my thing: Rock Gone Wild isn't pigeonholed into a single genre of rock - the acts can cross genres. South Texas is sort of like that but Rocklahoma is really heavy into the 80s thing. ZZ Top had some of the biggest hits in the 80s, so in that respect I guess it fits. Plus, UFO played last year and they formed at the end of the 1960s, too. I guess if push comes to shove, hearing "Tush" live at Rocklahoma wouldn't suck - after all, it's certainly better than Triumph.

Thoughts on the Texas boys? I've never seen ZZ Top live, so if they did headline a summer festival, that would be another band on my list!

Badlands Could Reform with Adam Lambert on Vocals

Bloody. Hell.

Last night on American Idol, resident rocker and my favorite contestant Adam Lambert performed (what I consider to be) the most unique version of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" in the history of recorded music.

In short, he owned everyone. Sure, there are plenty of teenyboppers on the Internet freaking out because they didn't understand the performance or appreciate the complexity of the arrangement. The judges didn't love it, either. No matter. I'm here to tell you right now, Lambert no longer needs American Idol. In fact, it might be better if he gets voted off tonight so he can front a Metal band and save rock music.

Did I not mention it was "country night?" I reiterate: Bloody. Hell. Lambert took his country assignment and basically flipped a middle finger to the producers of AI.

In short, Lambert's voice is freaking perfect for Badlands. That is, if he wants to work with established musicians. His range is so out of this world, Adam Lambert can mop the floor with just about any Glam singer on the scene today. If you don't agree with my Badlands choice, who do you think Adam could resurrect - or save?

I swear, the prospect of his voice over top some pounding drums and a raging guitar solo gives me goosebumps.

Just to compare...here's Badlands, "High Wire."

...and in the event you've never heard Johnny Cash sing "Ring of Fire," here it is:

Papa Roach Release Metamorphosis: The Bring Back Glam! Album Review

Papa Roach are back with a vengeance - and a new album. The fifth major label work by the California-based band explores some raw emotion - and big sound.

Aptly deemed Metamorphosis, Papa Roach explore all the common themes of a hard rock record: love, loss, drugs...and trashy women. Still, there's deep emotion here, proving that Papa Roach have grown both as a band...and as individual songwriters.

Metamorphosis features these songs:

Days of War
Change or Die
Hollywood Whore
I Almost Told You That I Loved You
Lifeline
Had Enough
Live This Down
March Out of the Darkness
Into the Light
Carry Me
Nights of Love
State of Emergency

 I could add a bunch of flowery words, dissect every song - and bend every note. No need: The. Album. Rocks. Sure, the year is young - but this doesn't change the fact that Metamorphosis is the best album I've heard in 2009. Want some breathy proof? Fine.

The album is full of songs that can be stand alone singles. Placed together, the songs create a comprehensive story. Clearly, Papa Roach were getting a little conceptual when they placed "March Out of the Darkness" right before "Into the Light."

The best tracks are "Hollywood Whore," "Lifeline," "Change or Die" and "I Almost Told You That I Loved You."

Papa Roach front man Jacoby Shaddix recently said of Metamorphosis "...We wanted to stretch ourselves and write hooky guitar licks and have a sass and an attitude about it at times. But there's still a vulnerability and heavy emotional content, and a sociopolitical edge with a song like 'Had Enough.' We wanted to see how many places we go and maintain our identity."

Metamorphosis hits stores March 24, 2009.

Crue Fest 2 Press Release

Ambulance delivers Motley Crue to press conference at the Fuse TV studio in true Dr. Feelgood style

Crue Fest 2 stars Motley Crue with Godsmack, Theory of a Deadman, Drowning Pool & Charm City Devils.

Crüe Fest 1 DVD available March 24th - includes bonus material and artist commentary.

Mötley Crüe announced the line up today for their second annual summer festival tour, Crüe Fest 2 at the Fuse TV studio in New York City. The follow-up to the most successful rock festival of last summer stars Mötley Crüe with Godsmack, Theory of a Deadman, Drowning Pool and introduces Charm City Devils.

In addition to announcing the line up, the Crüe debuted a new music video featuring members of all five Crüe Fest 2 bands performing the single “White Trash Circus.” During the announcement Mötley Crüe was joined on stage by Sully Erna of Godsmack, Tyler Connolly of Theory of a Deadman, Ryan McCombs of Drowning Pool and John Allen of Charm City Devils. The single of this track featuring Mötley Crüe with these vocalists is available to radio today.

Crüe Fest 2, produced by Live Nation and kicking off on July 19th in Camden, NJ tours across North America and concludes on September 5th in Darien Lake, NY. Select dates go on sale to the public on March 20th, the remainder go on sale the 21st -- check www.CrueFest2.com and www.Motley.com for exact on-sale information and for tickets. Tickets are also available at on Live Nation's website at www.livenation.com. Additional details can be found by calling 818.748.9075. Citi® cardmembers have access to presale tickets beginning March 17 at 10am local time through Citi's Private Pass® Program. For complete presale details visit: www.citiprivatepass.com.

Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx says, ”This is what we imagined when we came up with the idea of Crüe Fest last summer – putting together the most kick ass bands on one bill for a day of rock. All of the bands on this tour compliment the others -- musically, theatrically and passionately.”

Hammer Swings Down

Is "Hammer Swings Down" by Babylon A.D. the most underrated Glam tune of all time?

If you don't know the song, you're about to be in for a real treat. The song truly owns - and is basically everything that's great about Glam Metal.

Babylon A.D. for Rocklahoma 2009 I say!

Crue Fest 2 Announcement Today

Motley Crue are making the Crue Fest 2: The White Trash Circus announcement before their concert tonight at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The press conference will be broadcast live on FUSE TV.

Finally, we will officially learn the touring lineup for Crue Fest 2. You might recall the possible lineup leaked a couple weeks ago. The rumored bands are Godsmack, Theory of a Deadman, Saving Abel and Drowning Pool. Saving Abel are touring with Hinder and Papa Roach this summer, so I guess they are out. I've been saying for awhile now that Charmed City Devils will be on the bill. We'll know for sure in a few hours I guess.

 
Speaking of Motley, the band is set to debut Crue Fest 1: The Movie later this week. The concert features all the Crue Fest 1 bands: Buckcherry, Papa Roach, SIXX: AM, Trapt and, of course, Motley. Click the link above to see if the film is being screened in your area. The one night only premiere is this Thursday, March 19.

When Motley make their announcement - I'll post here and we can discuss.