Nikki Sixx Gets Pissed At Fans... I Agree With Him

Nikki Sixx apparently didn't like it the other night when a bunch of fans in the front row of the Miami, Florida Motley Crue show spent a ton of time taking selfies. He got pissed, spit on them (watch the video below) then tweeted a rant that ended with #Morons. This behavior ticked Tommy Lee off... and Tommy used his own Twitter to apologize. At this point, the guys are probably counting down like crazy to New Year's Eve. 

Now here's the thing: I don't condone the spitting. Like, at all. Keep your DNA to yourself. But the part about the cell phones? Hell yes. I am so sick of seeing everyone in the world stare at their phones. People at concerts. Football games. Parties. IN THEIR CAR WHILE TAILGATING ME ON THE WAY TO WORK. Seriously. You can live without Facebook for a couple hours. I promise.

Stop taking selfies and be AT the concert idiots. #morons #FrontRow #Miami

— Nikki Sixx (@NikkiSixx) September 3, 2015

I want to apologize for the shitshow tonight! Well ...I played good!

— T❍mmy L33 (@MrTommyLand) September 3, 2015

Comments

[Kevon]

STOP for gods sake the selfies! Also put your damn cell phones down and watch the show! I cant stand that the view I get us through someones camera. Take your pic then put it away!!!! But spitting is down right wrong!

[Ace Steele]

If he spit at me, I'd be flinging a chair at his teeth. That shit is UN-cool.

[Him]

Agreed on the whole selfie (and the now requisite stick as an accompaniment) thing.

But Sixx was out of line and comes off like a crybaby. You watch the video and wonder what he was thinking. He actually "puffs" and then does a long, over-the-shoulder, stare as he moves back to the center of the stage. What was he going to do? Jump into the crowd, thin Axl-style, and risk bursting his Man Spanx?

[I also don't think Lee's comment was entirely about the incident proper. Related, yes. Then again, someone could ask him to clarify . . . but don't, please don't, take his photo.]

So we don't like what a lot of younger and some similarly aged people do . . . at concerts, on the streets, while eating out. Not much we can do about that. They paid to enter a venue and do whatever it is they want to do, baring something illegal (that they get _caught_ doing). It is comparable, but not entirely similar, to vaping at venues. Difference is, one is allowed and the other isn't.

So absent a ban on cell phones (something I would actually support given that I don't have much use for them) at concerts, we can get as annoyed as we want. Won't change a thing. Nor will Sixx (or Bach for that matter) getting froggy to a bunch of paying customers who aren't also paying to stand in rapt attention to ever tug at the string Sixx manages while playing.

I will end by hoping that Tate sent Sixx a private text after the show, congratulating him on at least directing the saliva away from his band mates. Now that sorta' crap can really mess with one's career!

[Gary]

Yesterday I drove 650 miles down the coast to Myrtle Beach SC for this week. (Lucky me!!) lol. I cannot count the number of dipshits that I drove by at 75mph who were looking down texting,and/or playing with their f&cking phones. Give it a break people. You're going to kill someone.

That being said, if Mr. Sixx spit on me,especially after I paid probably upwards of (minimum) $500 for the "honor" of being in the front row,I can guarantee I'd be getting tossed from the arena and beat to hell by security because something is flying back at him. That is just beyond disgusting,especially from someone who's used himself as a pin cushion for a decade slamming junk,and has probably slept with thousands of women. Not cool Mr. Feranna, not cool at all....

[Gary]

P.S. Anybody else think Vince is looking like Sam Kinison in that video,what with that coat and his "unique physique"? (Sorry gang,sometimes I just can't help myself) 8-)

[Kixchix]

Spitting at someone is the ultimate disrespect and vulgar beyond the pale. You spit at me, that means we are back in Neanderthal times and as such, no rules. You may get crushed. Nikki is your saliva aim so precise it didn't hit innocent persons? Cut the shit, this is not 1976 Sex Pistols crap.

To many, Mötley Crüe is a night out. A couple of hours staring at the soundtrack to your youth. Mötley overcharges and people attend a show. This is not Broadway or Lincoln Center mind you, this is rock n roll. Nobody cares that you travel and take pictures of old people and homeless children, Nikki. Your narcissistic and so are your fans. Sixx, you covered Anarchy In The UK, so sorry but you can't be a diva when it's called rock n roll.

Phones are shows? I agree, annoying. I went to VH and saw 3 dudes in their 20's spend the entire show recording or looking at phones. Shame on them, Dave n Eddie were great. I take a few pictures or 30 seconds of a favorite part of a song at times if I am gonna be honest, which I am. It's my souvenir for the night. Have a problem with that? Then may Sixx Saliva rain down on you! Lol just kidding, y'all know my views on that!

[Him]

Careful, Gary. Careful. You are risking the wrath of bkallday. If you didn't notice, that is "allday," and not just a few hours. Those Kinison and "unique physique" comments had me laughing. But, again, be careful.

Enjoy the beach and your holiday, Gary. Same goes for everyone on here (that includes you, bkallday).

