Motley Crue Bring "Dr. Feelgood," Classic Hits to Crue Fest 2 Launch

Mötley Crüe gave a loud-and-lewd commentary on health care reform in Camden, New Jersey, Sunday night when they kicked off the opening night of Crüe Fest 2 with a start-to-finish run through Dr. Feelgood to mark the six-million-selling album's 20th anniversary (read the tales behind the album here). Capping a daylong loud-fest of heaviosity from Godsmack, Theory of a Dead Man, Drowning Pool and the Charm City Devils, the Crüe's set commenced with spectacle of a sexy nurse pushing some poor soul in a wheelchair across the lip of the stage in front of a black curtain.

(Check out the Crü's kick-off gig, in photos.)

She then proceeded to inject the patient with with syringe the size of a rowboat oar, and after a piercing scream the curtain fell away to reveal the Crüe blaring the opening chords of Dr. Feelgood's title track from inside a bright white, stobe-flashed padded cell, dressed in white lab coats. After capping "Slice Of Your Pie" with the coda of the Beatles' "She's So Heavy," the padded cell gave way to reveal a giant, two-story tiled wall backdrop — shades of Pink Floyd's The Wall — tinted surgical scrubs green. The stage design was no doubt intended to mirror the album's underlining theme of waking up from a nightmarish sickness (remember, Dr. Feelgood was the notoriously hard-partying Crüe's post-rehab album), it also served as a not so subtle reminder that we are all trapped inside an oppressive and dysfunctional health care system. Hold you in our wheelchair you can feel our disease, indeed.

Buttressed by a shapely pair of back-up singers in thigh-highs and dominatrix-corsets, the Crüe looked hale and healthy, with Vince Neil rocking white leather chaps, Nikki Sixx sporting a pair of shit-kicking frankenboots, Mick Mars donning his trademark black Zorro hat and Tommy Lee, as per usual, shirtless and graffiti-ed with tattoos. After the B.S.-detecting of "Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.)," Lee came out from behind the drum kit to address the crowd ("What's up, fuckin' bitches?!?") and pump them up for the rest of the set ("We got titties!") before returning to the drums to do what he does best, i.e. beat on things.

Mötley Crüe rounded out Dr. Feelgood's trifecta of hits with "Kick Start My Heart" and "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)," dug up metallic nuggets like "Shout At The Devil" and a pyro-blasted "Live Wire" and then closed out Crüe Fest 2 with a lighter-riffic "Home Sweet Home" and a righteous romp through "Girls, Girls, Girls," their riotous ode to the pole-workers of America.

Set List:
"Dr. Feelgood"
"Slice of Your Pie"
"Rattlesnake Shake"
"Kickstart My Heart"
"Without You"
"Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S)"
"Sticky Sweet"
"She Goes Down"
"Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)"
"Time For Change"
"Wildside"
"Saints Of Los Angeles"
"Live Wire"
"Shout At The Devil"

Encore:
"Home Sweet Home"
"Girls Girls Girls"

Related Stories:
• "Dr. Feelgood": Mötley Crüe's Track By Track Guide to 1989 Classic
• Mötley Crüe: Photo Gallery
• Mötley Crüe Go Cruising in an Ambulance to Announce Crü Fest 2

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

More Song Stories entries »

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