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[VHDrummer]

I got to DTE around 4:40 and noticed they were doing pat downs. It was a fairly weak pat down but I noticed they were hitting the right spots (in my case). So, I went back to the car and took all the gear out of my crotch. But I used another method and got everything through.

Trapt came on right at 5 and played
1. Stand Up
2. Curiosity Kills
3. Still Frame
4. Who's Going Home with You Tonight
5. Head Strong
6. Everything to Lose

I'm not a huge fan but they sound great live, lots of energy, and a very tight performance; the crowd was very respectable to them as well.

Sixx:AM came on at 5:45 and did the usual
1. X-Mas In Hell
2. Pray For Me
3. Heart Failure
4. Intermission
5. Dead Man's Ballet
6. Tomorrow
7. Accidents Can Happen
8. Life Is Beautiful

Sixx:AM played for 35 minutes, James Michael is a very good live singer and was a lot more energetic than I thought he would be. It sounded like he was taking a page out of Vince's book with all the language; he mentioned how he grew up in Michigan and how great it was to be back. The only complaint I have about the Sixx:AM performance is the obvious usage of pre-recorded vocals for both chorus and verses. Overall, a tight performance and a very nice job on guitar by DJ Ashba.

Papa Roach came on at 7 and did:
1. Change or Die
2. ...To Be Loved
3. Getting Away with Murder
4. She Loves Me Not
5. Forever
6. I Almost Told You That I Loved You
7. Scars
8. Broken Home
9. Between Angels and Insects
10. Last Resort

A ton of energy. Their sound was awful though; it was quiet and the mix was really off. Even though there was a lot of energy, I wasn't too impressed with them honestly; it just didn't click for me.

Buckcherry was on at 8:15
1. Tired of You
2. Lit Up
3. Broken Glass
4. Next 2 You
5. Too Drunk to Fuck
6. Everything
7. Sorry
8. Crazy Bitch

This band sounds incredible live. Josh Todd is a very good live singer. They were very loud and energetic. The only negative I can find is Josh Todd cannot work a crowd to save his life (minus "Crazy Bitch"). During solos he stood off in the corner and played tambourine, very poor crowd interaction through their set in my opinion but they played great. "Too Drunk to Fuck" sounds great live as does "Next 2 You."

After a long break I heard "Hell's Bells" over the PA and knew it was time...

Lights went out around 9:20 and of course Motley ran through...

