In December 2005, Motley Crue were scheduled to appear in Honolulu. The band played at the historic Blaisdell Arena, and prior to the show, I was fortunate enough to get a brief Vince Neil phone interview.

Another aspect of their arrival was also a meet n greet with the band before the show. I vaguely remember waiting in some area in the backstage, and there was a small group of people who had passes.

The band came out before showtime, and it was dark, I recall, we were outdoors, in a tent I think... on the side of the arena in the backstage area. Several Motley Crue staff members were walking around, organizing the event. Very quickly, the entire band EXCEPT Vince showed up, and like lightning their people snapped a few quick pics. Here is the one I got with Nikki Sixx, included in this review.

They were all business, in and out of that backstage area faster than your average visit to the bathroom. It was about as personal as buying a can of tomato juice and package of toilet paper at the corner store. Maybe less so.

The experience included them really saying nothing, just smiling, milling around in this little area backstage, and then cruising it like they had better places to be.

In the moment they were backstage, I was very very lucky to get this photo for my collection.

Little else stands out about the encounter, except Vince wasn't there, and they were not unfriendly, just all business.

I'm a media personality and radio broadcaster in Honolulu, Hawaii, and news anchor with Hawaii Public Radio, the voice of NPR statewide in the islands. You can hear me most weekdays on the KHPR/statewide feed at http://hawaiipublicradio.org on NPR's award-winning show All Things Considered.

I anchor local news and features, including many fun interviews with major music acts.

Follow the HPR News link at http://hawaiipublicradio.org
for my Dave Lawrence Reports page, where you can hear extended interview segments with artists I've interviewed this year for HPR, including Ziggy Marley, 311, Grateful Dead's Bill Kreutzmann, comedian David Spade, Jack Johnson, Julio Iglesias, Boz Scaggs and many other acts.