Photos/Review: The Stadium Tour w/ Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Poison & Joan Jett @ Hersheypark Stadium

After two years of postponement, The Stadium Tour featuring rock icons Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, Poison, and Joan Jett finally made its way to Hersheypark Stadium on July 12th in Hershey, Pa. As new and old fans, bearing the remanence of an 80’s closet collection consisting of fishnets and stone-washed denim, flocked to the stadium to finally get their chance to see this long-awaited mega show, so did some unwanted storm clouds. With the forecast only calling for a chance of rain, this didn’t seem to worry anyone. As the time grew closer to the show’s kickoff, storm clouds grew darker and more threatening.

A hot young new band out of Los Angeles called Classless Act kicked off the show. As the band took to the stage, ready to rock the crowd with massive energy, unfortunately, so did the rain. Within moments of the band’s opening song, the gods opened the flood gates and dumped a monsoon of heavy winds and a torrential downpour of rain forcing everyone to take cover in the stadium’s halls. While not phased by the rain, Classless Act tried to continue with their set but was unfortunately cut as a blast of thunder and lighting abruptly brought the show to a halt.

With fans lining the stadium halls soaked, some felt slight panic as to which bands would actually be able to play after the storm would pass, or worst, would the show go on? Nonetheless, it was clear that nobody was leaving, not after waiting two years for this show.

Classless Act

After the storm finally passed, the delay was over, and fans were given the ok to make their way back out into the stadium as Joan Jett and The Blackhearts would hit the stage with no time to waste, opening her set with “Victim of Circumstance” from her latest album 2022’s Changeup. Joan Jett sounded just as good as did 40 years ago. Although her set would have to be cut short by only one song from her set due to the rain delay, Jett rocked the crowd with a medley of classics like “Cherry Bomb” and “You Drive Me Wild” from her days with The Runaways. Other notable classic hit covers were “Do You Wanna Touch Me There,” “Crimson and Clover,” and “I love rock’ n’ Roll.” Joan Jett would close out her set with one of her most notable songs to date, “Bad Reputation.”

Setlist:

Victim of Circumstance
Cherry Bomb (The Runaways Cover)
Do You Wanna Touch Me (Gary Glitter cover)
You Drive Me Wild (The Runaways cover)
Everyday People (Sly & The Family Stone cover)
Fake Friends
Crimson & Clover (Tommy James & The Shondells cover)
I Love Rock’ n’ Roll (The Arrows cover)
(I’m Gonna) Run Away
I Hate Myself For Loving You
Bad Reputation

Joan Jett and The Blackhearts

Next up in this mega lineup of rock’ n’ roll royalty was the hometown favorite, Poison. While Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome To The Jungle” played the intro to Poison taking the stage, you could feel the energy waiting to explode from the anxious sold-out crowd of 30,000 hungry fans. As each member of the band was introduced while making their way out onto the stage by the charismatic frontman, Brett Micheals, who was out of sight, the cheers from the sold-out crowd grew louder until Micheals himself ran out on stage bursting with energy. The band opened their set with the title track off their breakthrough multi-platinum album Look, “What The Cat Dragged In.” The band’s energy and showmanship were met song after song by fans singing along word for word. This would be by far hard to follow up. Poison pulled out all their hits from their collection for this one, such as “Talk Dirty To Me,” “Fallen Angel,” and “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” Local boy Brett Micheals made sure to let the sold crowd know just how happy the band was to finally be able to play this show, seeing as this was somewhat of a hometown show for Micheals himself. Being from that area of Pennsylvania, Micheals also noted how excited he got as they rolled in on the buses and saw all the fans out in the lots grilling and drinking beers while waiting for the gates to open. Micheals also noted that “the rain wasn’t going to stop us from playing this show. Not even a fu**king storm could stop us.” Closing out an incredible set, it was only fitting to play something that said it all about the show for “Nothin but a Good Time.” With all the health issues surrounding these guys, everyone looked great on the stage. Hats off, Poison, you kicked ass!!!

