Rocktober 22: Mötley Crüe

"Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)"

I was twelve years old and in seventh grade. My cousin Rachel was going with our older cousin Paula and one of her friends to see Motley Crue and Warrant, and I. Wanted. To. Go. So. Bad. My parents (specifically my mom) rarely said no to something I really wanted, but for some reason I just could not talk them into this. I have no idea what the objection was, and if I asked my mom about it now, I seriously doubt she would remember. I thought the concert was at Hara Arena in Dayton, but Wikipedia tells me the Dr. Feelgood tour didn't stop there, so it must have been at Riverbend in Cincinnati. That may have been a factor given that it was a school night (we lived an hour-plus north of Cincy), but I wasn't a kid who fussed about going to school even after a late night (I've always been a night owl), so...I don't know. At any rate, Rachel (15 at the time) got to go to the show and I didn't, and I was big mad.

Motley Crue was one of those bands that I always just really liked. It was the Girls, Girls, Girls era when I first started listening to them; I really connected with Dr. Feelgood when it came out (this is my favorite song off the album); and I worked my way back through their catalog and absolutely loved Shout at the Devil (fun fact: "Looks That Kill" was the song for the garter toss when Brandi and I got married). That said, this is more or less where my connection with them stopped. When Vince Neil left the band, I didn't pay any attention to the album with John Corabi, and I haven't listened to much they've put out since he returned. The exception is the four new songs they put out on the soundtrack to The Dirt.

Speaking of The Dirt, Brandi and I watched it shortly after it came out on Netflix. Brandi really liked it, and it gave her a deeper appreciation for the band's music.* I thought it was hilarious seeing Ramsay Bolton (actor Iwan Rheon) as Mick Mars. Beyond that, I thought it was really fun, but I know it glossed over a lot of stuff, and it really just made me want to read the book.

*On Brandi and hair metal: I was obviously on the young side for a fan of this type of rock when it was popular, and Brandi is four years younger than I am. So she wasn't there for it in the same way that I was. She likes the genre in kind of an absent way and is familiar with the big hits and big bands. She indulges me with stuff like watching The Dirt, and one of my favorite parts about doing this all month is when she reads each entry and I get to kind of see myself through her eyes. What a weird little kid I was.