Motley Crue reunion tour reports, 3/30/05

 

MÖTLEY CRÜE REUNION TOUR REPORTS!

as compiled by

Last updated 3/30/2005 11:52:37 PM ET

Hey man, I’m Baz Von Poley, you know, the guy that Sludge assigned to report on the Mötley Crüe reunion tour. Yeah, I know I’ve been slacking. It’s been like 6 weeks since my last update, and the first leg of the tour has crossed the country. But it’s not over! The Crüe tour will go on for the rest of the year. Shit, there’s rumored Australian dates for December! Don’t think I’ll make it to Sydey or Perth to check it out, but you never know.

Before we begin with the reports sent in by Sludgeaholics all over the country, I wanted to show you these nifty chips I just picked up in Vegas! The Hard Rock hotel & casino issued these special chips just for the Crüe appearances. How cool is that?

And before we go any further, let me just say that if you have any Crüe news, show recaps, photos, or anything else you want posted, send it directy to ME at baz@metalsludge.tv. If you send it to floyd or Donna or someone it’s probably just going to sit there, or they’ll forget to forward shit to me and then you’re shit out of luck.

Alright, on to the various recaps and shit people sent in! We’re going in reverse chronological order, so the most recently received reports are going up first.

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hi Baz, We just got home from the Motley Crue show in Spokane, WA. 3-30-05. They were awesome!! It was great to see the bad boys back on stage again. Also got 2 picks from Nikki too. Yes we were that close, right up in front. It was so cool when Mick came on our side alot during the show. Mick was kicking ass as usual. Vince sounded great and Tommy kicked on drums like he always does. Nikki, Vince, Mick and Tommy, its great to see you guys again . I know the crue read Metal Sludge, so thanks for a great show guys. Glad youre back and cant wait to see you guys again soon. MOTLEY CRUE FOREVER!!! Thanks Baz for reading my email METAL SLUDGE ROCKS!!!

Joe and Jody
Spokane, wa.

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Just wanted to let you at Metal Sludge know that on 03/29/05 the Crue played Boise, Idaho. The show kicked ass except there was no tittie cam… why do you ask? Well some stupid city ordinance won’t allow nipple to be shown, and I guess they threatened to come down hard on them if they used the tittie cam. Well this pissed Tommy off so he went off on a rage about the guy who made the stupid fucking law…then he whipped out his dick on stage and told the guy he could suck his dick for making such a stupid fucking law. It was Hilarious, but the tittie cam was dearly missed. The show was great… CRUE HEADS ARE THE BEST, FUCK THE REST!

I couldn’t agree more with that last statement. Call me a nutswinger, like I could give a fuck. I’m as stoked as anyone about the Motley tour! Carry on.

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Saw the crue in milwaukee last night, it rocked! just as everyone described. Paid the extra cash to get close to the front but it was worth it. fucking loved it bro, keep up the good work.

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Hey baz, saw Motley in Moline, Illinois. Not sure if you want to post this or not, but in Moline, Vince got pissy. You could tell he was pissed at the crowd in the end, they weren’t too into it up front where we were, then he yelled, Fuck this shit, I dont need this shit, fuck you! Flipped off Nikki and walked behind the stage. ….that was just as the encore was starting. and the set was finishing…ya know what I mean? he was going back anyways… but said that on the way. That’s all tho, they came out and did their shit, we were wondering if they were gonna come back. But…that was pretty much all that happened that wasnt scripted..

Hey, good, bad, or indifferent, we want to hear all your juicy gory Crue details! Keep ‘em coming.

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This is from 2001 Sludgeaholic of the Year, Mr. Jim Bob Dwarf!

Saw Motley Crue in Chicago, my first time seeing them with Vince (saw the Corabi-era Crue in 1994 at a 3500 seater… this was by far a much huger spectacle). Can’t really add anything to what others have been saying (show, setlist, etc. pretty much are as people have been reporting) but Vince sounded better than expected. My seats were right in the middle of the Allstate Arena on the floor, right in front of the soundboard. Not real close but excellent line-of-sight. That intro movie cracked me up! It would be cool if that’s released as a full-length feature as has been alluded to.

