Mötley Crüe brings Carnival of Sins tour back to Phoenix for a new generation

Over two decades before Taylor Swift’s groundbreaking Eras Tour, Mötley Crüe was doing its own version of the career-spanning spectacle, albeit with a lot more leather, pyro and rock ’n’ roll.

The band’s 2005-2006 Carnival of Sins tour transformed their greatest hits into an over-the-top theatrical experience, and now, 20 years later, they’re bringing the concept back to Phoenix with The Return of the Carnival of Sins, a reimagined production that looks back at the band’s 45-year legacy while incorporating technology that didn’t exist when the original tour hit the road.

The tour hits Phoenix’s Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre on Wednesday, Sept. 16.

“At our core, we are what fans are coming to listen to,” says bassist Nikki Sixx. “We’ve gone out and done shows where it was just an amp line, drums on the floor. I remember we played a show in Berlin and Duff McKagan was opening for us. He came back and said, ‘You guys don’t need anything. You guys are pure punk rock,’ and that truly is who Mötley Crüe is. But on top of that, we’re bringing all the frosting, all the icing.”

While the original tour leaned into Mötley Crüe’s appetite for spectacle, including Tommy Lee’s airborne drum kit and the band’s larger-than-life stage performance, Sixx says The Return of the Carnival of Sins is an entirely new presentation and creating it helped form a stronger bond between himself and drummer Tommy Lee.  

“The way that our fans consume and view their entertainment changed a lot,” Sixx says. “The new show is designed to take advantage of those changes. It took us a long time, and it was actually extremely expensive to put together. We have hundreds of people working behind the scenes on graphics, choreography, staging, lighting and sound to build a visual stimulation that aligns with our lyrics and with our songs.”

He adds, “For me, and Tommy specifically, the creativity on the live production has been the place where we meet the most, besides drums and bass. We’re both super happy and hoping the fans are going to feel the same.”

Mötley Crüe formed in Los Angeles in 1981. Forty-five years later, Sixx is starting to wrap his head around the fact that the band is now approaching its 50th anniversary.

“My band is 45,” he says. “I’ve never been in a relationship with anybody for that long, aside from my mom and dad who aren’t here anymore, and my oldest child, who’s 34. These men that I’ve traveled the world around for 45 years are family, yet we’re all very independent of each other, so when we get together, it’s kind of like a family reunion. It just clicks, and lately I’ve kind of been pinching myself.

“I remember we got off the road after we had just done the Dr. Feelgood World tour in 1990. I was laying on my couch completely burnt out from touring for so long, and I said, ‘Man, this has been a real decade of decadence, and most bands don’t that last 10 years,’ and then we released an album called ‘Decade of Decadence’ in 1991 that marked the 10-year anniversary. Now it’s been 45 years, and it’s creeping in on me that 50 is around the corner.”

Sixx compares Mötley Crüe to a race car — built to go fast, but with the possibility that something could go wrong. That unpredictability, he says, is what makes the band unique.

“There’s a few of us bands out there like that,” he says, referencing the Sex Pistols as an example. “You just kind of never really knew what was next for them.” That unpredictability, he adds, is “part of the magic.”

“Even if it ends at a 50-year anniversary, it’s still temporary in the big picture of the universe,” Sixx muses. “But in the picture of rock ‘n’ roll, I mean, could you believe Mötley Crüe lasting 50 years?”

The band’s longevity is also showing up in their audiences. Sixx says the band has noticed multiple generations of fans attending together, something he first remembers seeing when Mötley Crüe opened for the Rolling Stones in 2005. Now, he’s seeing the same thing at Mötley Crüe shows.

At a recent concert, he noticed a 7-year-old, 13-year-old, 25-year-old and 65-year-old standing together in the front row. When he can, he’ll pull young fans onstage to talk with them.

“A lot of young kids are bored with the over-polished pop music,” he says. “They’re looking for something new, and what they’re finding is something that’s actually been around a long time.”

That renewed interest in the band’s catalog comes alongside the release of “Crucial Crüe 1981-1989,” a limited-edition picture-disc box set collection of their first five albums. To coincide with the tour, the band is releasing “Crüe 45 RPM–The Singles Collection,” an ultra-limited series of hand-numbered 10-inch vinyl releases. The first installment, “Looks That Kill,” is limited to 1,000 copies and features a rare demo from the “Shout at the Devil” sessions on the B-side. Hit singles “Girls, Girls, Girls” and “Dr. Feelgood” will be released next.

Phoenix has long been part of Mötley Crüe’s touring history for decades, but Sixx admits the band’s doesn’t usually have time to explore the city between shows. One Phoenix show does stand out, though, for its oppressive heat.

“I remember we were playing a festival in the middle of the hottest day in Phoenix,” Sixx says. “The band members were getting sunburnt on stage and the sun was just blazing into us. There were people backstage just putting sunblock on guitar players’ arms. It’s a crazy battle between being on full-tilt rock ‘n’ roll and battling that heat.”

Mötley Crüe: With Tesla and Extreme. 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16. Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre, 2121 N. 83rd Ave. Tickets are on sale now.