By Aaron Small

On August 22nd, Mötley Crüe brought The Final Tour to Toronto, Ontario for the second - and last time - at The Air Canada Centre . It was a just over a year ago on August 10th 2014 that initial goodbyes were made at The Molson Ampitheatre; very special guest Alice Cooper opened both shows. Naysayers complained about the very real possibility of duplicate shows a mere twelve months apart… while there were no shortage of similarities, there was also an abundance of differences.

Beginning with the man born Vincent Furnier, who’s known to the world as Alice Cooper, at age 67 he’s still got plenty of life left in him. In 2014 The Coop kicked it all off with “Hello Hooray”, in 2015 he opted to start with “The Black Widow”, which the audience definitely appreciated. From there, the next six songs were a carbon copy run-through of greatest hits including “I’m Eighteen” and “Poison”. That being said, Alice’s band, consisting of guitarists Nita Strauss, Ryan Roxie, and Tommy Henriksen, bassist Chuck Garric, and drummer Glen Sobel are tight as can be and obviously enjoy sharing the limelight with a living legend.

There’s two distinct parts to the current Alice Cooper show, the second half being much more theatrical in nature. Last year, the true shock rock commenced with “Welcome To My Nightmare”, which was swapped out for “Go To Hell” this time around. Then, once again, it was the same songs with the same shtick. No matter how many times you’ve seen Alice bring his pet snake out on stage, get wrapped in a straightjacket, or be decapitated in the guillotine; it’s still pretty damn enjoyable, as is the giant monster stalking the stage in “Feed My Frankenstein”. Consistency and quality cannot be faulted.

For Alice Cooper, playing outdoors at The Ampitheatre in 2014, versus playing indoors at The ACC in 2015 really made no difference at all; when it came to Mötley Crüe, the housings of a hockey arena were a game changer and life saver! Read on to see why. While it’s sad to see vocalist Vince Neil, bassist Nikki Sixx, guitarist Mick Mars, and drummer Tommy Lee call it quits as a touring entity after 35 years on the road, they went out on a terrific high in Toronto. The same couldn’t be said if last year’s show by the lake was the final one. In 2014, Vince was fighting with his voice; definitely not one of his better nights. This year, he was bang on, nailing the scream in “Primal Scream” and hitting the high notes in “Looks That Kill”. He still let the crowd sing quite a bit in “Same Ol’ Situation” and “Live Wire”, but this time it was 100% planned audience participation with brilliant results. Plenty of cheers were earned by modifying a line in “Girls, Girls,Girls” to “must have broke Toronto’s laws.” By the time “Dr. Feelgood” rolled around, Vince was running out of gas, but rather than give up, he gave it his all.

Nikki lit up the rafters with a flame thrower attached to his bass during “Shout At The Devil” – and that was only one small part of this pyrotechnic extravaganza!  Last year, the roof of The Ampitheatre was unable to hold the weight of Tommy Lee’s drum roller coaster, thereby forcing him to severely shorten the track, minimizing the thrill for all involved. This year his “lifetime dream” was up in full force, stretching almost the entire length of the arena. As Lee’s kit rode the rails, it spun and inverted a full 360 degrees during his drum solo. Visually very impressive, but musically Tommy was banging along to pre-recorded samples, including a snippet of “Sabotage” by The Beastie Boys. You’ve got to give ol’ Mick his turn in the spotlight, yet guitar solos have never been his forte – they’re rather dull and over-extended.

But the best was saved for last! During “Kickstart My Heart”, Vince and Nikki climbed aboard separate cherry-pickers attached to crane arms that swung way out over the still salacious crowd as confetti rained down. Most thought that was the grand finale, but oh no. The Crüe – escorted by security – made their way through the floor seats to a mini-stage at the other end of the arena, which at one point rose 15’ in the air, as the festivities came to a close with their classic ballad “Home Sweet Home”.   

The 16-song set list was of course a career-spanning best of, but certain tunes were conspicuous by their absence. Mötley’s two most recent singles “Sex” and “All Bad Things” didn’t make the cut – although the later was aired over the house PA prior to the Crüe taking the stage. No one expected to hear anything from their self-titled album with John Corabi on vocals, or New Tattoo with the late Randy Castillo on drums. However, 1997’s Generation Swine, which featured all four original members, was overlooked completely. All things considered, the inclusion of “Saints Of Los Angeles”, “Louder Than Hell”, and “Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)” as well as the aforementioned songs ensured every major era of the illustrious career from the self-proclaimed Motherfuckers Of The Year was represented. And judging by the insanely long lines at the merch booths, both before and after the show, those in attendance knew all too well they had witnessed a remarkable night of rock ‘n roll history.  

Remaining dates on Mötley Crüe’s Final Tour can be found at this location.

(Photo by Paul Brown)