By Daniel Hartill,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – One of music’s biggest acts plans to take the Colisee stage with a bang, whether or not the seats are full.

On Monday, the heavy metal band Motley Crue is scheduled to play the 4,700-seat arena, one of the smallest venues on its “Carnival of Sins” tour.

As of yesterday, about 2,000 tickets remained unsold.

“It’s bizarre,” said Kelly David, spokeswoman for the city-owned arena. “We have plenty of good seats still available, but people think we’re all sold out.”

Why? She has no answer.

“We’re trying to get out there and let people know that we still have tickets,” she said. David has run drawings in local clubs and has helped with contests at area radio stations.

Portland-based WBLM radio is holding a drawing for a pair of tickets and a collection of action figures based on the band members.

WTOS, based in Augusta, is going further. Its drawing will give a winner three tickets and a limo ride to the show with three lingerie models.

Such promotions seem to complement the band, which is known for its loud, raucous, risqu shows. At recent concerts, for example, women have been asked to bare their breasts and the images are projected on a large screen on stage.

Keeping with its “Carnival of Sins” theme, the band is bringing a circus tent along, David said.

There will also be gunpowder.

A Las Vegas fireworks company, Pyritz Pyrotechnics Inc., is engineering a series of stage effects, including explosions and a wall of flame.

Earlier this month, the company submitted details of its pyrotechnics to the Lewiston Fire Department.

The 50- to 60-page book included diagrams of every device and the chemical breakdown of each effect, said Peter Morrell, a fire inspector and investigator.

“These guys are pretty serious,” Morrell said of the company, whose clients have also included Michael Jackson and Las Vegas’ Excalibur Hotel and Casino.

Morrell said he plans to spend much of the day before the concert at the arena, overseeing the effects and watching demonstrations.

The Fire Department and the State Fire Marshal’s office will cancel anything that looks sketchy, he said.

In the wake of the 2003 fire that killed 100 people at a Rhode Island rock concert, fire effects are more scrutinized than ever.

“You think about it every time you get one of these concerts,” Morrell said.

However, Morrell expects no problems.

Neither does David. The show will go on, whether or not sales climb, she said.

David plans to spend the week marketing the show, whose sales were slowed earlier by uncertainty over the Colisee’s ticket sales system.

“We’ve finally gotten the word out about how to buy tickets,” she said. “As they’ve learned, ticket sales have spiked.”