Back in the ’80s Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx used to set his pants on fire right there on the stage, part of a huge spectacle the veteran rock and roll band used to pull out every night along national arena tours. In recent years, the bassist toned things down a bit, but would still shoot flames out of his instrument — all for a grand display of rock and roll that wowed and impressed the ticket-buying public. But the band’s frontman Vince Neil says that new bands just don’t put in that kind of effort anymore, and it’s a total bummer, man.
In an interview with Maxim, Neil says young bands don’t care about big-ass arena gigs, pyrotechnics, and huge “entertainment value.”
“When we started getting bigger and were headlining arenas and all the other bands in the ’80s were coming out and ‘arena rock’ was kinda being born, we really took pride in putting shows together,” Neil tells Maxim, via Blabbermouth. “We put a lot into the entertainment value of fans coming out to watch a show. And that was really only a handful of bands, like us, who went out of their way to give fans a great show. And there’s only a handful left.”
And when Mötley Crüe play their final show this New Year’s Eve at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, there will be even one fewer grand ol’ rock and roll band blowing minds, melting faces, and kickstarting hearts
“It’s like us, Ozzy, Alice Cooper, and KISS,” he says. “That’s it. When we’re all gone, I don’t see anyone else carrying the torch of wanting to put together a great show with pyro and lights and fire, along with the songs. It’s just kinda sad that that’s all kinda disappeared. Hopefully there’s someone out there right now in their garage rehearsing, lighting themselves on fire.”
Check out an old interview clip with the Crüe talking about setting Sixx on fire.