[Him]

You bring up an excellent point, Kixchix. Venues determine, by and large, decorum.

That said, even Patti LuPone had to take away an audience member's cellphone during a performance at Lincoln Center a few months back.

Imagine it. Back in the day, Hendrix on stage . . . think what people would have missed with their heads buried in their phones? Or the screams of "that sux" from those who only watched (and then judged) the shows based on a YouTube video that someone took with their cell phone?

I'm dangerously close to "get off my lawn" territory. So I will cease to comment.

[Kixchix]

So true Him. Rock n roll's a circus, carnival, anything goes.

Hell, in 1984 I wouldn't get floor tix to a show cuz people thought it was cool to throw M-80's and firecrackers onto the floor. I think we'll all take a moron with a phone over that. And remember folks, had it not been for a phone we would not have the footage of Nikki being Nikki. "Pots...meet kettles."

[Ace Steele]

Just had to say "WONDERFUL COMMENTS FROM ALL OF YOU" !

That being said, I wonder how long it'll be before a "NIKKI SIXX STAGE SPAT LOOGIE" will end up on eBay?

[Metalboy!]

Hahaha!!!, ACE! Priceless, as usual... Yeah, I remember seeing KIX at Ramshead Live in Baltimore about 7 years ago and this young couple about 16 or 17 barge down front only to start texting, not even watching the show.

"Why feel the need to elbow your way through a throng of riveted Rockers just to text some b.s. on your phone and not even bother to look up at the stage -- not even once?", I'm thinkin' about 'em as I watched this kind of behavior for pretty much the first time.

The sheer act of that is always annoying as hell and I should know because I do it all the time. But to do it just so you can text where you are or whatever the hell it is your texting is ridiculous. Needless to say, I yelled their as*es right out of there!

What is coming of this world? The millenials are so wrapped up in their phones, misguidedly believing in the importance of being constantly plugged in, typed in and keyed up over completely stupid information... "I'm at...", "Where are you?...", "What are you up to?"... "What are you doing later?"... Here's my response to all of the above... "F*ck YOU!"

p.s. I sometimes date women in their 20's and sometimes I feel like telling them I should just go out with their phones.

[fletch]

Allyson: Nikki spits on his fans and you agree with him? Shame on you.

[fletch]

Allyson, HIM, Metalboy! or the rest of you: bring it. Always.

[Will]

I take pics during 1 song of every set I go to, then the phone is away the remainder of the show. Although I wish everyone had that same process, I tend to agree that people are allowed to do as they please when they spent their hard earned money to attend a show, it's the same as the sit vs stand argument at concerts. There are plenty of acts I have seen who have made it clear that they don't want to see cell phones out (Tool, Danzig, jack White, Aziz Ansari, the Lumineers, etc) and more often than not, the crowd obliges without being spat on

[Bob]

Metalboy!, to expand on your comments, the accepted assessment of millenials is that they are very social creatures. I think the opposite is actually true. sure, they're constantly on their phones; either texting, or looking at social media, but they have no idea how to interact with people face to face. They can't string together a coherent set of spoken words without saying, "Like" every three seconds, or, "so yeah", when their phone-addled brains can't think of how to end a sentence. they have no sense of direction thanks to GPS. they have no ability to think deductively thanks to Google, and they have no regard for the safety of people around them because 95% of their interactions with other people take place on a four-inch screen. Sadly, in about 15 years, they will take over the world, and the unreversable spiral toward a total idiocracy will be at full speed.

[Jason]

I totally agree with Sixx on the selfie part. The spitting however is not cool, and the "victims" could have probably pressed charges if they wanted to.

I take pictures at shows myself, maybe even record a song every once in a while, but I am always mindful of those around me and try not to block views or be annoying. I think it looks cool when the singer says "everyone hold up your phones" (a GREAT example being Nightwish at the Gibson Amphitheater in LA a few years back when the place was all it up during "Nemo.") However, I think it sucks when you walk on the floor at a show and you see 1,000 screens up in the air in front of you. The real issue comes down to the idiocy of the people holding the phones.

This past weekend, I saw Five Finger Death Punch, Papa Roach and In This Moment. A girl and two guys in front of me took a selfie with Papa Roach playing in the background. The girl then posts the picture on Facebook with the caption "5FDP Baby!!!!" Fucking idiot didn't even have a clue what band was playing!

Another problem I've noticed lately is the clueless people who are actually in these up front seats. Last week at Van Halen, I was second row center. There were two dorks in front of me who had paid the $1,000-plus for the "VH Front Row Experience" tickets (or whatever they're called), and these buffoons didn't even know the words to the most popular of VH songs. I was embarrassed for them as they played air guitar and "sang" to each other during "Unchained"...except the dudes didn't know word one of it.

People feel the need to take a selfie of themselves against the stage with a rock star in the background so they can post it one Twitter, Facebook, etc. HEY EVERYONE! LOOK AT ME AND HOW COOL I AM!!!!!" I for one am not impressed!!!

