Watch: MÖTLEY CRÜE Plays Third ‘Höllywood Takeöver’ Club Concert At Whiskey A Go Go

MÖTLEY CRÜE played the third and final exclusive, intimate club show Friday night (October 11) at Whiskey A Go Go in West Hollywood, California. The concert was part of what MÖTLEY CRÜE called a “Höllywood Takeover”a series of gigs which were first teased over the Labor Day weekend when flyers promoting the gigs at the Troubadour (October 7), The Roxy (October 9) and Whiskey A Go Go popped up all over Los Angeles.

The setlist for the Whiskey A Go Go concert was as follows:

01. Primal Scream
02. Too Fast For Love
03. Wild Side
04. Shout At The Devil
05. Live Wire
06. On With The Show
07. Dogs Of War
08. Guitar Solo
09. Looks That Kill
10. Rock And Roll, Part 2 / Smokin’ In The Boys Room / Helter Skelter / Anarchy In The UK / Blitzkrieg Bop
11. Fight For Your Right (BEASTIE BOYS cover)
12. Home Sweet Home
13. Dr. Feelgood
14. Same Ol’ Situation (SOS)
15. Girls, girls, girls
16. Kickstart My Heart

Fan-filmed video is available below.

The three club shows are following on the heels of the October 4 release of MÖTLEY CRÜE‘s “Cancelled” EP, the band’s debut record with Big Machinewhich features three new songs: Top 5 rock radio hit “Dogs Of War”; new single “Fight For Your Right”a cover of the BEASTIE BOYS classical “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)”; and as well as the record’s title track, “Cancelled”.

In addition to the special shows and EP release, a MÖTLEY CRÜE pop-up store with exclusive, band-curated merchandise opened on October 6 at the world-famous Rainbow Bar & Grill on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood and remain open through October 12 from 3 pm PT to midnight daily.

Tying into the events on the Sunset Strip in October, MÖTLEY CRÜE is also introducing its new philanthropic endeavor, the Mötley Crüe Giveback Initiative, a moniker under which the band will partner with different non-profit organizations near and dear to their hearts moving forward.

MÖTLEY CRÜE‘s version of “Fight For Your Right” has quickly become a fan favorite since the band first debuted the song live during their secret 2023 club show at The Underworld in London, UK At its premiere, 450 lucky, sweat-drenched fans who came out to see a band advertised as DOGS OF WAR got the surprise of a lifetime when MÖTLEY CRÜE took the stage with the BEASTIE BOYS classic in their set list.

The veil of speculation surrounding the DOGS OF WAR pseudonym was finally lifted when the band released their first new single since 2019 by the “Dogs Of War” name in the spring of 2024. “Dogs Of War” subsequently became a Top 5 Rock Radio hit, accompanied by a highly acclaimed music video by director Nick Den Boer. The cutting-edge visual, which is entirely CGI-based, features the members of MÖTLEY CRÜE navigating an exhilarating post-apocalyptic world.

MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee told Bill Maher‘s “Random Club” podcast last year that he and his bandmates felt inspired to write a song called “Cancelled” because they were surprised it never happened to them.

“There was this article that was like, ‘How did MÖTLEY CRÜE ever not get cancelled?'” he said. “And we were like, ‘Fuck, we’ve gotta write a song about that because we didn’t ever get it.’ We snuck in under the whatever threshold, wherever that was, where we got away with fucking murder.”

MÖTLEY CRÜE‘s deal with Big Machine sees the band and the label working together again after making the 2014 project “Nashville Outlaws: A Tribute To Mötley Crüe”which featured CRÜE tracks covered by country stars RASCAL FLATTS, FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE, Darius Rucker and more. Big Machine also partnered with MÖTLEY CRÜE‘s new guitarist John 5 for the release of his 2021 album “Sinner”.

MÖTLEY CRÜE‘s last studio album was 2008’s “Saints Of Los Angeles”which was followed by a 2009 “Greatest Hits” compilation.

In 2018, MÖTLEY CRÜE recorded four new songs for “The Dirt” movie, including the single “The Dirt (Est. 1981) (Feat. Machine Gun Kelly)”, “Ride With The Devil”, “Crash and Burn” and the band’s own spin on Madonna‘s “Like A Virgin”.

John 5 joined MÖTLEY CRÜE in the fall of 2022 as the replacement for the band’s co-founding guitarist Mick Mars. Mike announced his retirement from touring with MÖTLEY CRÜE in October 2022 as a result of worsening health issues.

In a recent interview with Janne Innanfors of the Swedish radio station Rockklassiker, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx stated about the mixed response to “Dogs Of War” from the band’s fans: “We like the fact that there was kind of a knee-jerk reaction, because at least people were listening. It’s a very strange time now where, whether it’s a news cycle or socials, everyone has turned into a critic And I always say, they’ve never erected a statue of a critic. It’s never happened, right? It’s always the artist. everybody’s to criticize So within a short amount of time, we get, ‘We love it.’ ‘We hate it.’ ‘You’re over.’ ‘You’ve reinvented yourself.’ ‘It sounds like ‘Shout At The Devil’. ‘It sucks.’ And we just kind of sit there and go, ‘That’s cool, guys, but we didn’t really ask for any input from you.’ We’re just artists writing music, and we’re pretty cool. I’m happy with it. I like it.”

During an appearance on SiriusXM Fight Nation‘s “Busted Open” show, Sixx discussed the musical direction of “Dogs Of War”saying: “A lot of people said it’s a different sound, but I’ll be honest with you, I don’t necessarily agree with that. If you listen to the verses, they’re very similar to a lot of stuff that we’ve done — that simple, grinding thing with those almost CHEAP TRICK melodies. And the riff, I mean, it could be off of ‘Dr. Feelgood’. So I don’t really feel like it’s that different. I think what’s different for people is that when we were working on the song, tommy [Lee, CRÜE drummer] had the idea to just let the bottom fall out in the verses, which is not really what we do. We usually go for it, and [it’s] really unique for Vince [Neil, CRÜE singer]”

Vince chimed in: “I don’t ever sing like that. But it works in the song.” I have added that “Dogs Of War” “it was very easy to sing.”

Nikki elaborated on the CRÜE songwriting process, saying: “I think what we do together is we all kind of know each other so well, we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. And for me as a lyricist, I’m always thinking about Vince and his tempo as I write. So it’s not like out of the wheelhouse, but it’s nice to know each other so well, if that makes sense.”

When “Dogs Of War” was first released, Neil described the track as “like old school meets new school. It’s got that old-school vibe about it, but it’s new music. Nikki came up with it and he sent me the music and I thought it was really cool. So I started singing it and we got in the studio and it turned into the song I think the fans are really gonna like it.”