On July 31st, 2026 at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ
Legendary American metal band Mötley Crüe are in the midst of the The Return Of The Carnival Of Sins 2026 North American tour celebrating two milestones: the 20th anniversary of the groundbreaking 2005-2006 Carnival of Sins tour and the 45th anniversary of the band. The tour goes through 33 cities across North America and features performances by very special guests Tesla and Extreme. Last Friday the bands visited Holmdel New Jersey.
Written by Andris Jansons
As is it usual occurrence with me, I did miss the opening act. This time the mighty Extreme. Well, my own fault and my loss …
Next band on the bill was American rock band Tesla from California rocking since 1981. I heard a lot of them in my early childhood as they were one of my late dad’s favorite bands. With band s long time vocalist and two founding members still rockin’ the band brought back that late eighties and early nineties feel with their classic hard rock and emotional rock ballads.
Kicking things off with hard hitting Modern Day Cowboy the band brought the set to a melodic and crowd pleasing finale with two of their biggest ballads – Love Song and Little Suzi, and topped it off with their famous cover of Five Man Electrical Band’s song Signs.
In short. Tesla delivered. Their imprint on the scene of the eighties and nineties hard rock is unmistaken. Surprisingly, still not in the Rock’n’Roll hall of fame the band brought more melodic and bluesy style to the crowded hair metal charts, and they always have done excellent live shows being contributed to the unplugged popularity.
Tesla setlist: Modern Day Cowboy, Hang Tough, The Way It Is, Heaven’s Trail (No Way Out), Mama’s Fool, Call It What You Want, Love Song, Little Suzi and Signs.
Tesla links
Following are unofficial snaps taken via mobile device.
Alright. So, what we can tell about Motley. For all of us in rock and metal they hold their own place. To some as a party music, to some as heavy hitting m……r f…..s. To me it was the latter. I came to the band in late eighties with Dr. Feelgood as the introduction and until this day the number one record. So, yes, I was late to the party, forgivable offense as I was still a little baby when Crue started, but I never really got into their early music, with just few singles as exception. So, further, harder and heavier sound was Motley for me.
Carnival Of Sins was set to begin.
Decade Of Decadence. You remember it right? The heyday. When boys in spandex and hair spray ruled the world. And also Crue’s compilation of the songs from that very time that they released back in 1991. So for starters, this is what this tour is about. The bands legacy from the days when they ruled the world.
It all started with some fine young ladies teasing the crowd just few minutes before the curtain drop. Then some AI generated scary circus master on the big screens gave us a little clue about what we will witness (not like any of us didn’t know what we came here for). And … curtain dropped, Red Hot Louder Than Hell and Wild Side started things off, and if you felt a need to take a breath, then screw you, they followed with Shout At The Devil. Yes, the foot did not come off the gas pedal until we hit Home Sweet Home. Nikki Sixx took some time to tell fans about what music means to them, how they write it and declared that their music belongs to fans as it comes from the shared space. He called on stage few lucky front row fans, later joined by Tommy Lee giving few insights of the hit songs origins. The piano cords that even hardiest heavy metal fans recognize in a split second. The Home Sweet Home indeed. This was our home for the night. Besides the band entertaining the crowd, Mötley Crüe’s female stage collective performed during select songs featured backup singers, dancers, and burlesque performers who enhanced the glam-metal aesthetic that was cultivated during the eighties. As a dude I will not lambast that, hell no, but it did seem to have no connection, it seemed sometimes as it was just a sideshow and not seamlessly integrated to have fluent interaction with the band and songs. You know what. Forget it, I never wrote that. We are all cool.
Few other big hits later the show came to the summit of this mountain and the song of my (our) lives rang louder than anything at that moment – Kickstart My Heart. This is the ultimate jam. This is something I have been listening for all my life since 1989, shit that keeps you moving, lifts you up when you are down and out, gives you kick in the ass when you need it and now all this time later tells that you still got it.
