A band who tune up to the sound of motorcycles and go out to the sound of machineguns were never going to have a problem getting an audience in Japan. Stadium metal legends M ötley Crüe opened to a sea of horns at Zepp Fukuoka on October 21st, part of their "Ambassadors of Rock" tour sponsored by Hard Rock Cafe. These days you might be tempted to think of the Crüe as ambassadors only of the past, like a heritage exhibit or Renaissance Fair. Twenty years ago their brand of swagger, crotch-hugging leather, bombastic stage theatrics and guitar shred could fill out Olympic Stadia several times over. Today, their shows are an opportunity to see a long-perfected formula find a new audience, and to witness the often remarkable level of rock talent sometimes obscured by the flamboyance and herculean drug intake of their heyday.

Despite the pedigree of celebrity misbehaviour onstage, the show itself was easily the most comfortable rock gig I have ever attended. The venue was large, not suffocatingly crowded and didn't smell. The crowd were prompt, polite and surprisingly hip, with barely a leopard-print tassel in sight. (Not counting the two guys in Mexican wrestler masks: I wouldn't even try to pigeonhole them). That said, there were a lot of previous Crüe tour t-shirts in evidence, and the anticipation in the hall fairly crackled until with a guitar shriek the band appeared and thousands of hands threw up the horns of metal.

The band, too, seem to have realised how far their appeal has migrated with the times, and opened only fifteen minutes late with no sign of backstage tantrums. Laura, a JET teacher from New York sporting an Iron Maiden shirt, had come with several of the Japanese teachers from her school who were "heavily into Metal". Though not a big fan herself she said "for my first live in gig in Japan, I'm really excited about getting to see Mötley Crüe". Marc, a teacher from San Francisco and long-time metal fan, told us that live DVDs recorded on metal bands' Japanese tours are usually the best, so the band would be at their best.

Lead singer Vince Neil looked a little out of breath from the get-go, but his vocals were in their trademark pan-scouring tune and his falsetto is still sharp enough to clean pennies. These days bassist and founding member Nikki Sixx's Flock-of-Seagulls haircut looks like it might have inspired some of the more implausible coiffures you see on Japanese teenagers, but his stage presence is still impressive. Meanwhile, the indestructible Tommy Lee is a joy to watch, hunched behind his drums like a wire spider and hammering flawlessly away, cigarette permanently drooping from his lips.

Mötley Crüe seem to have made a definite impression on a wide range of fans on their previous Japanese tours. Couples who were definitely Of a Certain Age and at least one child, who was eight if he was a day, sang along intently with such classic lines as "I'm the motherf***er of the year" and "Girls, Girls, Girls!". But you'd be forgiven for wondering how great an impression Japan had left on the band, with singer Neil consistently giving shouts-out to 'Fukeoka'.

There were all sorts of reminders that we were in modern Japan and not Los Angeles in 1984, where part of the band will always belong. The clean, spacious venue was a constant, pleasant distraction from the truly grimy metal experience, not to mention the fact that Laura told me she'd nearly had her lighter taken away when she tried to hold it up during a metal ballad. Mötley Crüe put on what was essentially a crash course in rock deviance, with deliriously over-the-top projected visuals showcasing a lurid litany of gonzo porn, fetish wear, gun-toting girls, Christian iconography and a fairly limp selection of politically 'sensitive' imagery. But when Neil asked whether there were any "sick motherf***ers" in the audience, and the two girls in front of me collapsed in scandalised giggles, I began to wonder how far they'd ever be able to school their fans in the gospel of sex, drugs and criminality which has always been their trademark.
In short, like the showmen they are Mötley Crüe rise to the occasion presented by their diverse but relatively restrained Japanese audience. Visibly enjoying themselves onstage, and performing with a skill which is honed if no longer spontaneous, they brought the freak show to Fukuoka with an unabashed old-school verve and left the crowd stamping their feet for more.

by Rob Morgan