I suppose that I should first explain that I did not pay for my ticket that night. We have just bought a new house. And between that, a new baby on the way, and a few other personal events, I would never have been able to think about paying for a concert ticket. Right before tickets went on sale, I half-jokingly said that I would go if someone were to buy me a ticket. Much to my surprise, my sister and my cousin Pete did exactly that. Consider it an early birthday present, they said. I have rarely been so grateful.
We met up in Wichita at Walkers Bar and Venue just 2 hours before showtime with the plan of having a few drinks to get us loosened up. Walkers is located directly across the street from Intrust Bank Arena, a perfect location for preparatory imbibing with no need to drive afterward.
'80's rock cover band The Banned is playing on the patio under the 97 degree sun and the presence of local rock station T-95 is everywhere. Upon entering we place our names into a radio station drawing for a pair of front row seats. The place is packed but the air conditioning feels great, which is good because the lines at the bar are very long and it takes forever to get a drink. We hang, sip our drinks, and make fun of our bartender who looks like Bobcat Goldthwait dressed as a male stripper in his leather vest, top hat, and eyeliner.
Our first drinks go down quickly and soon we are back in another eternal line for drinks, people watching and making derogatory comments about Bobcat the Bartender. After we once again have drinks in our hands we decide to brave the heat(there is no shade anywhere on the patio) and check out The Banned. I'm not sure if these guys are really bad or if the sun and heat are making them unenjoyable. Maybe it's the fact that they keep mutilating Motley Crue covers and we're about to see the real thing. Pete bails first and heads back to the air conditioning. I'm sipping on some straight liquor and while it is delicious, I find myself wishing that I had some soda and ice to make a cooler, more refreshing drink. The heat and The Banned both suck and I tell Hope and Anna that I'll be joining Pete in the AC.
Pete and I do some catching up while the girls are outside listening to the music. We're only 6 months apart, and as kids we did everything together. We were very close as kids and even into high school when our differing interests and cliques sent us down divergent paths. As adults we see each other far less and always enjoy our opportunities to get together, catch up, and reminisce. Motley Crue is part of that history, and their music is one of the things that kept us close as teenagers when we sometimes had little else in common. That and the fact that our family is just too close to ever really let anyone drift too far.
The ladies make their way back in when the band finishes. My sister mentions that it's pretty much time for the drawing. I'd nearly forgotten about it, my drinks are very strong and after only two I'm already quite foggy-headed. I tell everyone a gruesome story of a botched attempt to score concert tickets from plasma donation earnings, and how after giving up completely I ended up winning a pair from a Kansas City radio station five minutes after waking up the morning before the show. I've never won anything else. The balloon arm story is one I like to pull from my pocket every once in a while.
We walk into the main bar area and there are at least another 300 people waiting to hear the same results. Just as we find a spot where we can see what's happening, a T-95 "rocksquad girl" is reaching into the box to draw a name. The dj takes the slip of paper and announces the winner into his mic. Travis West. Wow, whoever that dude is, he's super lucky to be sit- Wait a second, that's my name!
I'm more intoxicated than I thought and suddenly I've gone totally deaf. I see my family members freaking out and jumping up and down but I'm just standing there staring at them. Allow me to say here that cognac is very good shit, be careful with that stuff. Finally, Anna gives me a little push and the world turns back on. I walk up to the T-95 table with the entire bar cheering and hollering and they ask for my ID. After confirming that I am me, Tyler from the Todd & Tyler Morning Show asks if I already had tickets. Yes. Where were those seats? All the way in the fucking back, I tell him. "He says all the way in the fucking back, folks!"
They hand me my new and improved tickets, turn me toward the cheering crowd in the bar and take my picture. I'm not even sure of who is in the photo with me until it appears on the station website the next day. 3 - 4 people offer to buy them from me immediately but these babies are mine! No way I'm giving up a chance to see the Crue and Alice Cooper from the front row!
It's easily decided that Pete is coming up front with me. I find a quiet corner to call my wife while Hope calls our mom to let her know that there are two extra tickets and that she now has her opportunity to see Alice Cooper. Angie is just as excited for me as I am about winning. A Crue fan she is not, but she understands the significance this moment holds for me. I love my wife!
We leave Walkers and head across the street to the arena. Walking through the parking lot, one of the T-95 guys from the bar spots me and introduces me to Hank the Mechanic, T-95's afternoon guy. Hank takes my number, gives me his card, and we agree that I will call him on the next Monday to talk about the show.
Pete and I part company with Anna and Hope then make our way into the arena. First things first: restroom, beer, t-shirt. In that order. It's 6:45 and although the tickets advertise a start time of 7:00, opening act The Raskins are already on the stage. We hear 3 of their songs: a cover of The Breakup Song by Greg Kihn, an original that I forgot as soon as it was over, and another cover tune, this one of The Stooges' Search and Destroy.
