{"id":508518,"date":"2026-10-26T16:34:35","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T16:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/508518\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T16:34:35","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T16:34:35","slug":"motley-crue-at-the-fm-bank-amphitheater-long-beach-ca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/508518\/","title":{"rendered":"M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce at the F&M Bank Amphitheater, Long Beach, CA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Web: motley.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Players: Vince Neil, vocals; Nikki Sixx, bass; Tommy Lee, drums; John 5, guitar<\/p>\n

More column inches have been written about hard rock veterans M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce<\/a> than some former presidents. Movies and TV shows have been made, and books have been written (notably, in both cases, The Dirt). Band members have exited and, in the case of frontman Vince Neil and drummer Tommy Lee, returned. There have been scandals and wild anecdotes, all told, if we\u2019re being totally honest, with a public in mind that will gobble up with an insatiable appetite all manner of lascivious, debauched and decadent goings-on. Pearls will be clutched while scrolling continues.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Three members of the classic Cr\u00fce lineup are in the current incarnation: Neil, Lee, and bassist Nikki Sixx. When they reneged on their promise to retire a decade ago, guitarist Mick Mars gave the reunion a go but retired as a touring member in 2022 due in part to his ongoing battle with ankylosing spondylitis, an aggressive form of arthritis. So here we are in 2026, and M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce is still out there on the circuit. John 5, the bag-of-tricks guitarist who has previously played with David Lee Roth, Marilyn Manson, and Rob Zombie, has taken Mars\u2019 place. Business as usual.<\/p>\n

Well, not quite. See, here\u2019s the thing: While the guys still dress and speak as if they\u2019re young bucks raising hell on the Sunset Strip, they\u2019re actually in their mid-60\u2019s. Even new lad John 5 is in his mid-50\u2019s. This current tour, which we experienced in Long Beach, CA and Phoenix, AZ, is dubbed the Return of the Carnival of Sins and, before the band emerged onto the stage from behind a sort of \u201cbig top,\u201d an animated, monstrous ringmaster, a lecherous take on P.T. Barnum, told the crowd about the insane sights that they were about to soak up. Crazy, crazy shit was to be expected. The dude really built it up, like we were about to be dropped into the last days of Sodom and Gomorrah. And then\u2026 four middle-aged chaps ambled up and, surrounded by some female dancers who were likely a third of the band members\u2019 age, played some absolutely decent rock \u2018n\u2019 roll.<\/p>\n

The show was far from bad. A lot has been made of the state of Neil\u2019s voice nowadays, and there are definitely moments, sometimes entire songs, where he does struggle. One of the set\u2019s great surprises, the song \u201cAfraid\u201d from 1997\u2019s underrated Generation Swine, should have been a highlight but ended up falling flat due to Neil sounding like he\u2019d only just learned it. But the yin to that yang is Cr\u00fce\u2019s power ballad \u201cHome Sweet Home,\u201d which the singer grasped with both hands.<\/p>\n

The three musicians sounded phenomenal, in fairness. Sixx and Lee have always been a powerhouse rhythm section, and that remains the case. The rumble they create at the start of \u201cDr. Feelgood\u201d in particular, is unparalleled. And while Mars is known for his bluesy riffs, John 5 is a wildly unpredictable, maverick guitarist. It\u2019s a bit like when Buckethead joined Guns N\u2019 Roses or, going back a bit further, when Steve Vai joined Whitesnake. They can do far more than the songs require. 5 had the chance to shine during a solo that saw him cover his eyes with a towel, the big, ol\u2019 showoff!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The setlist in Long Beach was great; all of the hits you want to hear, plus some deep cuts. \u201cLouder Than Hell\u201d is a killer track from 1985\u2019s underappreciated Theatre of Pain, and it was great to hear that get an airing. The raucous Too Fast for Love debut was represented in the form of the title track, \u201cLive Wire,\u201d and \u201cTake Me to the Top.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The killer cover of Brownsville Station\u2019s \u201cSmokin\u2019 in the Boy\u2019s Room\u201d was a riot, as was \u201cPrimal Scream\u201d from the Decade of Decadence comp.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShout at the Devil,\u201d \u201cKickstart My Heart,\u201d \u201cGirls, Girls, Girls,\u201d \u201cWild Side\u201d\u2014all gave the crowd something to sing and dance to ( a crowd that, earlier on, had been warmed up expertly by Extreme and Tesla).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ultimately, this was a perfectly adequate M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce show. They\u2019re not kids anymore, and it\u2019s impossible to capture the fire and energy that comes with a determination to succeed and a desperation not to fail. The lads did just fine.<\/p>\n

Photos by Alex Kluft, taken at the Talking Stick Resort Amphitheater, Phoenix, AZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Web: motley.com Players: Vince Neil, vocals; Nikki Sixx, bass; Tommy Lee, drums; John 5, guitar More column inches…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-508518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}