The Mötley Crüe/Def Leppard Stadium Tour, one that’s been on the books for over two years, finally arrived in Seattle on Wednesday night nearly filling T-Mobile Park. It was a warm Seattle day with temperatures in the mid 80’s, but those mid-80 degree temperatures felt much hotter with almost fifty thousand screaming rock and roll fans packed in to hear these legendary musicians.
Taking the stage mid-afternoon and kicking things off was opener Classless Act out of Los Angeles. Put into the un-enviable position of staring into that midday sun and playing to a crowd exponentially larger than they had once before been accustomed to, Classless Act delivered their own brand of Rock and Roll and absolutely slayed while doing so.
Lead singer Derek Day, looked every bit the seasoned front man, delivering a powerful vocal performance while strutting in the Seattle sun. Mr. Day isn’t the only member of Classless Act with a stage presence however. Guitarists Dane Pieper and Griffin Tucker spent a considerable amount of the performance working their way to the front of the stage to exhibit their instrumental prowess and flair. Bassist Franco Gravante was a bit more reserved through the beginning of their set letting his bandmates soak up the spotlight. Overall, Classless Act showed that they have the musical chops to share a stage with this well-seasoned entourage of veterans.
The second act to hit the stage is one of the most bad-ass women in the rock and roll world, Joan Jett. She and the Blackhearts have been giving lessons on rock and roll since the 1970s and don’t show any signs of letting up. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts played a solid twelve song set including tracks that go back to the old days with the Runaways. Audience members both young and old danced and sang along throughout the set, but really kicked up the decibels for “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll”.
As the sun began to dip behind the wall of T-Mobile arena, Poison took the stage. Although the stadium lighting was quite sufficient for the venue, Bret Michaels’ smile simply beamed, adding just a touch more illumination. Throughout the performance, he would profess his gratitude for keeping Poison “alive” all these years, but that ear-to-ear smile told us everything we needed to know.
Bret Michaels, Rikki Rockett, Bobby Dall, and C.C. DeVille, a little older and with a lot less makeup played through almost a dozen of their hits. C.C. got some solo shred time, even ripping through Eddie Van Halen’s Eruption and Rikki demonstrated his mastery of the skins while playing a whistle and flipping his sticks through his fingers. Poison played most of their big hits and sounded incredible.
Mötley Crüe played next opening their performance to a video clip that resembled a news broadcast, ultimately declaring “The Future is Ours”. The band then ripped into “Wild Side” to start their set. Instrumentally, the band sounded tight and vibrant. Vocally, however, lead singer Vince Neil seemed to be isolated within the higher range of his vocal spectrum, almost monotone. At times, he appeared disoriented or fatigued. Vocal disappointments aside, it was all the debauchery and excitement you’d expect from a Mötley Crüe set.
For the performance of “Home Sweet Home”, Tommy Lee sat down at the end of the stage with a keyboard while the rest of the band joined him. It was an incredible sight to behold as thousands of cell phone lights and a handful of lighters illuminated the stadium. The Crüe ended up playing fifteen songs, including one of their older more unknown songs “The Dirt”.
Def Leppard got the privilege of being the closer in Seattle. We got to hear nearly twenty songs including “Kick” from their recently recorded album Diamond Star Halos which they recorded entirely remotely during the pandemic, something they had never done before. The set had a very undulating pace from hard hitting in-your-face rock, to mellow embrace-that-stranger-next-to-you ballads and back.
Several video sequences played during the set showed historical news clips and headlines questioning the future of Def Leppard, but their performance at T-Mobile park this August evening was a testament to the resiliance and longevity of the band. Lead singer Joe Elliot pronounced “If you’ll keep being there for us, we’ll keep being here for you”.
Closing out the set, the last three songs were complete bangers, making it hard to say goodnight and walk out of that stadium. Perhaps the setlist was made up that way to keep us wanting more. Well played, you British
Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard are swapping closing duties from city to city, so your mileage may vary. There are only a few more dates left before the books are closed on this tour, but based on what we saw in Seattle, there’s still a lot more that these bands have left to give.
