Motley Crue Go Cruising in an Ambulance to Announce Crue Fest 2 Tour
Mötley Crüe rolled up outside the 7th Avenue headquarters of Fuse TV in New York this afternoon in an old-school Cadillac Miller-Meteor ambulance that resembled the Ecto-1. Vince Neil, Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee and Mick Mars emerged — with two emaciated Goth chicks wearing sexy nurse outfits, of course — and posed for photographs with fans who had gathered for one the band’s now signature public tour announcements. This time the rockers were in town to tell all about Crüe Fest 2, which kicks off in Camden, New Jersey, on July 19th with openers Godsmack, Drowning Pool, Theory of a Dead Man and Charm City Devils.
The tour is a bold move considering other festivals and treks are scaling back due to the recession. “I just didn’t want to go up against the economy, and start to put together a package with 21 artists and go out there,” Sharon Osbourne said of nixing this year’s Ozzfest. But the members of the world’s most dangerous rock & roll band are a bit more optimistic about Crüe Fest 2.
“On the first Crüe Fest, the economy was pretty much the same as it is now, and it didn’t seem like it affected sales at all,” says frontman Neil. “I think people still want to go out and have a good time, listening to some good rock music, and maybe forget about the shitty economy, have a couple of beers, and let loose.”
“When the economy goes to shit, entertainment is the one steady,” adds bassist Nikki Sixx. “That and alcohol. Ozzfest also paved the way for us to think about what we wanted to do in the future, and I’m excited to see that it’s had its run and it did what it did for a lot of fans, and hopefully, we can do the same thing.”
Crüe Fest 2 will feature the band ripping through their entire 1989 classic Dr. Feelgood, as this September marks the 20th anniversary of the album’s release. Neil said fans will get their first chance to hear several of the disc’s tracks for the first time live, as well as hits from the Crüe’s immense back catalog. Noting that there are at least six tracks from that effort the band has never performed outside a studio, he added that they’ve got a lot of work to do before those tunes are stage-ready.
“We had talked about doing Dr. Feelgood in its entirety… well, we had actually wrestled with that, Shout at the Devil, Girls, Girls, Girls, and when we decided on Feelgood, it was only after that that we realized it was 20 years,” Sixx said. “Looks like a big master plan, but it wasn’t.”
In addition, the band promised they’d start work on a new record after this summer’s Crüe Fest, and Lee confirmed that his reunited side project, Methods of Mayhem, would be returning this fall, too. Sixx has also been working on fresh material for his other band Sixx AM’s next offering.
After briefly intimating that the band has been approached about a possible Mötley Crüe-themed Guitar Hero, Sixx waxed poetic about American Idol alumn Carrie Underwood, and her recent take on their track “Home, Sweet Home,” which is this season of Idol‘s official parting montage tune. Sixx said he’s hoping to work with Underwood in the not-so-distant future.
“I spoke to Carrie a while ago and she wanted to cover the song, and I was actually going to fly down to Nashville and play bass on it, but it was during the holidays, and I was just spending time with my family,” he explains. “After she cut it we spoke, and she was excited about it. In the end, the thing is, I think we both want to write songs together. She writes pop songs and I think I’m a pop songwriter, however the songs are performed.”
July 19 – Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center
July 21 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center
July 22 – Tinley Park, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
July 24 – Minot, ND @ North Dakota State Fair
July 27 – Auburn, WA @ White River Amphitheatre
July 28 – Portland, OR @ The Amphitheater at Clark County
July 30 – Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
July 31 – San Bernadino CA @ San Manuel Amphitheater
August 1 – Las Vegas NV @ The Joint
August 3 – Salt Lake City UT @ USANA Amphitheatre
August 4 – Englewood CO @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
August 5 – Albuquerque NM @ Journal Pavilion
August 7 – Spring TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
August 8 – Dallas TX @ Superpages.com Center
August 9 – Kansas City MO @ Sprint Center
August 11 – Maryland Heights MO @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
August 12 – Indianapolis IN @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
August 14 – Cincinnati OH @ Riverbend Music Center
August 15 – Clarkston MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
August 16 – Pittsburgh PA @ Post Gazette Pavilion
August 19 – Mansfield MA @ Comcast Center
August 21 – Virginia Beach VA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
August 22 – Bristow VA @ Nissan Pavilion
August 23 – Raleigh NC @ Time Warner Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek
August 29 – Atlanta GA @ Lakewood Amphitheatre
August 30 – Charlotte NC @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
September 1 – Saratoga Springs NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center
September 3 – Syracuse NY @ New York State Fair
September 4 – Scranton PA @ Toyota Pavilion
September 5 – Darien Lake NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
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