24/4/81
Mötley Crüe perform their debut gigs, opening two sold out shows on the same night for Oakland’s
Yesterday & Today (Y&T) at The Starwood on the corner Crescent
Heights and Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. Working at the
club during the day, Nikki organised the support slot with the owner David
Forest, who also managed his previous band London. The
band works hard stapling posters on walls and lampposts around
Hollywood to promote their shows and Nikki's rule is if a band has one
poster Mötley needs four. The band has never run through
a full set in rehearsals before and doesn't know the set list until
Nikki tapes a handwritten sheet of paper to the stage floor at the
last minute. Forest books 10-12 bands a week at The Starwood and this
show is the first in years that he actually watches all of the band’s set.
A guy in the crowd spits on Vince during the first song Take Me To
The Top, so he jumps off stage and puts him in a headlock, while Nikki smashes
his bass into the shoulder of another punter keen on giving the Crüe
trouble. Tommy joins in and hits him
between the eyes with a drumstick, while Vince then hits him with a torch.
25/4/81
Mötley play two more shows this Saturday night opening for Y&T. By the end of their
second performance, the Crüe has the crowd screaming and Y&T find
themselves playing to a half-empty crowd. The band's stage attire includes a
black telephone cord Nikki wraps around his t-shirt.
© Paul Miles & Chronological Crue. Used with permission.