Saw a TON of Sludgeaholics and Sludge shirts at the show. Some people came up and gave me hugs and stuff. I like hugs!

J-Bo

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Jim Bob’s not fucking around, we got this e-mail too!

I just wanted to tell you that I met Jim Bob in person at the Crue show last night in Chicago, and I’m pretty sure my life has been changed forever! I equate it with meeting the president… or something like that. -d2

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Just saw Motley play the MCI Center in DC and I have to say they put on one hell of a show!

The show opens with a little movie. It’ll remind you of the old Gumby Clay animation shows if you remember those. Some, "Planetoid" is about to crash into the Earth, and Motley are sitting around watching it happen. The movie is really hard to explain. They decide to shoot some large breasted woman from a sling shot to destroy the asteroid, but that doesn’t work. Go to www.disasterthemovie.com for more information. It was hard to follow, and the Crue didn’t look like the Crue, but hey? On With the Show.

The Crue hit the stage at 8:30PM. The stage set was amazing. It’s a large red and white striped circus tent. The ten starts off closed. Mighty Mike (Motley’s short person) took the stage wearing a large clown/demon mask. He then let three beautiful girls out of a small wooden box. These girls started their sexual gymnastic moves all over the stage, and the Crue opens the show with Shout at the Devil.

Vince hit every note he went after. They looked great! Mick even seemed to move around a bit more. Pyro shot from the stage in large bursts. It was amazing!

Here’s a brief setlist, some of the tunes might be out of order, but this is basically what they played.

Shout at the Devil
Too Fast For Love
Red Hot
On With the Show
Ten Seconds To Love
Looks That Kill
Too Young to Fall in Love
Live Wire
Louder Than Hell

10 Minute Intermission – More of the Disaster Movie

GIrls, Girls, Girls – Nikki, Vince & Tommy ride out on Harleys
Wild Side
Don’t Go Away Mad
Nikki Sixx – Theremin Solo – Female Dancer grinding her tits (Wore a steel bra and a steel bottom – Took a grinder bent over, and grinded it against her pussy) Sparks flew everywhere.
Dr. Feelgood
Glitter/Without You/Home Sweet Home
Tommy’s Drum solo – Flying from Drum Kit to Drum Kit – Above the stage? Techno-esque
Primal Scream
Same ol’ Situation
If I Die Tomorrow
Sick Love Song
Kickstart My Heart

Encore – Large clown balloon blows up behind the drum kit.

Helter Skelter – Mick Broke a String
Anarchy in the USA

The show ended around 11.

I know I’m leaving something out, and they’re not in order, but it was a great show. Motley is coming back to DC in August, they’re playing the Nissan Pavilion – Which sick like hell because there are only two ways out of that place, it takes hours to get out of there.

The Merch was really cool. Two different posters, each were $5 a pop. The program is a waste! Skip it!!!!! It’s $20 and nothing is in it, not even an interview. It’s all arsty photos.

The T-Shirts are pretty cool.. They’ll cost you around $35. You can go to www.motley.com and pick up a shirt for $25. A few different styles, nothing much, and there are a few classics as well.

Anyway, if the Crue is coming to your town, it’s well worth it! Loads of Pyro, a lot of theatrics, and it’s an enjoyable show. A lot of energy! The Crue are back!

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Here’s a lengthy and detailed report from the Boston show from our 2004 Sludgeaholic of the Year, none other than the Capture King himself, Smilin’ Mike!

