MÖTLEY CRÜE has shared a video recap of the band’s June 30 performance for 450 lucky fans at the Underworld in London, an incredible rare secret club show from the global icons.
The streets of Camden came alive with the buzz that MÖTLEY CRÜE might be the band on the flyer listed as DÖGS OF WAR, with lines around the block for the most exclusive gig in town.
In a venue where most bands play their first gig, as part of their set, the band — vocalist Vince Neil, bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee and guitarist John 5 — performed their iconic anthems “Shout At The Devil”, “Dr. Feelgood”, “Girls Girls Girls” and many more including a premiere of their cover of BEASTIE BOYS‘ “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)” as fans couldn’t believe their luck seeing the band perform in such a small venue.
MÖTLEY CRÜE said in a statement: “This wasn’t our first time playing a SECRET club show and it will definitely not be the last. We love doing this, especially before larger shows. We love when we can play these intimate shows for our fans.”
The news of the intimate show first came a week earlier to fans via a cryptic flyer across the band’s Twitter, under the name DÖGS OF WAR. The June 30 show put an end to all speculation, as the band revealed this is the name of one of several brand new songs that they have recently recorded with Bob Rock in the studio.
London’s MÖTLEY fans have never been closer to the band in the U.K., in touching distance of Vince on the mic, Nikki as he commanded the bass, Tommy on drums and John 5 on guitar as the clubs amps blasted out hit after hit with raw intensity. Social media immediately became flooded with live clips by excited fans.
The following day (Saturday, July 1) by contrast, MÖTLEY CRÜE performed at Wembley Stadium in front of 50,000 fans as part of their just-completed European leg of “The World Tour” with DEF LEPPARD.
The Underworld setlist was as follows:
01. Wild Side
02. Shout At The Devil
03. Too Fast For Love
04. Live Wire
05. Looks That Kill
06. Rock And Roll, Part 2 / Smokin’ In The Boys Room / Helter Skelter / Anarchy In The U.K. / Blitzkrieg Bop
07. (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!) (BEASTIE BOYS cover)
08. Dr. Feelgood
09. Girls, Girls, Girls
10. Primal Scream
11. Kickstart My Heart
CRÜE and LEPPARD kicked off the European leg of their “The World Tour” on May 22 in Sheffield. The European leg concluded on July 6 in Glasgow.
LEPPARD and CRÜE will team up with Alice Cooper for a U.S. mini-tour this summer. The trek will kick off on August 5 in Syracuse, New York and include stops in the Midwest before concluding in El Paso, Texas on August 18. Shows in Japan and Australia will follow in the fall.
In April, Sixx said that MÖTLEY CRÜE had completed recording several new songs with longtime producer Bob Rock.
MÖTLEY CRÜE‘s new guitarist John 5 told Sirius XM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” about recording the group’s new music with Rock: “Bob would come in and [say], ‘Okay, let’s try this here, and that here and this here. It was one of the most incredible experiences ever… I’m thinking, ‘We’ve got so much great technology today’… but we got in that room and it was like being in a garage working on a song when you were in high school… It was incredible, and we documented a lot of it too.”
Regarding the musical direction of the tracks he and the rest of MÖTLEY CRÜE have recorded so far, John 5 said: “The songs are fucking heavy. I sound like a little excited kid right now, but they’re heavy and they’re mean. I can’t wait for them to come out. I’m just so excited.”
When host Eddie Trunk asked John 5 whether the new MÖTLEY CRÜE music can be compared to the band’s breakthrough second album, 1983’s “Shout At The Devil”, the guitarist said that some of the new riffs are “heavier than anything” on that LP. “All I can tell you is that it’s heavy and it’s aggressive, and I think people are going to dig it because, talking as a fan, it’s fucking badass,” he said.
John 5 joined MÖTLEY CRÜE last fall as the replacement for the band’s co-founding guitarist Mick Mars. Mick announced his retirement from touring with MÖTLEY CRÜE last October as a result of worsening health issues.
Mars suffers from Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS),a chronic and inflammatory form of arthritis that mainly affects the spine and pelvis. After years of performing through the pain, he informed the other members of MÖTLEY CRÜE last summer that he could no longer tour with them but would still be open to recording new music or performing at residencies that did not require much travel.
When Mars announced his retirement from touring with MÖTLEY CRÜE, he maintained that he would remain a member of the band, with John 5 taking his place on the road. However, in early April the 71-year-old musician filed a lawsuit against CRÜE in Los Angeles County’s Superior Court claiming that, after his announcement, the rest of CRÜE tried to remove him as a significant stakeholder in the group’s corporation and business holdings via a shareholders’ meeting.
Professional photos below courtesy of The Outside Organisation / Sam Shapiro
