Produced by Live Nation, Crüe Fest, a touring rock festival featuring the hottest names in rock and alternative, kicks off on July 1st, and will hit over 40 major North American cities by the end of August. As if fans getting to see a Mötley Crüe show were not enough, there is an impressive line-up for the first year of the tour which includes Buckcherry, Papa Roach, breakout rock artist Sixx:A.M., and alternative rock band Trapt. Tickets will go on sale via www.LiveNation.com beginning Friday or Saturday, depending on the market. Fans that can’t wait for the onsale can get their tickets immediately by going to TheRockvine.com.

Says Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe, ”We are SO excited not only to headline our own annual summer festival, but also to be able to share the stage with the next generation of great rock bands. There’s not a lot Mötley Crüe hasn’t done so to say this summer’s festival is going to be about rock ‘n roll excess is an understatement. A night of hit songs by great bands and a trail of panties coast to coast… Crüe Fest, hell yeah!”

During the press conference, Mötley Crüe also announced that they will release “Saints of Los Angeles,” their first new studio album recorded with all of the original band members in over a decade, on June 17th.

Today’s event featured the premiere of Mötley Crüe’s brand new single, “Saints Of Los Angeles,” which the band played live during a brief but raucous performance. The song, which also includes backing vocals by Josh Todd (Buckcherry), Jacoby Shaddix (Papa Roach), James Michael (Sixx:A.M.) and Chris Brown (Trapt) is the title track of the new album. Lyrically, the new album follows the story of the band’s NY Times best-selling memoir The Dirt, a no-holds-barred tell-all that features every gritty detail of the band’s exploits as one of the world’s biggest rock bands. The first single and video were serviced today to radio and television and the digital download was instantly made available for purchase at the iTunes Music Store. In an industry first, the song was also made available as a download for the Rock Band video game simultaneously with its single release.

In addition to being televised live on Fuse, the press conference was broadcast live online and syndicated on numerous websites including TheRockvine.com. Mötley Crüe chose to deliver the live stream using Microsoft Silverlight via iStreamPlanet, Co’s iStream Player. The iStream Player is built on Microsoft Silverlight technology which is a lightweight cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in that delivers the next generation of fully immersive media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web. Silverlight ensures consumers worldwide have a consistent experience while watching content in any browser and on any platform.

Official partners for Crüe Fest include JVC Mobile Audio, MTV’s Rock Band, Best Buy, Fuse TV, Lotus, and TheRockvine.com. On-site activities will include a 2nd “Stage” presented by Rock Band where fans attending the show can play the part of “rock star” while playing the game. A special Crüe Fest CD featuring tracks from all of the bands on the tour will be available exclusively at Best Buy beginning June 17th. JVC Mobile Audio premiered a viral video featuring Josh Todd of Buckcherry and Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach having an “experience” in a car surrounded by the latest JVC audio/visual technology, a cast of hot babes and a ton of soap bubbles.

Crüe Fest U.S./Canada Tour Dates:

July:
07.01.08 West Palm Beach, FL Cruzan Amphitheatre
07.03.08 Tampa, FL Ford Amphitheatre
07.05.08 Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Charlotte
07.06.08 Virginia Beach, VA Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater
07.08.08 Wantagh, NY Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
07.09.08 Buffalo, NY Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
07.10.08 Sarnia, ONT Bayfest
07.12.08 Philadelphia, PA Susquehanna Bank Center
07.13.08 Washington, DC Nissan Pavilion
07.15.08 Detroit, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
07.16.08 Chicago, IL First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
07.18.08 Indianapolis, IN Verizon Wireless Music Center Indianapolis
07.19.08 Milwaukee, WI Marcus Amphitheater
07.20.08 St. Louis, MO Verizon Wireless Amphitheater St. Louis
07.22.08 Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
07.23.08 San Antonio, TX Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
07.24.08 Dallas, TX Superpages.com Center
07.26.08 Albuquerque, NM Journal Pavilion
07.27.08 Denver, CO Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
07.29.08 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Amphitheatre
07.31.08 Phoenix, AZ Cricket Wireless Pavilion

August:
08.01.08 Las Vegas, NV Mandalay Bay Events Center
08.02.08 Los Angeles, CA Glen Helen Pavilion
08.05.08 Sacramento, CA Sleep Train Pavilion
08.06.08 Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View
08.08.08 Seattle, WA White River Amphitheatre
08.09.08 Portland, OR Rose Garden
08.11.08 Vancouver, BC General Motors Place
08.13.08 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place
08.14.08 Calgary, AB Pengrowth Saddledome
08.15.08 Saskatoon, SK Credit Union Centre
08.17.08 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre
08.19.08 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Amphitheatre
08.20.08 Cleveland, OH Blossom Music Center
08.22.08 Boston, MA Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts
08.23.08 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
08.24.08 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
08.28.08 Toronto, ONT Molson Amphitheatre
08.29.08 Albany, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
08.30.08 Scranton, PA Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain
08.31.08 Pittsburgh, PA Post-Gazette Pavilion

For more information on Mötley Crüe, please visit: www.motley.com and www.myspace.com/motleycrue.

Buckcherry to be part of Crue Fest 2008 lineup