Well I went to the Motley Crue show last night in Boston at the Fleetcenter (under some new name now I guess, meaning the arena)… It was mobbed and it was sold out… Alot of sluts which was the best, a real sweet T&A show and that was just in the beer lines!, people old n young, I saw a few Sludge shirts and I yelled and said "Hey Sludge!" and gave em the horns… The Crue were 45 mins late getting onstage, the tix said a 7:30pm start, which meant showing that little movie of theirs at that time, then the band woulda hit the stage right after that, but the freaking movie didn’t start until 8:15pm and even worse, they stopped selling beer at 9:15pm and people were really POed bigtime… It was a long show, very intense, the crowd went apeshit so that was the best… Tommy’s solo blew, his techno crap needs to know its place… It was a hard rockin show up until then, and then he started that, it was like a total 180 turn, I don’t think alot of people dug it at all, I bet he drops that solo b4 the Crue’s Summer Tour… But Vince looked actually pretty good from where I was and he sounded great, and I have to say I was impressed, not drunk and no BS (Vince), the 4 of them kept it all business… Nikki stuck his foot in his mouth once and I am assumming just dumb about the New York/Boston rivalry, he goes, "Hey Boston! You guys kick so much ass, we’re gonna take ya all with us back to New York!", (like he thought he was cool and was doing them all a favor lol) and people started Booing and were all like what the fuck!? lol… I just laughed cuz where I live, its 50/50, 50% New York fans, 50% Boston, plus to be honest with ya, I really don’t care about baseball that much lol… But to top it off, when people were booing, adding insult to injury, Tommy says, "Yo, why is everyone being so quiet now?! Whats up!" haha…I just summed it up from them being from LA, and they don’t have a clue how people both from Boston and NY hate one another…. Actually I have been to both cities alot and I get along with them all…But I will say, Boston people are way more laid back, they just like their sports and every fucking bar ya go to is Irish lol…

Well they just announced the Crue/Sum41 in Hartford down the line in August at the Meadows, which is an outdoor shed, I will go if I am still here in CT… I just got tix for me n my concert buds for Velvet Revolver in Jersey at the PNC Arts Center in May, so I am looking forward to that bigtime, and then before that in April, its BLS at the Webster, and maybe next week when my friends get back from Vegas, we are talking bout going to the COC/Motorhead show at the Webster, I was thinking, maybe I could get a nice East Coast Sludge Capture with Lemmy n his Mole… I bet it turns blue at this time of year here in CT its so cold lol…

Anyways, I am sending along a pre-show pic of Motley in Boston, its not the greatest quality, but you can get an idea of what it looked like before the curtain dropped, this was more or less all of us waiting impatiently, but at least ya can see the grungy bigtop, so take it for what its worth… See ya.!

Smilin Mike

Smilin’ Mike’s view of the Boston show

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I want Baz Von Poley’s job (not a chance!), so I thought, hmm I can send in a review of the Crue show I saw in Boston this very night. But then I thought, I’m not going to get his job. Fuck. Ah well here are some, not all mind you, key moments:

*Mick Mars is the coolest man. Ever. He needs to wear a fedora though. Then he can be cooler than the coolest man. Ever.

*Nikki Sixx now deserves title of ‘god,’ (among other things he told Tommy Lee to stop playing with his dick and come onstage, then went on to mutter/complain, ‘that’s all he ever does!’)

*Tommy Lee flew again, and played ah… ‘experimental’ drumming implements. It was ‘new shit’ apparently

*Vince Neil and Nikki Sixx shared a very…what could only be described as ‘cute’ little kiss and hug

*Boston knows, disturbingly well in fact, every lyric and note change to every Crue ballad

*Parents can apparently tolerate their children hearing motherfucker uttered after evey word, but draw the line at trippy screen shows with repeptive murmurs of ‘let’s get fucked.’ Ah well, more room for me

*The Crue are greatly enamored with themselves and their pasts, they kept shaking their heads and going ‘we’re back’

*The Crue also know how to make a great set list and segue into all the songs that will get people on their feet and screaming along

*It is annoying to refer to them as The Crue

*Livewire, Kickstart My Heart, Primal Scream, Same Old Situation are still brilliant, and the growl they get when performed live is unbelievable

*Calling Mick Mars Mr Mars was sexy, thank you Vince Neil

*Languous strippers sometimes make songs look classy

*Explosions and things that go bang make stages look cool and make audiences happy. Incidently other things that go bang also make audiences happy…

*…The Titty Cam lives! And so does the mysterious woman with quite bovine udders, excuse me, breasts.

* When people who sit around me leave early (or in my case, people who are supposed to sit with me, but really are in the wrong state) there is more room fro erratic dancing.

*Anarchy In The UK/USA never sounded so metal. Or weird.

