Carmine Appice on Mötley Crüe’s Stadium Tour show: “Everything was on tape”

Drum legend Carmine Appice has claimed that former Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars was unhappy on last summer’s Stadium Tour, and that the root of his dissatisfaction was the band’s alleged choice to use pre-recorded backing tracks.

“I’ve been talking to Mick, and he told me, ‘When I was on the Stadium Tour, I was not happy'”, Appice tells Ultimate Guitar. “Basically, everything was on tape; it was all planned out and ultimately a lot of crap. And Mick is a pretty good player, and so, to now let him loose and play the way he wants, that was never going to work for him. 

“The truth is that everything has been weird for a while with Motley Crue, and Mick didn’t like that everything was on tape. Mick told me that people that came to see it could tell that it was all pre-recorded and that everything was on tape.

“When you play in a stadium like that, you can hear a lot of things come to the monitors or what doesn’t. And with Vince’s vocals, bass, drums, guitars, and all the other stuff, it was obvious that it was all on tape. And Mick was pissed off and said, ‘I can play these things. I want to play them. I don’t want to make believe I’m playing them.'”

Appice went on to claim that Mars travelled by tour bus to the shows while the others flew, and that he was upset by the decision to tear up Mötley Crüe’s cessation of touring contract in 2020. The band signed the document in January 2014 when announcing their supposed final tour.

Last week, bassist Nikki Sixx suggested that the band may still be playing by the time their 50th anniversary rolls round in 2031. 

Motley Crue’s Stadium Tour with Def Leppard makes its way to Europe in May, before heading back to the US in August. Full dates below. Carmine Appice brings his spoken word show to the Iridium in New York on March 23 (opens in new tab). 

Mötley Crüe/Def Leppard Stadium Tour 2023

May 22: Sheffield Bramall Lane, UK
May 25: Mönchengladbach Sparkassen Park, Germany
May 27: Munich Koenigsplatz, Germany
May 29: Budapest MVM Dome, Hungary
May 31: Krakow Tauron Arena Kraków, Poland
Jun 02: Prague Rocks, Czech Republic
Jun 03: Hannover Expo Plaza, Germany
Jun 07: Solvesborg, Sweden Rock Festival, Sweden
Jun 09: Helsinki RockFest, Finland
Jun 11: Trondheim Rocks, Norway
Jun 14: Copenhagen Copenhell, Denmark
Jun 18: Dessel Graspop Metal Meeting, Belgium
Jun 20: Milan Ippodromo SNAI San Siro, Italy
Jun 23: Lisbon Passeio Maritimo de Alges, Portugal
Jun 24: Rivas-Vaciamadrid Auditorio Miguel Ríos, Spain
Jun 27: Thun Stockhorn Arena, Switzerland
Jul 01: London Wembley Stadium, UK
Jul 02: Lytham Festival, UK
Jul 04: Dublin Marlay Park, Ireland
Jul 06: Glasgow Hampden Park, UK

Aug 05: Syracuse JMA Wireless Dome, NY
Aug 08: Columbus Ohio Stadium, OH
Aug 11: Fargo Fargodome, ND
Aug 13: Omaha Charles Schwab Field Omaha, NE
Aug 16: Tulsa H.A. Chapman Stadium, OK
Aug 18: El Paso Sun Bowl Stadium, TX

Tickets are on sale now (opens in new tab)(opens in new tab).

Source: loudersound.com