You Just Have to Be There

Friday night, DeepRockDrive presented an Internet stream of Motley Crue performing live in Las Vegas. The show was at the Mandalay Bay Events Center and one of the only indoor stops on the Crue Fest 2008 tour. Like many Motley fans, I watched the show - even though it didn't end until 3 a.m. in my part of the world and I had a bass lesson just a handful of hours later.

Let me preface this by saying I'll be seeing Crue Fest on August 19 from the fourth row and I am very excited. I have a lot of anticipation for the show, even though I wish the set list was a little longer.

Watching the concert on the Internet didn't do much for me. In fact, I thought Motley Crue sounded pretty bad - but Mick Mars was the true highlight. Of course, the Internet feed didn't provide any energy of actually being part of the audience and you couldn't hear the crowd because the audio was coming straight from the sound board. Also, the camera angles left a lot to be desired.  The set:

Kickstart My Heart
Wild Side
Shout at the Devil
Saints of Los Angeles
Live Wire
Sick Love Song
Mutherfucker Of The Year
Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
Same 'Ol Situation
Primal Scream
Looks That Kill
Girls, Girls, Girls
Dr. Feelgood
Home Sweet Home

Vince skipped a lot of words Friday night. That part of the show made me a little sad, but maybe Motley was just having an off night. I was talking to people from around the world while the concert was happening. We all seemed to agree the crowd looked dead. Apparently, the crowd was actually at (or near) capacity and really excited for Vince, Nikki, Mick and Tommy. Every crowd pan showed otherwise, but I'll be inclined to believe the people who paid to see the show.

I don't think the DeepRockDrive show did Motley Crue justice. This isn't to say the band wasn't shaky - because they were for a lot of the performance. Still, there's a certain energy that happens during a concert that is impossible to replicate. I own lots of concert DVDs. I enjoy quite a lot of them - but just owning such DVDs would never take the place of me buying a seat to a live show.

I think it is cool that the Internet allows bands to reach fans all over the world. I'm sure a lot of people watched online Friday night and were excited to see a free show. Brilliant marketing - but not the same as being there.

Concerts are a snapshot in time. Some shows are bad. Some are good. Some are truly life changing. I just don't think a DVD, Internet stream of television broadcast can replace the emotion of seeing a beloved band from the first (or last) row.

Thoughts?

Comments

[Bob]

I didn't see the Vegas gig. I have gotten two audio recording from crue Fest and, in both cases, vince's voice is clearly the weakest link. He skips lots of words, and he does this nasal thing with his voice to try to squeeze out the high notes. It almost sounds like he's holding his nose every time he sings a high note. It's really a shame. the boys should really consider tuning down a half step so Vince wouldn't have to strain so much.