Now, we know the truth: Matt Smith wasn’t just traipsing around Arizona for the dry air, the NHL and the woeful football Cardinals. Yes, he went to see the Cr

Motley Crue crashed in to Phoenix for the Route Of All Evil Tour. The tour is why I happen to be in Arizona. This show features some crazy antics on the buses and backstage, but more on that later. Right now, it’s time to talk about the concert. This is also a show that has been set to play outdoors at another amphitheater. The pattern continues on this leg of the tour, much as it did with Carnival Of Sins. But, with “Evil” the Crue issupporting Aerosmith and on “Sins” they were the entire show. “Sins” gave us three hours of Motley, the “Evil” show boasts about ninety minutes. These are the exact same venues courtesy of Live Nation. They book theshows, and I wish “Nation” knew that Alltel arena in Little Rock exists!

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Anyway, hit them up @ www.livenation.com for tour and venue information.

The Motley Crue stage has grown darker during this stint on the road. There is a slant toward Voodoo in the set decorations. There is an all black format where skulls, crosses, and snakes abound. The huge animatronics cobras spew the fog of dry ice. This thick smoke covers the crowd as the band takes the stage. Dr. Feelgood opens the show, with Nikki Sixx manning a flamethrower on a pile of amplifiers. This crowd in theArizona desert goes crazy. They love it, even though from the looks of things, Aerosmith may be why they are here. The pyrotechnics continue as Shout At The Devil plays. The band is pumped up and looking good. I haven’t seen them in about three weeks, but they are as well rested here as in Indianapolis. Fire, and lots of it continues as the band plays my favorite Crue tune, Wild Side. Then, the lights drop and everything goes black. After some silence, neon lights the stage and Looks That Kill powers up. The dancers come out for the first time during this song, carry the military style guns they use for this show.

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Ropes, cages and hooks are lowered on to the stage as Live Wire plays. The girls exist for a costume change and emerge for Same Old Situation in wedding dresses. This is also the time to fire up the bondage video. Some of the older people in the crowd complain about the content of the video. This video is ruff. It does contain a lot of pornography, in addition to the bondage. I have seen this Crue show in about 50 different cities in the last two years. The content of what is on the screen varies greatly. The mass market big cities like Phoenix, Vegas, Chicago, etc… get a different film clip than say Little Rock, Jackson, Des Moines. Tonight’s movie is pretty hardcore.

Things quiet down and we are back to a dark venue, then Tommy starts the piano for Home Sweet Home. Vince invites the crowd to sing, and they do. Everyone know this song. It was the world’s first power ballad. After the song, Vince discusses his love of all things Arizona and then the girls

Missy & Josey – return with an acoustic guitar for Don’t Go Away Mad. Vinny takes a break after that one and Tommy leaves the drum kit to talk to the crowd. Tommy hands out a couple of Jager shots to the people in the front row, and then tosses a bottle in to the crowd. The band returns for Louder Than Hell.

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One young lady in the first row that has been trying to get Nikki’s attention all night has her wish granted. As Sick Love Song begins toplay, he promptly spits stage blood all over her. She licks it of her face like it’s the nectar of a God. She is dying to go backstage, but just doesn’t quite make it tonight. Primal Scream is fired up and Allen theroadie starts making his way thru the crowd. Some young ladies are given the much coveted backstage hook up, but most don’t seem to qualify. Girls, Girls, Girls, plays next and the strippers join the boys on stage. This has been one of the raunchiest shows I have seen on the entire tour. Mick Mars bleeds Girls straight into a guitar solo. His solo features some Jimi Hendrix and as he plays Nikki begins to throw water on those closest to the stage. He’s screaming “Get Loud People! This isn’t a damn Bon Jovi show!” Mick Mars wraps up his solo and then the band blows out Kick
Start My Heart for the last song. The entire audience had a blast, including the Aerosmith fans. There is more Motley Crue info available @ www.motley.com

Now, since the Arkansas Times is a family newspaper – not everything can appear on this website. So, for more unedited CRUE content, as well as other rock photos and videos check out my spot @www.myspace.com/mattwildside I will have a review of the Aerosmith show posted soon and some more backstage surprises and gossip from both before and after the Phoenix shows.– Matt

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