A very short break follows before the man, myth, and legend that is Alice Cooper appears under a cascading shower of sparks, kicking off his performance with Hello Hooray. Alice is a rarity of an artist with his longevity in that, along with all of his classics he is also continuously making and performing new music. However, being an opening act and only having 50 minutes, tonight he is sticking mainly to his classics. Even the heavy theatrics that he is known for are largely stripped from his show, relegated to a 3 song arc. His boa constrictor comes out for Welcome To My Nightmare, during Feed My Frankenstein he is transformed into a 12 foot monster, and he is made to wear a strait jacket by a wicked nurse for The Ballad of Dwight Fry, at the end of which he breaks free and attempts to strangle her. He is then punished at the guillotine.
For a man of his age Alice still sounds very much as he did in his youth, and he pushes his voice to the limit for the set closing School's Out. Alice is one of the masters and, overall, he and his band put on a very solid and entertaining display of rock and roll showmanship.
As soon as The Man Called Alice leaves the stage we hit up the beer stand again, grabbing 2 apiece. We get back to our seats and discuss how absolutely crazy it is that we are going to see one of our favorites so close up. Motley Crue's stage show is so over the top that, to me, it is best enjoyed sitting some ways back. The better to take it all in. What will it be like so close up? We are soon to find out.
A Motley Crue show usually starts with a fiery bang, but their first 2 songs are performed balls-out without any show-y excess. They play so loud that it takes a few minutes to even comfortably breathe due to the sound vibrating through our chests. I have seen many a metal band and never has it felt like this!
As they launch into their third song, Primal Scream, it finally turns into a true Crue show as giant fireballs take up half of the space on the stage. The heat from pyrotechnics of this sort are able to be felt even from the very back of an arena, from front row it feels like having a blow-dryer in your face. You can even feel the heated wind blow your hair back!
During the course of the show we will also be witness to a flamethrowing bass and a drum set that raises some 30ft into the air and over the front of the stage, careening end over end and upside down the entire way. And while all of these spectacles are entertaining, what really matters tonight(to me anyway) are the songs, and the sheer volume of it all. The Crue play every song one would expect them to play with a few surprises thrown in. My hearing won't entirely come back until the next day.
From the ages of 12 to 16, Motley Crue were my favorite band in the world. I owned every one of their albums, and scooped up any music magazine I could find with their name on it, reading every interview to gain some new insight on the band or some new information on things to come. As I've grown older, my music tastes have grown and expanded. I listened to punk and grunge in the '90's like everyone else my age. But no matter what was popular at the time, I never let trends dictate my tastes. And I never stopped liking Motley Crue. I still own all of their albums.
We can't go back in time. There is no such thing as a time machine to take us back to relive the defining moments of our youth. Yet, on July 12, 2014 for 2 hours, I was 14 again. It has been many years since I've spent my entire time at a concert leaning on a security barricade while pumping my fist and singing every word to every song. For me, everything about this night comes down to 20 seconds.
Motley Crue are playing the classic Sex Pistols tune, Anarchy in the UK. When they reach the verse that begins, " There are many ways to get what you want. . .", bassist Nikki Sixx walks to the edge of the stage in front of us, crouches down with his bass, establishes eye contact, and from the beginning of that verse through to the end of the chorus, we sing possibly the most classic punk rock song ever written. At the end of the chorus he stands back up, gives a Hell Yeah fist pump, and moves to the other side of the stage. Pete reaches over and smacks my shoulder. "That's you!", he shouts.
For those 20 seconds the two of us are not 37 year old men, but we are two boys of 14 years having our existence acknowledged by one of our rock 'n' roll idols. It's funny and trivial, sure. But it's also badass as fuck! Your own father would do the same if Keith Richards were to sing Brown Sugar with him.
They say that this will be their last tour, and if so, that will be fine with me. This is how I want to remember them going out. When Motley Crue left the stage that night, Nikki Sixx had already forgotten about us, more nameless faces in the masses. But the 14 year old boys inside of us will remember.
Alice Cooper
Intrust Bank Arena
Wichita, Ks July 12, 2014
Hello Hooray
No More Mr. Nice Guy
Under My Wheels
I'm Eighteen
Billion Dollar Babies
Poison
Dirty Diamonds
Welcome To My Nightmare
Feed My Frankenstein
Ballad of Dwight Fry
Killer(partial)
I Love the Dead(partial)
School's Out
Motley CrueIntrust Bank Arena
Wichita, Ks July 12, 2014
Saints of Los Angeles
Wild Side
Primal Scream
Same Ol' Situation
Looks That Kill
On With the Show
Too Fast For Love
Smokin' In the Boys Room
Without You
Mutherfucker of the Year
Anarchy In the UK
Dr. Feelgood
Shout At the Devil
Don't go Away Mad(Just
go Away)
Drum Solo
Guitar Solo
Live Wire
Too Young To Fall In Love
Girls,Girls,Girls
Kickstart My Heart
Encore:
Home Sweet Home
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