Mötley Crüe may have said farewell to the world on New Year's Eve, but bassist Nikki Sixx is far from done with his musical career. Even after living many lives during his time with the Crüe, the creative juices and desire to bring music to the people are still burning bright inside Sixx. The success of Sixx A.M. shows that his fans aren't done with him either.
Saturday night, the band played a small club show in Philadelphia at The Foundry at the Fillmore at midnight, their second show of the day after their late afternoon set at the WMMR radio festival earlier that day across the river in Camden. The intimate show (capacity: 450) was announced just a few days before on the morning of the 18th, requiring fans to act quickly if they wanted a ticket to the late-night show.
The Foundry is a small bar with a stage for live performances located above the larger Fillmore space downstairs that accommodates 2,500 people, which the band could easily play to. So for fans used to seeing them play bigger venues like the Fillmore, being able to get within arm's reach of the stage was a treat. And arms definitely were reaching out, sometimes from the stage. Sixx himself would lovingly grab fan's hands and heads in the front row as they shouted along to the high energy rock anthems he and guitarist DJ Ashba, drummer Dustin Steinke played while backup singers Melissa Harding and Amber Vanbuskirk chimed in with their gospel-like voices to support lead singer James Michael.
Even though they could have easily played a handful of songs and satisfied fans who were excited to be there at all, the band actually played a pretty full set that included "Lies of the Beautiful People", "Stars" and "Accidents Can Happen". Plus, there was a surprise appearance by Shinedown's Zach Myers on "Life is Beautiful", who had been hanging out sidestage watching all night.
The super fans in the crowd know that Sixx rewards his loyal Twitter followers by announcing post-show mini-sets by their tour bus that he nicknamed "Hit and Run Prayer Sessions" (referencing their album Prayers For The Damned) immediately after the show. After the house lights went up, those paying attention to his account quickly made their way outside to grab a spot by the bus barricade, where the full band showed up with acoustic guitars minutes later for what was technically their third show that day. Those within a few blocks could no doubt hear the small group of fans singing the band's new song "Rise" as loud as they could as the members of Sixx A.M. danced and sang along with their faithful fans in the Philadelphia rain.
(Clip of Life Is Beautiful feat. Zach Myers, shot by LFTFR)