Setlist:

Look What The Cat Dragged In
Ride The Wind
Talk Dirty To Me
Your Mama Don’t Dance
Guitar Solo (with Eruption by Van Halen)
Fallen Angel
Drum Solo
Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Nothin’ but a Good Time

Poison

It was time. Let’s see if the Crüe, who would have the tough task of following up with Poison’s solid performance, could pull it off. It hasn’t been since the Crüe’s “final” tour back in 2015 when we saw them say goodbye in a somewhat not-so-great farewell performance. Back then, frontman Vince Neil struggled heavily throughout those shows, clearly out of shape and constantly winded while unable to fully sing a complete song without the help of the backup signers. As their intro of a breaking news pirate-like broadcast of a post pandemic like world played on the giant LED screens on the sides of the stage, speaking of the shows as large unified gatherings and that for the next two hours, music will be the only form of communication. The stadium would be filled with red smoke as a gate-like led screen running the length of the stage read “The Future Is Ours.” As the gate rose, emerging from behind the drum kit admits the smoke, Tommy Lee would take his seat, arms held high before hitting the high hat as the Crüe kicked it off with the hit “Wild Side,” as fans would erupt with cheers as the band hit the stage ready to rock, and right out the gate with any doubt I had it was quickly put to rest, Vince had definitely got his stuff together for this tour, looking better and sounding much better then he had throughout their past tours. Tommy Lee was back in full force, holding it down the drums for the full set, kicking ass like usual, that coming from the issue with him injuring his ribs right before the start of the tour and only being able to play a hand full of songs. The Crüe stacked their set with an hour and a half of hits from what I call their golden era catalog. Of course, in true Crüe fashion were the sexy ladies that danced about the stage as well as holding down back up vocals on hits like “Wild Side,” Dr. Feelgood,” and “Kickstart My Heart.” Making his way to the piano in the middle of the runway for “Home Sweet Home,” Tommy Lee asked fans, “how the f**k you doing, my little Hershey squirts?” As the crowd reacted with laughter, Lee then pointed out that he remembers always seeing a lot of t*tties in Hershey and that he didn’t have one all day. Just as he would finish that sentence, an eager fan was happy to oblige by showing hers.

Setlist:

Wild Side
Shout At The Devil
Too Fast For Love
Don’t Go Away Mad
Saints Of Los Angeles
Live Wire
Looks That Kill
The Dirt (sEt 1981
Rock and Roll, Part 2/Smokin’ in the Boys Room/White Punks On Dope/Helter Skelter/Anarchy in the UK
Home Sweet Home
Dr. Feelgood
Same Ol’ Situation
Girls, Girls, Girls
Primal Scream
Kickstart My Heart

Motley Crue

With Joe Elliot making his way down the runway with his arms held out wide, Def Leppard started their set off with a brand new track, “Take What You Want,” off their latest album, Diamond Star Halos. The crowd seemed to hold back just a bit with the cheers, as I’m sure not many of them either one haven’t listened to the new album or didn’t even know the band had put out a new record. Still, it would take long for the sold-out crowd to begin cheering for the band as they reached far back into their catalog, following up with the rocker “Let It Go.” In between songs, Elliott expressed the band’s joy for finally being able to do this tour after a number of postponements. Elliot would also touch on a very special milestone, announcing that it was 40 years ago to date that guitarist Phil Collen had joined the band. It would be midway through their set when the entire band would take their place in the center of the runway for a couple of acoustic songs. Elliott also touched on how the world went through a lot in the past few years. During that time, the band took the opportunity to write and record a new album, Diamond Star Halos, setting up for their second new song, “This Guitar,” which would then be followed up by another acoustic, “Two Steps Behind.” Aside from the two new songs off their latest album, Def Leppard’s setlist never moved passed the 90s. Def Leppard was amazing. Their sound was clean and crisp, and the lighting and visuals were exactly what you would expect. After finishing their set, Def Leppard came down to the end of the runway to take their bows. Elliott told the fans, “as always, take of yourselves till next time, and there will be a next time.” The crowd cheered even louder in excitement “till then, do us a favor, don’t forget about us, and we won’t forget you good night.”

Setlist: