Watch Vince Neil Halfheartedly Make It Through Mötley Crüe’s “Secret” NYC Show Last Night

Last night in Lower Manhattan, hundreds of people descended upon The Bowery to watch an unknown band named 1981 play a show. However, everyone knew they were actually there to see John 5, Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, and Vince Neil of the iconic 80s hair metal band Mötley Crüe trot out their now roughly 40 year-old hits, with some exceptions.

Like clockwork, footage of the show has begun spilling out onto the interwebs this morning. And while it’s definitely cool to see such a huge band play to a small venue of roughly 600 people, what was presented on the stage was predictably lackluster. You can watch the entire show for yourself down below, but musically the band sounds largely okay. Everyone sounds pretty much on point — except for Neil.

After watching the footage, it really seems like a stamina issue for Vince. His performance for the first two or three songs sound pretty good but soon after that, he’s sucking wind and pointing his mic out to the crowd so they can sing a bit. He rushes his words, halfheartedly says them instead of sings at some points, and really just looks tired. Hell, even his mannerisms on stage are tired and look like he’s just going through the motions. Real big “dialing it in” energy.

This isn’t the first time the Crüe’s done this sort of thing. Last year they performed under the fake band name Dogs Of War at The Underworld in London. Footage exists of that performance too, so you can be the judge of that one.

Ultimately, I don’t know what I was expecting. This has been going on for a while now and as long as the money flows in, these guys are going to just kinda roll around on their legacy. Sure, they’ve got new music but after hearing the first single, I’m not convinced we’re seeing the Crüe’s renaissance. It’s just three old rockers (and John 5, who’s no spring chicken) living in the past.