CAPSULE REVIEW : Clear-Eyed Motley Crue Still Kicks

“Crue . . . Crue . . . Crue . . . Crue. . . .”

The intensity of the audience chants as the four members of Motley Crue stood on stage at the end of the band’s nearly two-hour Sports Arena concert Sunday night seemed more deeply rooted and emotional than your usual closing salute.

The fans--mostly in their teens or early 20s--appeared to be celebrating not only the group’s music, but also its survival.

For years, Motley Crue--a band that came together on the streets of Los Angeles--was one of the most celebrated “bad-boy” acts in rock.

But the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll life style was so out of control that one much-publicized tragedy and several near ones led the group to decide after its 1987 tour to go “clean and sober.” Though the quartet didn’t make references to its new anti-substance posture on stage Sunday, every one of the more than three dozen fans interviewed in the arena before the show knew about the “sober” attitude in the band.

Sunday’s concert was Motley Crue’s first stop on a “homecoming” Southern California swing that was scheduled to include stops tonight and Tuesday night at the Forum and Thursday night at the Long Beach Arena.

The concert itself was a fast-paced affair, whose energetic tone was set by lead singer Vince Neil, who races around stage in his biker-like attire in time with the frantic beat of the music. While bassist Nikki Sixx and guitarist Mick Mars--who co-wrote most of the songs on the new album--also move about almost constantly, drummer Tommy Lee probably conveys the zany teen-age spirit best as he plays drums at one point in the show on a revolving platform high above the audience. He ended the interlude by mooning the audience. To top things off, the show was supported by more fireworks than at a Fourth of July salute.

Motley Crue may not lecture on stage, but the band does send out one signal: No more bottles of booze on stage. Many in the audience were surprised in 1987 when Sixx and Lee guzzled Jack Daniels during the first of the two Forum shows even though Neil was convicted in 1985 for alcohol-related vehicular manslaughter.

The band will spend most of this year touring, then put together a 10-year retrospective album next year and accompany it with a brief stadium tour.

A complete review will run in Tuesday’s Calendar.