Music review: Mötley Crüe/Def Leppard, Glasgow Green

You know what you’re getting with Mötley Crüe, writes Fiona Shepherd – dumb fun, good riffs and more than a hint of sexism

Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx (Picture: Anthony Devlin/Getty Images for Live Nation UK)

Mötley Crüe/Def Leppard, Glasgow Green ***

The persistent Scottish rain and heavily hairsprayed coiffeurs do not make for a particularly happy combination. “Thanks for taking a shower with us,” yelled Mötley Crüe’s unreconstructed kilted drummer Tommy Lee on the final sodden night of the Crüe/Def Leppard double-header tour. Glasgow’s damp rocker fraternity were willing to oblige – breasts were bared on request – but, tellingly, the longest queue in the field was for coffee and donuts.

While the LA rockers were willing to keep the bad boy image in play, their tourmates were the model of well-preserved veteran rock professionals – and where is the fun in that? Their opening set encompassed gurning rock balladry such as Love Bites, the dynamic hooky Rocket, surf and garage rock references in Phil Collen’s solo on Switch 625 and even shades of sentimental country on a semi-acoustic version of This Guitar before they unleashed the terminally unsubtle imagery of Pour Some Sugar On Me.

Compared to what followed, their set was in the best possible taste. Mötley Crüe secured their legend as a chaotic party band with their brilliant and disturbing memoir (now adapted as a Netflix film) The Dirt and they were determined to live down to their horny adolescent reputation. Do their kids ask them if they're going out dressed like that?

They were joined by writhing dancer duo Nasty Habits for the routinely sexist likes of Looks That Kill and flanked by huge pneumatic dolls for the dumb fun of Girls, Girls, Girls. Their commitment to satanic imagery on Shout at the Devil was less zealous – the Crüe are more old school rock’n’roll with a dash of sneering punk, as showcased on a mid-set covers mash-up which included The Beatles, The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, The Beastie Boys and…Gary Glitter. Bad taste? Good riffs.