Pick of the Day: Motley Crue

Inspired, in part, by Emily Zimmerman's tremendous cover story in our Jan. 14 issue on the relative merits of Guns 'n Roses, who played Brandt Centre Jan. 20, and Motley Crue (pictured), who take the stage there tonight, my pick-of-the-day post on G 'n R (Dog Blog) turned into a rant on how shitty the decade that spawned both bands (the '80s) had been.

If you check the link, you'll see the post drew a response from a reader named Dewdney who took issue with me dissing the decade and insisting that, unlike me, he wasn't "appaled [sic] and offended" by the '80s. Fair enough. Everyone's take on the decade is obviously different. In the early '80s, I got a law degree at the U of S. Then I more or less did a 180 and started working toward becoming whatever it is that I am today (as a writer, critic and man, I mean). I don't regret the direction my life took. But the transition happened in the '80s, and it wasn't easy.

As societal participants, artists, through their work, can both subvert and reinforce dominant socio-political values and beliefs.

In the early '80s, for instance, punk defiantly worked in opposition to the stridently conservative and reactionary Thatcher/Reagan revolution. You could argue, I suppose, that through their hedonistic L.A. lifestyles bands like Motley Crue, Guns 'n Roses, Slayer, Skid Row and Poison subverted conservative Republican values. But though their boorish off-stage antics and fanatical allegiance to poseur cock-rock they also embodied them.

In her article Emily, at one point, writes that Motely Crue were "so impossibly straight that they could run around in makeup and heels and look even more masculine for it." But as far as looks go, it's pretty high maintenance, isn't it? And while I guess I can understand why a not insignificant portion of women would find a man (or men) like that attractive, it's not anything I'd ever aspire to emulate.

For what it's worth, the Leader-Post's Christopher Tessmer gave the G 'n R show a pretty glowing review. In his missive to me, Dewdney said he'd rather see the Crue. As Emily noted (and Dewdney conceded), the Crue are touring primarly as a nostalgia act now. And while the current incarnation of G 'n R is mostly an Axyl Rose solo project, with him being the only original member, he apparently has access to the entire G 'n R catalogue, has a crack band behind him, and he recently put out some new music that, while 15 years in the making, was positively received. Hence, my preference for G 'n R over Motley Crue.

I won't be there to see them when they do it tonight, but here's grainy video from a 2008 concert of the Crue doing "Kickstart My Heart" (YouTube)

And for those looking for something a little more sedate, Do-It-With-Class Young People's Theatre opens a two-night run of Wind in the Willows at Conexus Arts Centre at 7:30 p.m. It's a Broadway musical based on Kenneth Grahame's 1908 rural English children's story about the exploits of Mole, Rat, Toad and other woodland animals. Here's a link to a scene from an '80s era British stop-animation Wind in the Willows TV series . (YouTube)

Also worth checking out is the Coffeehouse Controversy tonight at Chapters at 7:30 p.m. Speaking is Journalism professor Gennadiy Chernov on Commercial Speech on Television: Stealth Advertising in Local Television News. And Attack in Black is at the Exchange with Lonesome Weekends in support. Finally, Alexis Normand is performing at the Club.