A Motley Night In Manchester

This week saw me slipping into my tight stretchy leggings, my high-heeled boots and my leather jacket for a night on the town in Manchester.  Well, when I say the town I mean the MEN Arena... sorry the Phones4You Arena... actually, I'm not sure who sponsors it now, as I'm sure Phones4You went bankrupt.  Must have been due to that intensely annoying advert....

Anyway, the reason I dragged myself out of my warm apartment on a very wet Tuesday night was the rock theatre that is the Alice Cooper/Motley Crue tour was hitting the city.  As this was Motley Crue's LAST EVER tour (until the next one, that is... a bit like The Who) and with the original shock-rocker and legend that is Alice Cooper in tow, it was at least enough to tempt me out into the wild night.

Having finished work a little later than planned my journey back into the city centre didn't get off to a great start - but got worse.  With Manchester United playing the same night, a few thousand people trying to get close to the WhoSonsorsItNow Arena and the Mancunian Way still displaying more holes than Swiss cheese, it meant the city was in gridlock. 

I missed the first band, unfortunately, but was comfortably in my seat for Alice Cooper.  I'm happy to report that the rock legend, now 67 years old, still does one of the BEST shows around.  Great music and great theatricals, all wrapped up by a real rock theatre performance.

Dexi Delite, Manchester and Cheshre Escort - Alice Cooper, Manchester

 Visual extravaganzas were, of course, Feed My Frankenstein, featuring a huge 'Frankenstein' Monster (of course you knew that Frankenstein was the creator, not the monster, didn't you? - the monster is never named in the original story...)

Dexi Delite, Manchester and Cheshre Escort - Alice Cooper, Manchester

Other huge favourites of the crowd were No More Mr Nice Guy and the huge hit Poison... oh, how I wanted to be like that girl in the video when I first saw it.  At one point, during the track Dirty Diamonds, he was throwing strings of what looked like pearls into the crowd.  I couldn't help but think they'd be great for giving hand-jobs!  The show, like it has for decades, finished with poor Mr. Cooper getting imprisoned in a straitjacket by a very sexy zombie nurse and her crew, before having his head removed by guillotine.

Dexi Delite, Manchester and Cheshre Escort - Alice Cooper, Manchester

Dexi Delite, Manchester and Cheshre Escort - Alice Cooper, Manchester

 Of course there had to be an encore - and it was an amazing version of School's Out, mixed with bits of Pink Floyd's Another Brick In The Wall.  Truly superb.  One other thing that got me cheering, not that I'm easily swayed by that kind of thing you understand, is he does appear to have the sexiest guitarist strutting the boards today - the very impressive Nita Strauss...  I had to check her out on the internet when I got home, just for reference, of course...

Oh yes, she could run those fast and fluid fingers over my fretboard and strum me anyday.  I'd love to try some of her 'licks'....

Anyway, onto the main act.  It would be fair to say the headliners, Motley Crue, had a job of matching the Alice Cooper performance. Motley Crue are legendary for their live shows (as well as other things - drummer Tommy Lee's infamous video with the delectable Pamela Anderson and singer Vince Neil's contribution to Aerosmith's list of hit singles - Dude Looks Like A Lady), so the leather-studded gauntlet, thrown down by Alice Cooper, was well and truly picked up.

Motley Crue are all about having a party, of course, and their straight-forward heavy metal riffs and songs soon got the Arena rocking - especially after opening with their own rock classic, Girls, Girls, Girls... Oooh, more sexy girls in rock videos - no wonder I find bad girls addictively attractive!  They brought along plenty of their own theatrical effects, too, including plenty of flame-throwing guitars...

Dexi Delite, Manchester and Cheshre Escort - Motley Crúe, Manchester

...and plenty of lights, to give a visual interpretation of their thundering, flashy rock. 

Dexi Delite, Manchester and Cheshre Escort - Motley Crúe, Manchester

The special effects went into overdrive with drummer Tommy Lee's spectacular roller-coaster drum solo, that had him at times drumming upside down as his drum platform moved up and over the audience before planting him midway down the arena.

Dexi Delite, Manchester and Cheshre Escort - Motley Crúe, Manchester

Dexi Delite, Manchester and Cheshre Escort - Motley Crúe, Manchester

I have to say I haven't quite seen anything like that at a concert before, and doubt I will again.  Brilliant.  The band finished with a bang and final goodbye to Manchester...

Dexi Delite, Manchester and Cheshre Escort - Motley Crúe, Manchester

 ... before returning for a last encore to bring the house down.  A fantastic night, and perfectly placed - Alice Cooper, to help say goodbye to Hallowe'en, and Motley Crue to herald a bit of a heavy rock end to the year with a few other events coming up... I already have my rather special outfits planned.  I will, of course, keep you updated!