MÖTLEY CRÜE's TOMMY LEE 'Had A Blast' Designing The Stage Production For 'The Stadium Tour'

MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee spoke to Marci Wiser of the 95.5 KLOS radio station about the postponement of the band's "The Stadium Tour" with DEF LEPPARD, POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS to the summer of 2021.

"The Stadium Tour" was scheduled to kick off on June 18 at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida and run through September 5 in Los Angeles. The bands reportedly also booked time at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville to rehearse for the tour.

"I'm so bummed, because we would have been starting tomorrow," Tommy said, apparently mistakenly believing that the trek was scheduled to start on June 17. "Tomorrow was the first show in Jacksonville, Florida, and I would have been out there all week last week rehearsing in the stadium, getting ready for the first show. And yes, I am so bummed. But I'm stoked that it's not canceled — it's just moved back till next year this time.

"You know what I was really hoping for — that the whole pandemic thing would be over," he said. "And this would be such a priceless thing that would happen that will probably never happen ever again in our lifetime. Imagine being onstage, and it's okay for everybody to be together in a giant stadium, rocking out, losing their freaking minds. The energy would be something that I probably will never witness again. All that energy — I'm such an energy dude — imagine all that in one giant stadium all over the country, people just going, like, 'Oh my God! Yeah!'"

Asked if he thinks the way we see shows will change as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with perhaps the adoption of more drive-in concerts, Tommy said: "I heard about the drive-in thing, and for a minute, I thought, 'Well, that's a cool idea.' It keeps everybody a safe distance apart. It'd be weird kind of rocking out in your car, but, hey, a lot of people have gotten laid in cars and rocked out in cars. Why not? But it still seems weird. At least people are thinking of other ways, while we're in this situation, people are doing Zoom live concerts and stuff. But, man, there's nothing better than just being blasted by a ginormous P.A. system and surrounded by people. It's an indoor-outdoor sport — it's that intense — and it doesn't quite translate over a big screen or on a computer. I don't know. I've seen a bunch of D.J.s do stuff like that, and I'm, like, 'This needs people.' … [But] I get it. Everyone's trying. Someone's gonna figure it out, though. Watch."

As for what people can expect from the CRÜE's stage show when the tour eventually happens, Tommy said: "Nikki [Sixx, CRÜE bassist] and I had spent — Jesus! — several months designing 'The Stadium Tour'. So all that stuff is sitting in a ginormous warehouse. And the only I can tell you is that it's insane. You give us a ginormous place that seats between 40 and 60 thousand people with no roof on it, alls I can say is we had a blast designing this. It's one of those where people are gonna walk out going, like, 'What the hell just happened here?'"

As of January 30, "The Stadium Tour" had already grossed $130 million from one million tickets sold, plus another $5 million worth of VIP seats, according to Billboard.

Tickets ranged from $150 to $400, not counting some varied pricing that reflected demand as part of "dynamic pricing."

When it happens, "The Stadium Tour" will mark the CRÜE's first live dates since wrapping its 2014/2015 farewell tour. CRÜE toured with POISON back in 2011 and DEF LEPPARD teamed up with POISON for a string of road dates in 2017 — but the upcoming jaunt marks the first time all four acts have hit the road together for an extended tour.

In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, thousands of concerts and festivals have either been postponed or canceled, as social distancing and self-quarantining make performing live music and attending live shows all but impossible.

More than 8.1 million coronavirus cases have been reported worldwide and more than 440,000 deaths so far, putting public health systems and emergency services under immense pressure.

U.S. officials have repeatedly urged Americans to heed what federal, state and local officials are asking of them in order to curtail the spread and dampen the impact of the virus on the population.