[spyke (Jimbo)]

Spitting is not cool and anyone agreeing with his actions should check themselves..that being said if Suxx spit on me I can guarantee he'd be picking up some of his teeth off the stage.

[Metalboy!]

Great sentiment, Spyke (Jimbo), but you'd never get close enough to Sixx to even get a good look at him let alone dislodge some of his teeth, thanks to the black cloaked goon squad of "Fight Club/Jerry Springer" ear guaged baldheaded meatheads who are waiting in the wings backstage and down front vigilantly awaiting any movement by ticket holders such as what you describe.

How do I know this? I was one of probably a handful of people who witnessed, point blank, Sixx leap from the stage, lashing out at a kid who was filming him from down front several years ago at Outlaw Jam in Frederick, Maryland, as documented in my review of that event. The goons were like flies on sh*t to stop the kid, confiscate his camera, even pulling Sixx away, as he kicked and screamed.

Bob, you are absolutely spot on about the millennials. It's the nerdification of not just a whole generation but an entire nation.

[Him]

I tend to deal with a lot of Millennials and find it hard to paint them all with too wide brush. Metalboy!'s point is spot on in at least one respect: this trend may have started with them, but extends far beyond them at this point.

First adopters always get the majority of the grief, all the while watching as their trends become everyone's trends . . . popular culture is a lot more vulgar (read: common) in this digital age. Which means selfies and a wall of cell phones are here to stay until the next big trend comes along (on a bigger stick, I hope!). Here's the thing though: common culture also works in a different direction. The dawn of Google Glasses quickly gave way to Glassholes. The tech was diverted into avenues where it might actually have some benefit--medical uses, for instance--instead of annoying those who found the idea of a hirsute fellow, though beard neatly trimmed, nostalgic shirt expertly and snugly fitted, cold press coffee close at hand, reading the NASDAQ (WITH THEIR EYES!!!) while taking pictures of them mildly or majorly discomforting. In that sense, then, giving more of this over to the crowd ends up creating a marketplace of idea where ideas rise and fall according to the public. That said, the vote is in: selfies and cellphones are acceptable. Their use and abuse is now to be expected. Harry Hirsute's mom Heloise is posting that stuff, even as she occasionally Tweets her name instead of searching for it.

My issue (beyond those voiced above) is that this need to document everything ends up being an example of "capturing a moment" but losing it far quicker. The focus on getting the blurry shot, posting it, and then checking people's reactions _actually_ reduces the extent to which anyone remembers it. For me, that is sad. When you offload memories you lose them to the ether. Sure, they are there, somewhere, to be accessed at another point in time by you or someone who knows you. But how many of those memories are eventually just discarded? I won't begin to discuss what it suggests for long-term recall, critical thinking, or the ability to reproduce--via words placed together in a cogent fashion--those ideas/visual images to other people face-to-face. Bob gets at my worries on this point well enough. And, besides, I strung together one hellacious run-on sentence a paragraph ago (and "hellacious" isn't even a Standard English word).

So many of my best memories--metal or otherwise--are lodged in this ole brainbox: no picture to recall, no likes to render it a "good" one. While I don't fear for those who increasing rely on out-sourcing their memories to the 'Net--people seem to find a way and it is hard to deny the benefits of the digital age--I feel sorry for them. They capture the moment. But they often lose what made it special. And I know far too well that part of what makes those memories so special is how elastic and malleable they are . . . they shift and morph as we grow older; in a sense, they grow old with us, taking on new hues even as they are corrected by the older form of crowd-sourcing: a friend calling your bluff or adding a different detail you forgot.

Which points to my coda: good memories are ours and they truly last only as long as we do. The visual reproduction--whether it be a Polaroid or selfie posted on MySpace (I kid)--is open to everyone, but it isn't our memory at all. And what it does to us is largely a function of context predicated on our first hand experience with the same moment (though at a different angle perhaps) or the other person's ability to make us want to search out information about what the visual depicts. Many disagree with me, but I will say it: the visual does not lie or tell the truth. It simply is. The beauty of humans is that we make use of those visuals in ways that no picture could ever make use of itself, no matter all the processing power of Big Blue or the money of Google.

Pushed too far this just regresses . . . as I type this in a forum that would have been impossible to imagine (though welcomed) in my youth.

Apologize for the tirade. But I think about this quite a bit and ponder how it impacts me, esp. when it comes to music. Cheers everyone.

[Will]

One of the things I also believe plays a large role in this is that for many people who are attending concerts and selfie obsessed, this may be the only concert they go to this year, or are perhaps just attending a handful at most (4-5) so to them it's a huge EVENT. They took off work, hired a baby sitter, got a hotel, paid extra for the silly VIP experience, etc. I attend 40-50 concerts a year so I don't have the need to take 50 pics and posting them on social networks because it's a regular activity for me, none of them are THE event of the year for me. Maybe I'm off but a lot of times at concerts when people watching, I think it's easy to ID the rookies from the concert vets.