Diary of an Ardent Fan

I have been a Motley Crue fan since I was 16 (44 as I type this).

I love almost every song they have made and own all the albums.

After KISS and The Rolling Stones, they are probably my favorite band ever.

After seeing them for the 8th time in 2015 on their “Final Tour” (review here), I thought maybe I was never going to see them again.

Well, fast forward a few years and Motley were back recording new music for their movie biopic The Dirt (based on their book of the same name).

Then, a stadium tour was announced featuring Motley, Def Leppard, Poison, and Joan Jett & The Black Hearts., which unfortunately, got postponed for three years straight due to the pandemic.

I bought my ticket in 2019 because I was not going to miss this show.

2020 and 2021 came and it didn’t happen, and even though it finally happened in 2022, I kid you not I finally got the dreaded COVID-19 the day of the show so I had to stay home. It ultimately wasn’t the end of the word (I got all my vaccines.) but that first day was not great. Anyway, I was not able to attend. Even though I had seen all of these bands before, I still hated missing it and I’m sure I would have had a great time. But alas.

Anyway, at this point, Motley were back touring (almost all farewell tours end up not being farewell, which is fine) basically every year and released some more music a few years ago (review here) and when this tour, The Return Of The Carnival Of Sins (referencing their 2005 Carnival Of Sins tour, which I saw, review here), I did not intend to miss it. And having Tesla and Extreme on the bill was a great bonus too.

I consider the venue the show was at, Riverbend Music Center just outside downtown Cincinnati, OH, to be like a home away from home. I have seen many shows there, including 7 other Motley shows and I always love it.

And I loved this show too.

I even wore the Motley shirt I bought at the 05 show too. I’m not as skinny as I was, but it still fits and is in good condition.

Extreme started the show shortly before 6:30 PM and like when I saw them before in 2024 (review here) they rocked.

The band includes 3/4 the original lineup (singer Gary Cherone, guitarist/vocalist Nuno Bettencourt, bassist Pat Badger) and their drummer since the 2000s Kevin Figueredo.

Along with a bunch of their songs, Extreme closed their set with a medley of Ozzy Osbourne (1948-2025) songs. Nuno played at Ozzy’s farewell concert and was one of the highlights of the day with his brilliant playing. Great tribute to the late great Ozzy Osbourne.

What can I say? Extreme rock. More Than Words is one of their biggest songs (a ballad) but there is a lot more to them than that. They are a very rocking/funky sounding band. If you don’t know more of their music, seek it out.

And yes Gary sang for Van Halen. Many don’t like that period, but I think Gary sang great in the band, as he does in Extreme. And he’s a very animated frontman too.

Again, Extreme rocks.

Now to Tesla. This was the 3rd time I had seen them. They are always solid and probably one of the better bands to see live because again, they are always solid.

3/5 the original lineup (singer Jeff Keith, guitarist Frank Hannon, bassist Brian Wheat) along with longtime guitarist Dave Rude (since the 2000s) and drummer Steve Brown (brother of Dokken drummer “Wild” Mick Brown), Tesla always deliver the goods. That’s really all I can say. Go see Tesla!!

Now to the main event.

Like I said in the beginning of this post, I have been a Motley Crue fan since I was 16 and I always will be.

Many knock them these days, but I’m a fan thru and thru.

I don’t like how the handling of their guitarist Mick Mars being let go went, but at the end of the day, I love all of these guys.

Minus Mick, the band is still 3/4 the original lineup (singer Vince Neil, bassist Nikki Sixx, and drummer Tommy Lee) and now their guitarist is the PHENOMENAL John 5 (John Lowery).

I’m not kidding: John 5 can play any style on the guitar. Within Motley, John plays Mick’s parts note for note, but also brings some of his flavoring to the table also.

Vince seems to get the most trash talking on the internet. Fat jokes and his singing are constantly ripped apart.

Frankly, the fat jokes need to stop because Vince is skinnier than me now and he’s been up and down the scale since the late 90s. It happens people!!! Plus, Vince had several strokes a few years ago, so it’s a miracle he can do anything at this point. But I think he looks good.

And I must say, of all the times I have seen Motley, him skipping words in concert has never bothered me. It’s weird, but it’s never bothered me. He’s always sang enough that he got away with it.

But I also must say since Motley started back up a few years ago, his singing has been better and judging by what I saw this night, this is the best Vince has sung in concert since at least the early 90s and definitely the best he’s sung when I’ve seen him in person. He sings almost every word now and doesn’t skip much. So props to Vince!!! You rock man.

The whole band kicked butt as always. Tommy still plays drums with so much force and attitude. Nikki has always been solid and as I said, John can play anything.

It was such a fun show. It was cool when they did Home Sweet Home, they told the story of how the song was written, and Vince dedicated it to Dolly Parton, who sadly passed away this day. Vince said “This one’s for you Dolly”. Dolly actually recorded parts of the song with Motley a few years ago and Nikki and John worked with her on her last album Rockstar, which is a really good album. Rest In Peace Dolly!!

I don’t think they’ll ever stop having backing tracks, but for the most part, the show is really live and that’s great to see.

In regard to the tour title, I don’t think it’s quite as extravagant as the 2005 tour, but that’s OK. It’s still definitely designed to look like a carnival, and the visuals and stage design are cool. They even have a carnival tent as their stage curtain and before the show starts, snippets of their songs are playing, along with carnival music.

If you have not seen this tour and have not seen Motley for a while like me, this is a MUST SEE show.

Since I intend to slow down, I don’t know if I’ll ever see any of these bands again, but either way, it was another fun show for the books.

Thank you Motley, Tesla, and Extreme for rocking my world.

And keep on rocking everyone.