The long delayed stadium tour had a couple of glitches on its first night (1 Viewer)

[Jeffrey D]

So the mega tour of Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Poison and Joan Jett finally opens in Atlanta last night, more than 2-1/2 years since this grouping was announced. Four or five songs into Motley’s set, drummer Tommy Lee comes out from behind his kit, and tells the crowd he’s too injured to continue- he broke a few ribs before the tour started. The band had drummer Tommy Clufetos rehearsed, and ready to go, so Clufetos finished the set. Def Leppard comes on after them, and plays during a thunderstorm, with hard rain.
Does Lee’s not disclosing his injury to the press smell a little rotten to anyone here?
I know if I had tickets to see Motley, I’d be a little ticked off.

 

[John Dirk]

So the mega tour of Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Poison and Joan Jett finally opens in Atlanta last night, more than 2-1/2 years since this grouping was announced. Four or five songs into Motley’s set, drummer Tommy Lee comes out from behind his kit, and tells the crowd he’s too injured to continue- he broke a few ribs before the tour started. The band had drummer Tommy Clufetos rehearsed, and ready to go, so Clufetos finished the set. Def Leppard comes on after them, and plays during a thunderstorm, with hard rain.
Does Lee’s not disclosing his injury to the press smell a little rotten to anyone here?
I know if I had tickets to see Motley, I’d be a little ticked off.

Hmm... I understand your point but I guess I see it a bit differently.

1) At least he made the trip and tried to perform.
2) At least they were honest and didn't try switching him out discretely.

We attended a "Jacksons" Reunion concert a few years ago. Jermaine [the only one most wanted to actually see] didn't even show and it wasn't disclosed until we were already seated. Then they spent half the show playing clips of Michael from back in the day.

With some rare possible exceptions, I'm done with Old School tours.

I'm in ATL too and I heard those thunderstorms!

 

[Malcolm R]

Well, these are practically senior citizens trying to rock like they're still 20-something. Mick Mars is 71, and the other three are around early 60's. Plus, given their lifestyles back in their prime, it's kind of amazing they're still here. Other music stars of the 1980's have passed on without even reaching 60 years of age.

Seems like they should have revealed the injury, but apparently they must have rehearsed and he thought he could get through. At least they had a sub ready to go and didn't just end the set prematurely.

 

[Clark Green]

I've seen videos on YouTube of some of these guys recent live shows and I much rather remember them in their heyday and spin some of their music on Spotify instead of paying to see them butcher their classic tunes.

 

[Jeffrey D]

I've seen videos on YouTube of some of these guys recent live shows and I much rather remember them in their heyday and spin some of their music on Spotify instead of paying to see them butcher their classic tunes.

Def Leppard did a recent live show that SiriusXM sponsored, in Hollywood before the Summer tour started. They sounded pretty good to me.

 

[John Dirk]

We saw New Edition earlier this year in ATL. I think this was the first show of the tour. They were excellent but these guys aren't all that old and [with the exception of Bobby Brown] haven't really lived that hard as far as I know.

Other notable Old School acts who can still bring it are Charlie Wilson of former Gap Band fame and the incomparable Frankie Beverly [featuring Maze].

 

[BobO'Link]

So the mega tour of Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Poison and Joan Jett finally opens in Atlanta last night, more than 2-1/2 years since this grouping was announced. Four or five songs into Motley’s set, drummer Tommy Lee comes out from behind his kit, and tells the crowd he’s too injured to continue- he broke a few ribs before the tour started. The band had drummer Tommy Clufetos rehearsed, and ready to go, so Clufetos finished the set. Def Leppard comes on after them, and plays during a thunderstorm, with hard rain.
Does Lee’s not disclosing his injury to the press smell a little rotten to anyone here?
I know if I had tickets to see Motley, I’d be a little ticked off.

I agree with John... He showed up and gave it a good try but just couldn't handle it. Four or five songs is a good half hour, maybe more and that's a pretty good effort, IMHO. If I'd purchased tickets solely to see Motley I'd be a bit disappointed but not much else - mainly because he tried - even if he didn't play on a favorite.

Was this an outdoor concert? I could see a delay due to rain but indoors? Mostly annoying if the venue's not well insulated against outside sound. If it was an outdoor concert I'd be more upset that Def Leppard played anyway rather than wait for the rain to end. But then I'd have been there for Def Leppard and partially Joan Jett so...

Who closed the show? Surely not Poison or Joan Jett... I can see Def Leppard and Motley Crue doing a coin toss or alternating nights/venues but the other two just aren't close to show closers with them on board.

 

[Jeffrey D]

I agree with John... He showed up and gave it a good try but just couldn't handle it. Four or five songs is a good half hour, maybe more and that's a pretty good effort, IMHO. If I'd purchased tickets solely to see Motley I'd be a bit disappointed but not much else - mainly because he tried - even if he didn't play on a favorite.

Was this an outdoor concert? I could see a delay due to rain but indoors? Mostly annoying if the venue's not well insulated against outside sound. If it was an outdoor concert I'd be more upset that Def Leppard played anyway rather than wait for the rain to end. But then I'd have been there for Def Leppard and partially Joan Jett so...

Who closed the show? Surely not Poison or Joan Jett... I can see Def Leppard and Motley Crue doing a coin toss or alternating nights/venues but the other two just aren't close to show closers with them on board.

There was an opening band before Joan Jett- I forget the name. Jett was next, then Poison, then Motley, and Def Leppard closed the show (Motley and Def Leppard
will take turns in being the headliner during this tour).

My beef about Lee not telling anyone about his injury is it feels like he was trying to slide something past the fans on that first night, in an attempt to keep ticket sales up. He couldn’t keep it quiet after the debut though- word quickly got out. Why wouldn’t he give everyone a heads up, and say it was a probability that he couldn’t get through the show? Makes no sense that he tried to keep it a secret.

 

[BobO'Link]

I suspect he thought he *could* make it through but they had a backup just in case (good planning - otherwise it'd be a full cancel). With a band that big it's quite likely they'd had several long rehearsals just to see how he'd hold up and made the decision based on those. Speaking from a performer's perspective - you'll often go on when you really shouldn't and think you can make it through when you can't. It doesn't always work like you thought.