Ft. Lauderdale Folklore: Cruefest

Cruefest 2008

Written by: Carla Wright
Photos by: Carla Wright

Cruefest kicked off their tour in West Palm Beach July 1st at the Cruzan Ampetheatre. Playing with Motley Crue (on their long awaited return) was Trapt, Sixx A.M., Papa Roach and Buckcherry.

Since their was no media pit to shoot from this time, I was able to scope out the concert scene from a spectators point of view (I'm not saying I myself don't participate as a fan, I'm just saying in regards to shooting from in front of the stage as opposed to all the obstacles one has to overcome from shooting a few hundred feet away).

Trapt opened the show and played a relatively short set. Since I am rarely watching the band for the whole show, I usually can only report what songs they played while the media was present. In Trapt's case, I know the band played "Headstrong" during their set.

Performing almost immediately after Trapt was Sixx A.M (Nikki Sixx new band). The band took the stage to a never ending flow of fans pouring into the seated area of the Cruzan. "Life is beautiful", the band's number one single, was played at the end of the set. Techies came out and proceeded to prepare for the next band, Papa Roach.

Now, Papa Roach, I have seen a handful of times on various tours and have never had a bad experience watching them live. This tour was no exception for the band. Jacoby came out on stage and kicked the now ¾ filled Cruzan into a frenzy of mosh pits and heavy drinking. Dave Buckner was not present on the tour since he has officially left the band and checked himself into rehab. Replacing him (at least for the tour) is Tony Palermo. Papa roach got the adrenaline flowing with one of their hit singles, "Getting away with murder". As if that wasn't enough, Jacoby walked over to the far left of the stage while performing, before jumping down into the seated area of the Cruzan while he was still singing.

Buckcherry took the stage next and got West Palm Beach in the mood for debauchery. The band played "Crazy Bitch" and "Lit Up", a good way to lead into the evenings' festivities. Every single time I see Buckcherry, I keep thinking of Mick Jagger back in the 60's and how people feel about Mick Jagger is the same of how people feel about Josh Todd. He's too unique of a person to ignore.

Now, (on a personal note) I have never seen Motley Crue live (As opposed to Buckcherry, Papa Roach and Trapt) so seeing them perform was a treat for me. After growing up listening to rock, certain bands have a badass reputation after touring. Motley Crue is no stranger to the spotlight in regards to debauchery that occurs on and off stage. So I built up this reputation of sorts in my head in regards to what I expected to see as they performed live; Seeing women's breasts, was number one on my list. Number two was envisioning what a keg party would be like if 30 and 40 year olds attended.

Both of my expectations were surpassed with flying colors.

During intermission with Motley Crue, Tommy Lee, came back on stage and addreesed the crowd. To be completely honest I wasn't even listening to what he said until someone throw Tommy a video recorder. I looked up at the two huge screens at the Cruzan that were right and left of stage and the words, "Tit-E-Cam" were displayed at the bottom.

Tommy was holding a video camera that was wired so the audience could see what Tommy was looking at. With the "tit-e-cam" in place, the audience could a see a mockery of Tommy going backstage and trying to find his dressing room, only to enter into a women's bathroom, where women were grinding and making out with each other in a single bathroom stall. When Tommy re-emerged from the supposed "dressing room" he came back out the with the video camera and put a live feed of the West Palm Beach audience and demanded of the crowd to see "Titties". So the crowd obeyed. As Tommy panned the Ampitheatre for willing participants, he actually came across two women who shook their head at Tommy, before he blurted out " What's with this no shit?"

With all the pyrotechnics going and the ultra lit wording (I still don't know what it said), the boys from Motley definitely played an awesome show. Some of my favorites, "Dr. Feel Good", "Girls, Girls, Girls," and "Shout at the devil" were just some of my favorite songs played.

I just wish there was a media pit for the show. Either way, if you missed the show, you missed one hell of a good show.