DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen spoke to the "Jeremy White Podcast" about the postponement of the band's "The Stadium Tour" with MÖTLEY CRÜE, POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS to the summer of 2021. "The Stadium Tour" was scheduled to kick off June 18, 2020 at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida and run through September 5, 2020 in Los Angeles. The bands reportedly also booked time at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville to rehearse for the tour. Asked if he is confident that "The Stadium Tour" will finally happen in 2021, Collen said: "I'm really confident, if they get the vaccine rolled out. It's the same way anywhere around the world. You go, 'Hey, are you coming to so and so?' Well, I don't know if we're allowed to travel and whether we would be allowed on the plane or even in that country. So, it's looking good — or not. We really don't know. It really comes down to how everyone deals with approaching this pandemic and stuff." Regarding how the idea for the tour came about, Collen said: "I think it was someone suggested, 'Wouldn't it be great if we got DEF LEPPARD and MÖTLEY CRÜE, and then Joan Jett and POISON, and done a whole tour like that?' And I think that's really how it came about. At first, everyone was, like, 'Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Yeah, yeah.' And then the penny dropped, and everyone thought about it, and they went, 'Wow! This would be amazing.' And that's really pretty much [how it came together]. "I'm really excited about it still. It's MÖTLEY CRÜE's anniversary coming up as well — it's their 40th-year anniversary. We were all ready to go — we actually started doing promo and everything, and then it was, like, [everything came to a screeching halt]. Tickets went on sale, a lot of shows sold out already, and then it all got kind of tugged away. So, we were really bummed. It'll happen, but it's just if everyone is up for getting a vaccine going, so we can get back out there." "The Stadium Tour" is now scheduled to kick off on June 19, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee and conclude on September 12, 2021 in San Diego, California. As of January 30, 2020, "The Stadium Tour" had already grossed $130 million from one million tickets sold, plus another $5 million worth of VIP seats, according to Billboard. Tickets ranged from $150 to $400, not counting some varied pricing that reflected demand as part of "dynamic pricing." When it happens, "The Stadium Tour" will mark the CRÜE's first live dates since wrapping its 2014/2015 farewell tour. CRÜE toured with POISON back in 2011 and DEF LEPPARD teamed up with POISON for a string of road dates in 2017 — but the upcoming jaunt marks the first time all four acts have hit the road together for an extended tour. In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, thousands of concerts and festivals have either been postponed or canceled, as social distancing and self-quarantining make performing live music and attending live shows all but impossible. U.S. officials have repeatedly urged Americans to heed what federal, state and local officials are asking of them in order to curtail the spread and dampen the impact of the virus on the population. Last week, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that theaters and other live entertainment venues could reopen "some time in the fall of 2021." The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases gave an update on when he thinks the performing arts will be able to reopen during a virtual conference held by the Association of Performing Arts Professionals. According to The New York Times, Fauci said that the country will have to reach an effective level of herd immunity, which requires vaccinating from 70 percent to 85 percent of the population, before theaters and other venues will be able to reopen. "If everything goes right, this is will occur some time in the fall of 2021," Fauci said, "so that by the time we get to the early to mid-fall, you can have people feeling safe performing onstage as well as people in the audience." Fauci went on to say that if vaccine distribution succeeded, theaters with good ventilation and proper air filters might not need to place many restrictions for performances by the fall — except asking their audience members to wear masks, which he suggested could continue to be a norm for the foreseeable future.
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