Cornwall's recovery allows for return to True 2 Crue concerts

The actual Motley Crue band performed its farewell tour in 2014 and 2015, and unless the band comes out of retirement, the final Motley Crue concert was in December 2015.

The Motley Crue tribute band True 2 Crue is now back with its normal members, although the disruption was for medical reasons rather than a decision to focus on other activities, and on April 9 the tribute band returned to Pala Casino's Infinity nightclub.

True 2 Crue was in concert at Infinity in March 2015. In early April 2015, the band performed at That 80's Bar in Montclair. Later that month Larry Cornwall, who has the role of Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, was diagnosed with brain cancer. A surgery which included drilling into his head and scraping out the cancerous cells was performed at City of Hope Hospital.

“We thought the band was done for,” said Michael O'Mara, who is the True 2 Crue version of Motley Crue lead singer Vince Neil. “We had no idea that he would bounce back this quickly.”

True 2 Crue also consists of Chris Rohner taking on the activities of Motley Crue bass guitarist Nikki Sixx and Steve LaVoie portraying lead guitarist Mick Mars. Cornwall asked for the band to continue and Ben Graves was utilized as the temporary drummer until Cornwall recovered. The band welcomed back Cornwall when his physical recovery was to the point that he could once again perform in concerts, and that included the April 9 gig at Infinity.

“It was the comeback show,” O'Mara said. “We're just happy to have Larry back.”

Cornwall was featured in a drum solo between “Too Fast For Love”, which was the seventh song of the Pala concert, and “Too Young to Fall in Love”. The 116-minute concert included 20 different songs with “Wild Side” being played twice, and the drum solo and a guitar solo complemented the 21 songs.

“We're here to have fun, like you,” O'Mara said.

“This show is going to be old school,” said O’Mara during the concert. “In fact, we're all old school. Motley Crue makes people crazy and do crazy things, and that's why we do it.”

True 2 Crue has been performing since 2006. “We love Motley Crue,” said O’Mara. “They wrote some great songs. They are a testament to rock and roll.”

The Pala concert was the third for Cornwall since his recovery. In late February, the band traveled to Honduras for the Bikefest concert, and True 2 Crue began its California comeback April 2 at the Slidebar in Fullerton.

“We feel like there's a resurgence of rock and roll,” said O'Mara. “Rock and roll is alive and well. You just have to believe it. You have to support it.”