1. KICKSTART MY HEART
-Lots of smoke during this song, I couldn't see hardly any of them on stage. Besides the smoke, Vince sang exceptionally well.
2. WILD SIDE
-Always loved this song live; very driving. Vince was skipping most of the words like usual but the ones he did sing were very good, once again, another great pyro display when kicking in.
3. SHOUT AT THE DEVIL '97
-It was sweet to see 15,000+ fists pump in the air each chorus; very solid performance of this song. Vince mentioned how he was looking forward to Detroit since the tour started and asked how many people had the new album--a decent amount acknowledged it.
4. SAINTS OF LOS ANGELES
-Decent performance and the people around me knew all the words so that was cool. They really need to ditch the pre-recorded bass on this song.
5. MICK'S SOLO/LIVE WIRE
-Mick of course did a small solo which included a the intro/main riff of "TOAST OF THE TOWN" and I freaked out hearing that. I know he's done it before but to actually hear it in person was awesome. "Live Wire" itself was really good, Vince's screams were on and I like how they didn't really bullshit around before the stop/start ending.
6. SICK LOVE SONG
-Vince asked how many "Sick mother fuckers" were in the audience and then they kicked into SLS. They definitely slowed the tempo of this song down for the tour. It sounded SO much better last night than any other time I heard it (it was AWFUL on ROAE Tour). Tommy threw in some new drum fills throughout the song and came in a little early (I believe) after the guitar solo/bridge.
7. ANARCHY IN THE UK
-At this point, I figured it was time for the shenanigans to begin but it was really quiet/dark for a bit then I heard the count of "1-2, 1-2-3..." and I knew they were going to do it. Pretty tight rendition of the song, Mick flubbed a bit of the second solo and the CROWD fucked up the lyrics during "Just another country" as a lot of them sang "Anarchy."
8. MUTHERFUCKER OF THE YEAR
-Tommy got up and greeted us and said it was great to be back and also mentioned them filming a new video tonight. Then he dedicated the next song to all of the motherfuckers in the audience and in the band. I think this song sounds GREAT live; so heavy, so driving, I hope it stays with them for years to come.
9. DON'T GO AWAY MAD (JUST GO AWAY)
-Jozie came out as the angel and gave Vince his guitar. He strummed the intro and then they all kicked in. Crowd went apeshit and they played it really good. I know there are a lot of people calling for it to be cut but I think it's a really fun song live, especially from the solo onward.
10. SAME OL' SITUATION
-After an extended break (due to technical difficulties) they kicked into SOS. A majority of the crowd screamed but I just went "egh." I agree that this song needs to go.
11. PRIMAL SCREAM
-Nikki of course talked to us first, saying how fucking awesome Detroit is. He pretty much gave us the same spiel he did in 2006 saying that everyone he talks to in the business (also mentioned the Ramones, Van Halen, etc.) says Detroit is their favorite place to play. He said it was a no-brainer to film the video here and said B-roll was for Chicago. The crowd started booing of course then Nikki did his little sit down/jump/scream thing. Some dude called me a motherfucker and threw a chunk of grass at me because I wouldn't sit down (but hey, I had recording equipment and I didn't want to fuck it up). The song was great like usual.
12. LOOKS THAT KILL
-This song for me was starting to get a little stale live and I'm glad they freshened it up a bit. I like the new intro (a little reminiscent of the "Ten Seconds to Love" hand clap break) but either Tommy or Mick got off rhythm and they couldn't flow from the intro directly to the song like previous shows. Instead, Mick started it off with Tommy joining in. Vince's vocal performance on this song impressed me the most; very strong and you could tell he was digging deep to belt it out.
13. GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS
-Same intro as 2006 with making a fist, etc. Always a FUN song live, no video to accompany it though which I found strange. It feels like they really scaled back their edginess last night--not too much sexual content and the swearing wasn't as bad as it usually is. I always wanted them to open with this song because I think it would be so kickass. Either way, the song was great.
14. DR. FEELGOOD
-I think the transition from "Girls, Girls, Girls" to this song sucks. It sounds really off-key and off beat. I was really looking forward to hearing this song but I think it was one of the weaker ones all night. The lighting and pyro for this song was great but I didn't find the performance to be all that hot.
15. HOME SWEET HOME
-I like the re-arrangement of this song. And I thought the video was really nice (props to Moon and Mox) to accompany it. Like I mentioned in another thread, because of my recorder issues, this was the only song I ended up recording from the entire day (which is extremely disappointing). Very cool performance and tranquil, sincere way to end the show. I like how Vince's goodbyes always sound really sincere. I think it's a nice change of pace to end the show instead of a 10 minute "Kickstart My Heart."

Sound: A
Performance: A

Overall:
Sound/mix was fantastic where I was. Very heavy, but also very balanced. I like how Tommy's drums sound FULL again (he's reverted back to a tone similar to that of COS), those acrylic drums really sound cool live. From the other shows I've seen (2/25/05, 12/31/05, 2/25/06, 10/11/06) this was the best performance I've seen from them as a whole. And while I say that, I also think "Anarchy in the UK" can be replaced with an older song that some may know ("Too Young to Fall in Love," "Too Fast for Love," etc.) or a new song. I enjoyed myself immensely but I am still disappointed in the set list. The band overall sounds great and I hope they can carry it for the rest of the tour so everyone can see as good of a show--if not better, than what we had last night.

About the recording:
I'm so angry with myself over last night. The night before, I unplugged the battery inside my battery box to save it for 7/15. Well, once I got into DTE with everything yesterday, I geared up and I heard the roar of the crowd for Trapt, so I booked out of the bathroom to my seat and hit record totally NOT remembering I had to re-attach the battery. So in short, I recorded 6 hours of silence. The real kicker is when during Motley's encore break I realized it and in a last ditch attempt, I plugged my mic into the mic input and recorded a very bassy "Home Sweet Home." Out of the 15,000+ there yesterday, I hope I wasn't the only one with recording gear.

The ONE song I was able to record:
In FLAC "Home Sweet Home"
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0A2RCE1G

Some video I found:

[Mink]

Cool review, thanks.

[Dutchie]

Cool review. Thanks for that.

Is Tommy doing a solo this tour? If so, is it anything "special"?

[Iron Mike]

Kind of a bummer on the set list length wise, but I got spoiled by the 2 1/2 hour gigs on the '05-'06 reunion tour that featured many more songs, and many old rare tracks.

Glad you enjoyed! :thumb:

[VHDrummer]

Dutchie wrote: Cool review. Thanks for that.

Is Tommy doing a solo this tour? If so, is it anything "special"?

Nope, that's being saved for their arena tour later this year/early 2009.

[dokkendude]

bummer about the battery box!!
great review though! :thumb:

[unchainedheart]

They are coming to toronto and won't miss it for nothing,thanks for the review. :thumb: