1987.11.18 - Jefferson Civic Center, Birmingham, USA

Matt Wake wrote: [...]

Although Pelham High ninth grader Jonathan Lucas had seen pop acts like Mr. Mister and The Bangles in concert, the Nov. 18 show at Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center was his first real rock show. Right before GNR took the stage at the 18,000-capacity venue, a fight broke out on the audience floor. From seats a little higher, off stage-right, Lucas had a birds-eye view of the fight. He found out later his uncle was one of the dudes involved in the altercation.

The scene inside the arena was "like being in a Motley Crue video," Lucas recalls. "The debauchery, the obvious drug use and the girls with big hair and short skirts were everywhere."

During GNR's 1987 BJCC set, Lucas found McKagan's "It's So Easy" bassline and Rose's "Welcome to the Jungle" scream particularly impressive. "The sound was just raunchy," Lucas says. "Of course we grew to love that raunchy sound from them, but that stuck out as something I'd never heard before. It was almost like more punk attitude than it was anything." The next day, Lucas went to Sound Shop at Riverchase Galleria mall and purchased "Appetite for Destruction" on cassette.

"At that point in '87, I'm used to seeing hair metal on MTV, lots of makeup and pretty boys. Guns N' Roses looked like they hadn't seen a shower in three weeks. They didn't care about what you thought about them. They just came out there and rocked."

Trent Penny wrote:[...]
Motley Crue brought its heavy metal “Girls” tour to a near-sellout at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center on Wednesday night, and again confirmed their “bad boy” image is at least partially justified.

Even before the show began, three fights erupted among the audience on the main floor and six people were escorted away by police.

But that “excitement” drew more applause than did the opening band, a Los Angeles-based heavy metal group called Guns ’N’ Roses whose 58-minute act was filled with vulgar language and bad lyrics. The only recognizable song of their set was a remake of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door."

After this, Motley Crue was a welcome relief.

Old stripper music kicked off the show as ceiling-high red curtains dropped to floor like garments, re-
vealing a bare smokey red stage. Hydraulic lifts exposed one, then two, then three levels of amplifiers. A forklift then lifted a cage from beneath the stage floor, carrying drummer Tommy Lee. The rest of the band — lead singer Vince Neil, bassist Nikki Sixx, and rhythm guitarist Mick Mars - hit the stage running as the band opened with “All in the Name of Rock ’n’ Roll.” The crowd roared.
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