Mötley Crüe setlist: Red Hot, Louder Than Hell, Wild Side, Shout at the Devil, Too Fast for Love, Looks That Kill, Too Young to Fall in Love, Take Me to the Top, Primal Scream, Afraid, Home Sweet Home, Smokin’ in the Boys Room, Live Wire, Girls, Girls, Girls, Dr. Feelgood and one and only Kickstart My Heart.
Mötley Crüe links
Following are unofficial snaps taken via mobile device.
TICKETS: More information can be found at motley.com.
THE RETURN OF THE CARNIVAL OF SINS – 2026 TOUR DATES:
Wed, Aug 12, 2026 — Alpharetta, GA — Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
Fri, Aug 14, 2026 — West Palm Beach, FL — iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
Sat, Aug 15, 2026 — Tampa, FL — MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
Mon, Aug 17, 2026 — Charlotte, NC — PNC Music Pavilion
Wed, Aug 19, 2026 — St. Louis, MO — Hollywood Casino Amphitheater
Fri, Aug 21, 2026 — Shakopee, MN — Mystic Lake Amphitheater
Sat, Aug 22, 2026 — Tinley Park, IL — Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
Mon, Aug 24, 2026 — Cuyahoga Falls, OH — Blossom Music Center
Tue, Aug 25, 2026 — Cincinnati, OH — Riverbend Music Center
Thu, Aug 27, 2026 — Grand Rapids, MI — Acrisure Amphitheater
Fri, Aug 28, 2026 — Noblesville, IN — Ruoff Music Center
Tue, Sep 8, 2026 — Kansas City, MO — Morton Amphitheater
Thu, Sep 10, 2026 — Dallas, TX — Dos Equis Pavilion
Fri, Sep 11, 2026 — Houston, TX — The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Sun, Sep 13, 2026 — Albuquerque, NM — Isleta Amphitheater
Wed, Sep 16, 2026 — Phoenix, AZ — Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
Fri, Sep 18, 2026 — Chula Vista, CA — North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
Sat, Sep 19, 2026 — Long Beach, CA — Long Beach Amphitheater
Mon, Sep 21, 2026 — Salt Lake City, UT — Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre
Wed, Sep 23, 2026 — Wheatland, CA — Toyota Amphitheatre
Thu, Sep 24, 2026 — Mountain View, CA — Shoreline Amphitheater
Sat, Sep 26, 2026 — Ridgefield, WA – Cascades Amphitheater
CONNECT WITH MÖTLEY CRÜE
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ABOUT MÖTLEY CRÜE
Hailing from Los Angeles, CA, Mötley Crüe has commandeered the rock pantheon for 40+ years. The band has sold over 100 million albums worldwide, garnered 7 USA Platinum and Multi-Platinum albums, 22 Top 40 mainstream rock hits, 6 Top 20 pop singles, 3 GRAMMY® nominations, 5 New York Times Best Selling books, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a hit Netflix movie. The quartet has amassed nearly 10 billion streams and has over 9.5 million followers on social media. Known for their iconic live performances, Mötley Crüe has sold out countless tours around the world in front of millions of fans and pioneered the Las Vegas rock residency with a sold-out run in 2012. Hit songs, like “Kickstart My Heart” and “Home Sweet Home,” are frequently licensed by major brands such as NASCAR, Dodge, Coldwell Banker, Carl’s Jr., and KIA, and their music can be heard on hit TV shows like Stranger Things and Cobra Kai, among others. The band’s biography, The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band, became a New York Times Best Seller in 2001 and has sold over 1 million copies worldwide. Members of the band have authored 5 additional New York Times Best Selling books since. In 2019, Netflix premiered The Dirt, a biopic based on the bestselling book. Mötley Crüe remains a huge global draw 43 years into their career, wrapping up a 2-year world stadium tour in late 2023. In 2024, the band ushered in a brand-new era, signing to Big Machine Records and releasing the single “Dogs of War.” 2025 saw Mötley Crüe return to the Las Vegas Strip for the band’s third Sin City residency – the first one since 2013 – with ten nights at Dolby Live at Park MGM. Mötley Crüe will celebrate their 45th anniversary in 2026. For upcoming announcements, more information and tour dates, visit motley.com.
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