*I am a girl, girl, girl and yet I never went down, down, down (aaaall niiiiight looooong).

*Synchronized dynamite explosions, drums banging, and bass bashing are awesome.

*Fire is still cool after all these years

*They’re back, and may curses befall me if I don’t see them at least one more time.

All in all I’d say it was one of he best live shows I’ve ever seen. Of course, I don’t see that many live shows. And I love Motley Crue. I’m not biased. Nope. I am however temporarily deaf and mute from losing both hearing and voice. Cheers.

Quite sincerely,
Leyla H.

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I’m sending you a few pics of the Providence, RI show last night, March 5th. These guys rocked!

Aceman

Aceman’s side-view of the Providence show

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Hello esteemed rock journalists. Use this if and however you want. Keep up the good work!

Just got back from the Motley Crue show in Greenville, SC. When I was 15, I heard Shout at the Devil and thought Motley Crue was the greatest band in the world. Then I got Theatre of Pain (cassette) and liked them a little less. So on with each following record until they replaced Vince. By then I was long over the Crue, and had written them off as a bunch of no-talent junkies. I read years later about the ill-fated tour where Nikki and Tommy were beating up security and fans every other night, and was extremely disappointed. I went to this show because my brother-in-law wanted to go. I should also mention that I saw Motley on the Girls, Girls, Girls tour and was not impressed. I thought they sounded terrible. But I came back 13 years later anyway.

Well, tonight was a shock: Motley Crue was the best show I?ve seen in the Bi-Lo Center, which acoustically sounds like a giant tin can. I admit, I was buying beer when they hit the stage with ?Shout at the Devil,? but it sounded excellent. I got to my seat directly behind the soundboard in the lower bowl for ?Too Fast for Love.? I was waiting for them to throw in a Dr. FeelGood tune for the youngsters, but they just kept hammering songs from the first two albums. I was loving it! They did Shout, Looks that Kill, Red Hot, Too Young to Fall in Love, Helter Skelter (encore), and ?Ten Seconds to Love? from ?Shout at the Devil.? Also in the first set was ?Too Fast For Love,? ?On With the Show and ?Live Wire? from the ?Too Fast for Love? album. Of course there were tons more songs I wanted to hear from these two albums that they didn?t do. Still, you?ve gotta hand it to the Crue for going out of their way to please us old-school fans. ( I saw Bon Jovi at this venue and they played ?La Bamba? but skipped over their first 2 albums entirely!) The Crue took a 10 minute break with some wacky video going and came back out to rock.

Before I go on, here?s the breakdown: Tommy Lee is still the best rock drummer on the planet. He?s worth every penny by himself. Mick Mars did not move, but hey, he was UNBELIEVABLE on guitar tonight. He nailed pretty much every solo from the records and ROCKED OUT on his rhythms. I?m a musician, so I know when backing tracks are being used. They did use some on the Dr. Feelgood-era songs for the choruses, but for the most part, this was just 4 guys rocking. When the guitar solos started, all you could hear was bass and drums behind it, the way Motley used to sound. The backing vocals on the earlier stuff sounded very SoCal punk/metal circa 1983.

I have never been much of a Vince Neil fan, musically or otherwise, but hey, Vince pulled it off tonight. He?s not a great singer, not really a good singer most of the time, but Vince has this trebly, helium-induced voice that cuts right through a wall of noise. Nobody else can do it like Vince. He was hitting high notes all over the place, although I swear he dumped to tape (backing tracks) maybe twice all night on a couple of really high notes. Other than that he went all-out. He got wore out a bit in ?Kickstart my Heart? and let the crowd (and the chorus backing tracks) do the work, but he came back strong on the two encores. Vince actually looked pretty good, too. Thanks VH1!

Nikki was all over the stage and his bass sounded great in the first set, ?specially on 10 Seconds. The bass mix kinda went south after the first set, but vocals, guitar and drums were still pretty clear.Oh yeah, you want to know the rest of the set, huh? Theatre of Pain: Louder than Hell, Home Sweet Home. Girls, Girls Girls: title track, Wild Side. Dr. Feelgood: title track, Kickstart My Heart, (a little bit of )Without You, Same Ol? Situation, Don?t Go Away Mad. Also in there was Primal Scream, If I Die Tommorrow, Sick Love Song, and Anarchy in the UK as final encore.

