Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx has shared a preview of the band’s “The Return Of Carnival Of Sins” 2026 tour, describing it as “next level” and promising a production that will redefine live rock performances.
In a recent appearance on Jon Smith’s show on 103.5 The Arrow, Nikki Sixx delved into the details of Mötley Crüe’s newly announced tour.
The 33-city North American trek, produced by Live Nation, is a dual celebration marking the 45th anniversary of the band and the 20th anniversary of their original 2005–2006 “Carnival Of Sins” production. Scheduled to kick off on July 17, 2026, in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, the tour will feature heavy metal titans Extreme and Tesla as special guests.
Sixx noted that the band aims to utilize modern technology to reimagine the “chaos” of the original tour, promising a “next level” experience for fans that goes beyond traditional pyrotechnics.
Sixx explained the evolution of Mötley Crüe’s stage productions (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “Two of our biggest tours was the ‘Dr. Feelgood’ tour and the ‘Carnival Of Sins’ tour 20 years ago. And back then, [we had] probably 20 semi-trucks full of gear — hard goods, as they call ’em — [with] all kinds of stuff. And now, with the advancement of technology, we can just take the fans on a crazy journey. And I just think it’s gonna be the next level. ‘Cause the first one was a lot of people’s favorite tour, so we have a lot to live up to.”
After Smith noted that Mötley Crüe has a reputation for “always upping the level of entertainment when it comes to the shows,” Sixx replied: “It’s always our goal. It really is. It’s what we love doing. There’s a lot of stuff that we leaned into so heavy. Like all the way back in the beginning, the ‘Live Wire’ video where the band lit me on fire, and we’ve just constantly been kind of pushing. And then on the pyro thing and actually working with companies and developing kind of — not our own technology, but a lot of times when you mix different fuels together, they create different colors. So we would put one pyro head into a steel wall and another one would hit, and it would change… I mean, this stuff was super exciting for us. And then we kind of outgrew the pyro, because you can watch a baseball game and they have pyro now. So it’s, like, how do we take advantage of new technology? We don’t want you to show up and go, ‘Yeah. It looks just like the last four bands that I saw.’ And so there’s always a lot of pressure on us to do that. And that’s, I think, what really drives us.”
Sixx explained how Mötley Crüe develops the production for each tour: “First and foremost, it’s a theme. And a theme, if you talk ‘Dr. Feelgood’, well, when we designed the album cover, it was in the very last moment where we changed it to the green. It was a white hospital linoleum wall with the medical symbol on it, and we switched that to green. Well, once that shifted to green, it all of a sudden gave us a complete color palette for what we would actually do with the show. So those are the type of things. So, obviously, something as colorful as a carnival, our brains are going crazy. And to see what’s out there, what’s available, and especially with video, you can take people on a journey that you just can’t do with a backdrop and some fire. So it’s exciting.”
Asked about a possible setlist for the upcoming tour, Sixx stressed balancing fan favorites with deeper, lesser-known cuts: “Obviously, we know the fans wanna hear the hits. And I hate it when a band goes out and doesn’t play their hits. I remember [David] Bowie doing that, and he was one of my favorite artists. I was, like, I don’t wanna go hear a bunch of C and D tracks off of records that I love. I wanna hear those songs, like ‘Rebel Rebel’, and at that point he was, like, ‘I’m so tired of playing the same songs.’ We’re not tired of playing those hits, but we are excited about getting into a setlist and diving into some songs that we maybe never played or haven’t played in a long time and shaking it up. And those type of things, if you’re playing a song like ‘On With The Show’ from the first album, that’s gonna dictate a lot of what production looks like. So, for us it’s this moving creative ball of energy. It’s super exciting.”
“The Return Of The Carnival Of Sins” 2026 Tour Dates
July
- 17: Burgettstown, PA – The Pavilion at Star Lake
- 18: Buffalo, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater
- 20: Clarkson, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre
- 22: Toronto, ON – RBC Amphitheatre
- 24: Gilford, NH – BankNH Pavilion
- 25: Bangor, ME – Maine Savings Amphitheater
- 27: Camden, NJ – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
- 29: Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center
- 31: Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
August
- 01: Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
- 03: Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live
- 12: Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
- 14: West Palm Beach, FL – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
- 15: Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
- 17: Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
- 19: St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheater
- 21: Shakopee, MN – Mystic Lake Amphitheater
- 22: Tinley Park, IL – Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
- 24: Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center
- 25: Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
- 27: Grand Rapids, MI – Acrisure Amphitheater
- 28: Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center
September
- 08: Kansas City, MO – Morton Amphitheater
- 10: Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion
- 11: Houston, TX – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
- 13: Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater
- 16: Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
- 18: Chula Vista, CA – North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
- 19: Long Beach, CA – Long Beach Amphitheater
- 21: Salt Lake City, UT – Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre
- 23: Wheatland, CA – Toyota Amphitheatre
- 24: Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheater
- 26: Ridgefield, WA – Cascades Amphitheater
