Motley Crue have been grabbing headlines since last year, when they went on the road with Def Leppard on a massive North American comeback Stadium Tour that became one of the year’s highest-selling live runs. They were quick to extend their tour to a worldwide affair and, in proper Crue fashion, not without its controversy attached.
Last year in October 2022, John 5 departed Rob Zombie’s band to become a part of Motley Crue as he replaced Mick Mars as the guitarist struggled with health issues.
The split seemed amicable enough until last month when Mars sued the band for his share of the profits, accusing bassist Nikki Sixx of “gaslighting” him into thinking that his mental faculties were declining and that memory loss was preventing him from playing the songs properly. Mars also added that the hair metal legends extensively used backing tracks, claiming that Nikki didn’t play live at well, something that the guitarist was opposed to.
Crue also addressed the issue with a counterstatement reiterating that the guitarist was unfit to perform and stating that there were no backing tracks involved in their performances, which led to many fans and musicians becoming divided between both parties.
While this legal drama was happening behind the scenes, Crue were gearing up to start the European leg of their worldwide tour.
So, with this atmosphere surrounding the band’s live run, it probably would come as no surprise that people were being especially attentive to the group’s performances and quick to draw criticism for any mistake.
However, Nikki recently shared his good-humored thoughts on a negative review from one of the band’s recent gigs, and the complaints are not quite what you’d expect.
The bassist wrote on Threads:
“I read a honest complaint email from one of the venues about us today. It was pretty spot on. Said we were sexist pigs needing a shower flaunting half naked woman around on stage. Said we were too loud and said Fück too much during the family oriented show as well…and this is us being good.”