Complaints: The lighting SUCKED. Worst lighting I?ve ever seen for an arena show. The pyro was great and abundant, but most of the time you couldn?t see the band very well. The stage is a circus motif with pinstriped curtains, there were some circus freaks and hot babes on trapezes. I couldn?t see the babes too well from my seat, so I could?ve done without all the extras. The sound was as good as could be expected considering the BiLo center is the worst-sounding room in the United States. Then there was the jagoff buying a glass of wine at the beer stand during the opening song, who said he ordered chardonay…. unbelievable. Wine at a Motley show??

Interesting notes: I heard the word ?fuck? at least 300 times from Vince, Nikki, and Tommy. The show wasn?t well-rehearsed at all, but to me it added to the integrity somehow. They started Dr. Feelgood, and I think Tommy missed a cue, so they stopped and started over again. Played all the rough spots off real well though. Nikki was definitely fucked up. He couldn?t seem to shut up. He said they got a lot of emails from fans wanting to hear the old stuff, and they delivered. He also said they wrote some new songs, and everyone told them ?don?t put that song (?If I Die Tommorrow?) out! But we?re Motley Crue, we do what the fuck ever we want.? He was kinda rambling a bit, but hey, he?s Sikki F?ing Nixx!

Tommy was pounding Jack the entire night, he rambled a bit too when he got the chance. They definitely got out cheap with his solo, no major hydraulics. Just a latin kit and a techno kit high above the stage. Tommy flew around on a wire between them. Not bad and probably not expensive either. Nikki did some kind of wacked-out segment where he was playing piano over a techno beat, and started going apeshit with a theramin! Then some guy came out shooting sparks, and Nikki started shooting sparks, and things got? well, sparky. I don?t know what the reason was, other than maybe to let Vince catch his breath and maybe suck oxygen. When they came out for the encores, Nikki called for Vince and Mick. He said ?He?s newly single, he?s probably getting a blowjob.? I?m pretty sure he was talking about Mick there. Rest easy, ladies, you may still have a chance to become Mrs. Mars!

The great thing about the Motley show, more that the individual playing, was the vibe those 4 guys created. It really made me remember what I loved about them in the first place. It wasn?t like watching old guys pretend they were 20 again. They made me feel like I was 15 again, even if only for a while. I know sometimes the guys read this. If this makes it to Sludge, thanks so much guys! Thanks for coming back and putting on a kick-ass rock ?n? roll show! I haven?t seen one of those in so long! It?s gonna be tough, but please try and hold it together for the rest of the tour! Don?t let it go the way of Motley past. I?d hate for the rest of the fans to get a lackluster performance now that I know what you 4 are truly capable of. Again, much appreciation. I?m out like Motley?s L.D.

-K.K. Dirkschneider

Greenville, SC

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Here’s a really detailed report from a Sludgeaholic in Atlanta named Blake who went to the Tampa show, 2nd night of the continental U.S. tour. Now, this is one of those e-mails sent to Jani Bon Neil or bastard boy floyd or someone, so it sat there for well over a month before anyone even forwarded to me. I’m tellin’ ya! Send your shit to baz@metalsludge.tv if you want it to get posted sooner than July 2007.

HISTORY

I saw the Looks that Kill video in 84 while vacationing in Hawaii. Hooked. Saw my first show, 8th grade, Girls tour with GNR, in Albany Ga. Me and a buddy bummed a ride with his sister, guzzled a pint of Jim Bean and was transformed into fan for life. Years would fly before I saw them again, I was a dead-head in college and this took some time out of my metaling, as I had to see 15 dead shows, 50 widespread shows etc. By 1999 I am back into metal (new bands like Sevendust I was digging), I am also an adult at this point? managing a band and we rented the bus used by Motley during the Theater tour (featured in the home sweet home vid).!!! I kinda felt nasty sleeping in those bunks. Anyway, me and that band, used to go to the Havana Club in LA with our A&R guy, and used to chat with Vince a lot there, he was always there. He would be slammed, drinking scotch, livin the dream.

