The US Fest pics I saw in the ‘80s set a strange scene: the Crue doing their Shout At the Devil thing in broad daylight, on a sunny California afternoon. This show was four months before the record would be released in September of 1983. I read my Crue history as a kid & this concert was often cited as the scene of Motley’s breakthrough: it was certainly the biggest concert they had performed thus far in their career (I think their WHOLE career: approximately 670,000 people attended this fest with about 300,000 witnessing this ‘new’ band, Motley Crue). Crue performed during ‘Heavy Metal Day’ with other acts like Van Halen, Quiet Riot & Ozzy Osbourne.
These images were all I had ever seen of this monumental Motley moment & it wasn’t until the YouTube era that I got my first listen. To say I was underwhelmed would be an understatement. I think the size of the stage & the crowd intimidated the Crue & they were off their game that day. It didn’t help that Vince was having mic problems & Mick seems to be on a another planet at times.
Here is the show in its entirety!
