The Stadium Tour Recap

It was just 4:30 in the afternoon when the lights dimmed at Minute Maid Park for the first act of the Stadium Tour. With sunlight still streaming in through the plate glass windows of the outfield, Joan Jett took the stage to kick off the six-and-a-half hour nostalgia trip that was to follow.

Over the course of an hour, Jett showed the crowd that she still had the talent that made her a star in the first place, with vocals sounding similar to those of her original records. Playing through songs including “I Love Rock’n’Roll,” and the Runaways’ “Cherry Bomb,” Jett capped off her performance with “Bad Reputation” and handed the stage to Poison, who put on arguably the best set of the night.

Poison certainly seemed to have the most fun on stage, with singer Brett Michaels, guitarist C.C. DeVille, and bassist Bobby Dall making frequent trips to the front of the stage thrust throughout their hit-filled set. Taking the stage just after 6:00PM, the crowd grew significantly throughout Poison’s set; by the time the band got to their final song, the Juice Box was full of fans belting out the chorus to the ever-popular “Nothin’ But A Good Time.”

Next came a lengthy intermission as the stage was prepared for Motley Crue, who in true 80’s fashion had a show full of theatrics, scantily-clad women, and massive props. The Crue, who have perhaps seen better days, put on a full hour-and-a-half set filled with hit songs including “Dr. Feelgood,” “Home Sweet Home,” and crowd favorite “Kickstart My Heart.”

Motley Crue experienced a surge in popularity in recent years, in part due to the release of biopic The Dirt in 2019, though new fans may have been a bit disappointed with the band’s performance.

Around 9:45PM, Def Leppard took the stage for the final set of the night. The British hair metal mainstay took a different approach than Motley Crue, with a simple stage set up that let the music do the talking. As the headlining act of the show, Def Leppard’s 17-song, hit-studded setlist gave the crowd a lot to enjoy, with “Hysteria,” “Rock of Ages,” and the iconic “Pour Some Sugar On Me.”

With Joe Elliott’s vocals filling the stadium, Def Leppard capped off the show with “Photograph,” considered by many to be the band’s best song and one of the greatest rock songs of all time.

At the end of the night, fans went home on a high note, having seen four acts that haven’t toured in years all come together on one stage for a night of hair metal and rock that may not be repeated ever again.