Even as the world remains frozen by the coronavirus pandemic, Motley Crue continue to prepare for their 2020 Stadium Tour.

The trek - which sees the band joining forces with Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett - was one of the year’s most anticipated tours, until COVID-19 brought the concert industry to a screeching halt.

Regardless, Motley Crue members are getting their minds and bodies ready.

According to Vince Neil’s longtime girlfriend, Rain Hannah, the singer has been "working out like a madman" in preparation for the tour. Her remarks echo comments earlier this year by bassist Nikki Sixx, who reported that the frontman was deep into preparations.

“Vince is killing it," Sixx tweeted in January. "Trainers [and] nutritionists focused on opening night."

The Crue’s bassist has long been an avid fitness fan, sharing tips and workout stories with his fans online.

“I train like crazy for tours,” Sixx explained in a conversation with Westlake Magazine discussing the Stadium Tour. “You don’t want to step onstage and not have double the stamina as the length of the show. I do fasted cardio, weight training and HIIT [high intensity interval training]. I eat 2,250 calories a day. And then, of course, there is building stamina around my bass playing. I’ve got to be ready to go fast and hard for 90 to 120 minutes while jumping around like a madman and singing background vocals. You don’t just wing rock ‘n’ roll. It’s a sport.”

Sports, like concerts, have been shut down by the continuing coronavirus pandemic, and it remains to be seen if the Stadium Tour will go ahead as planned. The trek is scheduled to begin on June 18 in Jacksonville, Fla. Many other artists have already canceled or postponed their respective performances around that time.

Meanwhile, the federal government has extended social distancing guidelines through the end of April, while also warning that the outbreak could stretch into the summer.

A turn of events like that would undoubtedly put the Stadium Tour at risk, not to mention many other concerts and live events planned for the upcoming months. Motley Crue's co-headiners for this massive summer tour, Def Leppard, have already been forced to postpone the release of their archival live DVD London to Vegas by three weeks.

The demand for this tour was high upon its announcement, with many shows selling out as soon as tickets were made available to the public. However, a survey cited by Variety casts doubt on just how quickly people will be ready to return to large-scale public gatherings such as concerts. Forty-seven percent of the participants said that the idea of going to a major public event would “scare me for a long time," while 44 percent stated they would attend fewer such events even once they are cleared to do so by government health agencies.

A lot can change between now and that point in the recovery process. In the meantime, it's hard to argue against the wisdom of Tommy Lee's recent Instagram post, in which the drummer urged fans to stay safe and as socially isolated as possible in the hopes that life can return to normal in time for the tour to begin: “Hey, can y’all please stay the fuck inside? I got some big stadium shit to do in June!!!”

 

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