The December 13^th Motley Crue show at the Saddledome was historic for a couple of reasons. First, it was the second go at Calgary on the "All Bad Things Must Come To An End" tour. It was also the bands final show ever in Canada.

Fans landed in 2 camps on the first aspect of that. Some were angry and felt mislead that the bands November 2014 tour stop was not the final one. Others – whether unable to attend last year or just excited to get one last kick-start of their hearts – were ecstatic. They aren’t the first band to have a farewell tour with repeat stops.

I saw and reviewed Motley Crue in 2010. As a band that has a reputation for their stage show, I was let down by the phoned in performance that night. Motley Crue playing Calgary has been an almost yearly occurrence to mixed results. Yet they keep filling arenas, and on this their last time they definitely came out with guns (or in this case, pyro) blazing.

Hitting the stage to Girls Girls Girls and Wild Side the band – vocalist Vince Neil, Guitarist Mick Mars, Bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee – ramped things up quickly and never let up. Yes, the band is older – Neil’s vocals struggle at times and Mars has a rare form of arthritis that makes it hard to move – yet he was more active than most could be so credit to him. Their music has never been particularly groundbreaking lyrically or musically. But not every band is meant to be thought provoking. Some are party bands, and Motley Crue, when they want to, have mastered that.

Whether it was the flaming pentagon hanging above the stage, the tightly clothed backup singer/dancers or Tommy Lee’s roller coaster inspired rig above the floor that had him playing upside down high above the crowd, there was plenty to see. Plenty to hear as well with songs like Same Ol’ Situation and Louder Than Hell keeping the audience on their feet. By the time the double punch of Dr. Feelgood and Kickstart My Heart wrapped up the main set, it seemed like everything but the kitchen sink had been thrown on stage and blown up.

It is fitting then that after all the bombast and spectacle, the final song ever played by Motley Crue was done simply on a stage at the back of the arena. Lee played piano to the lead of the massive sing along of Home Sweet Home. Often huge arena shows lack a "moment." Home Sweet Home was that moment, in which fans sang their goodbye, and the band back to them.

On a night where theatrics and being over the top was the story of the main act, special guest Alice Cooper delivered in his opening 50 minute set. There are few that deliver the type of show that the 67 year old master of macabre has over 5 decades. The ageless icon arrived on stage in a black cloak singing Black Widow and No More Mr. Nice Guy. On a stage decorated with creepy dolls, Cooper and his band went through a dozen of his greatest hits like I’m 18, Poison and Billion Dollar Babies. Feed My Frankenstein featured Cooper being electrocuted and a giant Frankenstein’s Monster stomping across the stage. Another staple – being decapitated – took place as an executioner carried an Alice Cooper head around the stage. It was cheesy, but in the exact way it is meant to be. Even at his age, leading an arena of people primarily in their 30’s onward in singing School’s Out seemed like a perfect fit. It didn’t feel like an opening act, more of a double bill of two major acts of the