Saw the 99 greatest hits tour in Kentucky, then caught the Motley/Scorps in Atlanta 2000?, then New Tattoo Tour with Megadeth, (my wife Aimee’s first Crue show) in Atlanta 2002?. Time for another one… my fifth crue show……

RED WHITE AND CRUE TOUR

I am a die hard fan, so when this new tour was announced, I called my buddy Doug in Tampa and we made plans for the Tampa show. He is a total Phish freak, but after I had him read the DIRT, he was sold, and was now a believer that the CRUE is the greatest rock and roll band to walk the earth.

Guzzled beer all down I-75 headed for Florida with my buddy price. Doors at 8. I am so fired up I could implode. Pre-partied and headed for the St. Pete Times Arena. The show looked about 95% sold out. The crowd was out of hand. We had a good hour to take it all in before the lights went out. Enter an Evil Clown to introduce the band, the enormous tent dropped, and out came Motley fucking Crue. I was expecting some sloppyness, I got very little. Vince sang the high chorus of On with the Show better than on the record. They lit off more pyro than any band I have ever seen, constant fire, they went all out, besides Tommy’s Peter Pan impression (drum solo), the whole event rocked.

SET I (memory ain’t so good)

Shout at the devil-Ten Seconds to love-Looks that Kill-Too Fast For Love-Livewire-On with the Show-Red Hot

SET II

Girls-Primal Scream-Wildside-All in the name-Glitter-Without you-Home Sweet-If I die Tommorrow-Sick Love Song

ENCORE

Helter-Anarchy

I was so surprised to hear All in the name of Rock, Red Hot, 10 Seconds, On with the show, they rocked. I was completely horrified when they played Glitter. It sucked, it sounded like whale mating sounds. The screens at the arena were showing some bizzare mutilated circus freaks and what not, it was over my head. But all in all my man, it was the best show i’ve seen in years. The crue is back, louder and better than ever, my voice is still shot, and my head is still pounding from the 24 beers Friday night. This is Blake signing off.

"FORWARD MY MAIL TO ME IN HELL" – WILDSIDE

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Lastly, this is something that isn’t a tour report, but all Crueheads and Sludgeaholics should be aware of it ’cause it’s a good cause. It’s Cruefest! Last summer, Sludgeaholics from all over came out to LA for this event and this summer shouldn’t be any exception! Fuck, maybe I’ll even make an appearance. You never know.

The 5th Annual CrueFest Hollywood
July 30th, 2005
Whisky A Go-Go Hollywood, Ca.
The Home Of Motley Crue

Cruefest is an annual event established by the fans of the rock band Mötley Crüe. Proceeds from this event go to the Skylar Neil Memorial fund for Cancer research. Skylar Neil is the daughter of Vince Neil (Lead Singer of Motley Crue) who died of cancer at the age of four.

Mötley Crüe slammed on to the music scene in 1981 and have since sold over 40 million records world wide. The Crüe is best known for their hits songs "Girls , Girls, Girls" , Dr Feel Good & Home Sweet Home! As fans, we enjoy saluting the band that kicked the world in the ass… All while supporting a most deserving foundation, that is close to all of our hearts!

Playing this years event will be A Motley Tribute band (fronted by Vince’s son Neil Wharton), The Erotics, The Servants, Trashlight Vision, The Peppermint Creeps, and Sabrina Korva. With more to be added.

Crüefest sponsors this year, include Jagermeister, The Rainbow Bar and Grill, Samick Guitars, The Whisky A Go Go, Monsters Of Rock Radio network, and Switch Music? We look forward to adding more great sponsors to our growing list!!!

Giveaways/Raffle-Auction Items include Shirts, Stickers, A Samick Guitar, Jagermeister gear, and much, much more!

Tickets are just $30.00! Any additional information and Tickets are available through www.cruefest.com

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That’s it for now. Keep sending in your reports and Crue stories, but PLEASE BE SURE to send shit to baz@metalsludge.tv. I can’t stress that enough.

I’m out like like a pair of mammaries for the Tittie Cam,

Baz Von Poley