It took Motley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee approximately five songs to come to the stage to announce he wasn’t playing due to severe tendinitis in his arm. The crowd booed and people were clearly upset. This was Motley Crüe’s final tour and last show playing at First Niagara Center. It was evident something was amiss because during the first few songs no spot lights were cast onto the drum set. Glen Sobel (Alice Cooper’s drummer) did a great job filling in last minute for Tommy Lee.For those who don’t know he is also the timekeeper for Alice Cooper, who headlined the show that night.
Vince Neil was disappointing throughout the entire set, minus maybe a loud “yeah” here and there. Vince certainly tried to play his heart out and toward the end of the night you could hear and see the exhaustion on his face as he huffed and puffed his way through songs. During “Kickstart My Heart” there were some parts where at the end of a verse he mumbled the words, almost like he gave up. Nevertheless that’s what the pyrotechnics were there for that night, to cover up their failing ability to perform live like in days’ past. The hero of the night was Mick Mars, who didn’t need to jump around on stage in frilly costumes for people to be entranced by him. His guitar playing and solos were enough to capture people. While costume changes were happening for Nikki and Vince, Mars was given the spotlight to play some impressive solos. If this was really the band’s last hurrah, and last show in Buffalo, the band could have put more effort into performing a complete show.
Alice Cooper and his band had done an excellent job from start to finish. Mr. Cooper is 67 years old and is blowing away young bands left and right. It will be a sad day when Cooper announces his retirement. If you have not seen him I highly recommend going at least once. They made the crowd feel creeped out, uncomfortable and having some people covering their eyes. He did everything one would expect from a Cooper concert, from decapitating himself to having his giant Frankenstein on stage. He sang classics like “Schools Out” to “ No More Mr. Nice Guy.” Alice Cooper stole the show that night and deserves high praise for his performance.
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