Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @ARPhotoSF
So, what is there really to do in retirement? Move to an over-55 community in Florida and play golf, shuffleboard, and pickleball until death? KISS has been retired since their Farewell Tour in 2001, right? Wrong! Ozzy Osbourne‘s No More Tours farewell tour was 30 years ago, yet he just put out another new record! Eagles, Foreigner, Fleetwood Mac, and many other legacy classic rock bands never even bothered to retire and just keep going with the same hit song setlists. For all those mere mortals who are not lifelong rock stars, retirement might be something to look forward to after working a desk job or whatever for 40 years, but for Vince Neil (61), Mick Mars (71), Nikki Sixx (63), and Tommy Lee (59) of Mötley Crüe, their retirement in 2015 was definitely not the right choice.
Mötley Crüe’s first tour since then was actually announced nearly 3 years ago and was supposed to happen in 2020… and then 2021… and now in 2022, with Def Leppard, Poison, and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The Stadium Tour finally happened! What better way to say We’re Back than to jump straight into stadiums as if there was never a cessation of touring agreement that they signed in January 2014…
Going to The Stadium Tour was almost like a full-time job. Doors opened extremely early at around 3pm, and it seemed clear that the many attendees who were already lined up before doors may have just been playing hooky from their jobs or called in sick. For the rest who decided to stay in the office until the end of their normal workday, however, they missed unannounced tour opener Classless Act from Los Angeles.
As the new band on a tour made up entirely of seniors twice their age, they certainly brought the energy that’s expected of these youngsters! They made the most of their 5-song, 15-minute set, with singer Derek Day and guitarist Griffin Tucker making full use of the stage extension catwalk, taking turns running up and back multiple times, and heated up the ever-growing crowd on an already unusually hot post-summer afternoon inside Oracle Park. It was great to see a tour of legendary rock bands take out this group of newcomers, and equally nice to see that they were not restricted on using that catwalk to get close to their new fans.
Following a quick set change, the first announced act finally hit the stage. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts ran through a 12-song set consisting not only of their hits like I Hate Myself For Loving You and Bad Reputation, but also featured cover versions of I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll, Everyday People and Crimson & Clover.
Click on any photo below for a slideshow of full-size images of Classless Act and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.
Jett & Co. were the only band to not use the catwalk, and so Bret Michaels, CC Deville, and Bobby Dall of Poison came out all guns blazing and followed in the footsteps of Derek and Griffin of Classless Act with their endless energy by running out onto the catwalk, jumping around, running back to the stage, rinse and repeat, with singer Bret staying on the catwalk for the majority of their 8-song set.
A longer set time but only 8 songs?! With the addition of quick guitar and drum solos and the fact that Bret talks A LOT in between songs, it’s almost a little surprising they got in this many. They made it count though… Look What the Cat Dragged In, Talk Dirty To Me, Unskinny Bop, Nothin’ But a Good Time, Every Rose Has Its Thorn… even those who didn’t like the hair bands of the late 80’s probably know all the words to all these songs!
Click on any photo below for a slideshow of full-size images of Poison.
Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard have been sharing the headliner spot along the entire tour, and San Francisco ended up with the Crüe as direct support. They performed no less amount of time than the headliner spot, they just played first. Tommy and Nikki had the most energy, as Nikki utilized the catwalk fairly often, much like the bands before them. The one and only difference here was the ego riser at the foot of the catwalk. Vince also spent an equal amount of time there, but poor Mick, who has ankylosing spondylitis (a chronic, inflammatory form of arthritis that mainly affects the spine and pelvis), he hardly ever left his area at Stage Left. After 5 minutes of NSFW Catwalk Talk with Tommy Lee ™, the rest of the band including Mick joined him up there for Home Sweet Home. Except for at the very end during the bow and waves to the crowd after, this was the only time Mick used the catwalk.
Ever since The Stadium Tour was first announced in 2019, there has seemed to be two major points of contention, which was Vince’s health and if he can get into tour shape, and whether he will be able to sing all the words. He’s definitely not the skinny Vince of yesteryear, but he didn’t look bad at all… and the answer to the other burning question was a resounding NO! After a couple of songs to warm up, he sounded alright, but despite having a few teleprompters on stage showing him every word, as well as three female backup singers to help the overall voice projected through the speakers, he still kind of mangled almost every song, singing only every 2nd, 3rd, or 4th word. Just like for Poison before them, the audience knows every word to every song, so they know what is to be expected. “Shout… Shout… Shout… Shout at the Devil” sounds different than “Shout… Shout… Shout… Shout … Devil”, but the Crüe gets a pass because no one in attendance seemed to care. It’s been seven years and they just want to see the band perform!
If there was one expected thing missing from the overall production, it was that there was no pyrotechnics, except for one Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! at the very end of the set. They still put on a hell of a show for 90 minutes, but what is Mötley Crüe without pyro?!?!
Click on any photo below for a slideshow of full-size images of Mötley Crüe.
As unsatisfactory as Vince’s vocals were, Mötley Crüe should have headlined the WHOLE tour. Not only did they have more production, lights, stage props, and physical energy, Def Leppard just felt a little lifeless after that 90-minute Crüe set. In fact, Classless Act, Jett & Co., Poison, and Mötley Crüe was such a complete concert that it was almost hard to remember that another band had still yet to play!
Not that Def Leppard was bad. Although they started the set with a brand-new song from their 2022 record Diamond Star Halos, the 15-song set consisted of most of their big hits from their entire discography (as well as 2 more of the new songs). Joe Elliott, Rick Savage, Phil Collen, and Vivan Campbell all took turns walking (not running) up the catwalk, sometimes together and other times solo. The whole band, including their one-armed drummer Rick Allen, even did two acoustic songs from the edge of the catwalk. They ended their set triumphantly with four Top 20 Billboard certified hits – Hysteria, Pour Some Sugar on Me, Rock of Ages, and Photograph!
Click on any photo below for a slideshow of full-size images of Def Leppard.
At 11:01pm, 60 seconds past curfew, they played their last note and waved goodnight to the crowd, for a grand total of 8 hours of rock. Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, Poison, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts all came to San Francisco to rock the 35,000 or so that made it down to Oracle Park, regardless of what time they arrived, and The Stadium Tour was an overwhelming success!
Classless Act also rocked to as many people as the venue staff could get into the stadium during their early set. Someone like Rival Sons, Slash and the Conspirators, Mammoth WVH, Mudvayne, Shinedown, Bad Wolves, or Papa Roach needs to scoop up this band for an opening slot. Keep an eye out for them… having them on another run with Poison or Mötley Crüe would also have us calling in sick to work and getting to that show on time!
See more photos of all of your favorite Metal musicians at Alan Ralph‘s photo portfolio.
