Well as a long time fan of the Cru, I had high expectations for Crue Fest 2. There was plenty of good, some bad, and some just OK. Lets start off with the weather, IT WAS FUCKING INCDREDIBLY HOT & HUMID!!!! Sure its no ones fault, but 95 degrees and 80 percent humidity for an 8 hour festival was tough on this Dogg.
The show started on a bad note upon our arrival at the VIP entrance. 2/3 of our party had hill tickets and they were not permitting blankets or lawn chairs. Then we find out no cameras and heaven forbid if a woman was wearing a necklace with a large pendant. Believe it or not, they made numerous ladies take their jewelry back to the cars (you know many people are killed by necklaces these days). Of course security blames it on the Crue and turns out they were right. Security was real tight with pat downs on all entering the venue. They even opened my cigarette pack and smelled inside for any pre-rolled!
The main stage featured Drowning Pool, Theory of a Deadman, Godsmack, and the Crue. A second smaller stage was in the parking lot with Shram, Cavo, Rev Theory and a couple of others. Here are some of the second stage highlights:
When Shram was playing "Vinnie D" from Sponge joined them onstage and played Molly for an enthusiastic crowd of about 1,000. Rev Theory played a great rendition of NIN, Head like a Hole. Cavo rocked the house and was a true awakening for me. At one point the drummer had on an Obama mask while playing. He had to have been hot as hell. Thats it for the second stage highlights.
Main stage:Charm City Devils (did not see), Drowning Pool played an awesome set with plenty of energy. The lead singer even hopped into the pavillion during "Bodies". They may have been the best act I saw this night. Theory of a Deadman rocked it out. One of mine and BLT favorite new bands did not disappoint us. At one point Mick Mars brought Tyler Connolly a bottled water while he was singing. We did hear many complaints of poor sound on the hill, but from our 26th row dogghouse it sounded just fine. TOD was a great show. I've never liked Godsmack too much and they did nothing to improve their standing with the Dogg. Talented yes, artistic, well.... sometimes, showmanship, not much. Overamplified Bass.... hell yes and too much of it. This old Dogg had to retreat to the hill in order to keep my heart in my chest. They played all their best known stuff, like: Awake, Voodoo, Whatever, Keep Away. An excellent drum solo saved the day! You heard echoes of Tom Sawyer, Back in Black and War Pigs interwoven into the riffs.
Then onto Motley Crue. They fuckin sucked big time! Never heard or saw them play worse. Missed notes by Vince Niel, forgotten or incorrect lirics on a couple of obscure tracks from Dr. Feelgood (an over rated album if there ever was one). No Tommy Lee on drums? Seems he burned his left hand a couple of weeks ago playing with sparkelers. What a douche!!!! At least he came out and passed a couple of bottles of Jaegger around the pavillion. The Crue played the entire Dr. Feelgod album in its entirety. Made for a long set and many songs just did not work live in this Dogg's opinion. When they finished Dr. Feelgood album, the band broke for a long set change that had the crowd streaming for the exits. During my post show discussions, we did not hear one complimentary thing about tonights show! After about 25 minutes, the band returned to play Wild Side, Saints of LA, Shout at the Devil. The highlight of the set was Home sweet Home and Girls, Girls, Girls as the 2 encores.
As far as the Crue goes, they may be well past their prime and disappointed many in the crowd. Mick Mars looked like a corpse, Nikki Sixx looked like he was back on the needle, Vince Neil, well he just can't sing well anymore. The fill in drummer did his best, but the rythem section seemed off all night.
Weather D
Crowd B
Bands B
Staging B
Lighting B
Sound B
Atmosphere A
Overall C+ or B-. I think my review says it all.
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