Where this was said
The Crucifly Roller Coaster Drum Rig
At 1:44:28 · chapter starts 1:39:40
The origin story of Tommy's wild drum setups starts with his father — a mechanic who built drum risers, lighting rigs, and homemade pyrotechnics in their residential backyard, filling pipes with gunpowder and creating mushroom clouds while neighbors called the fire department. That DIY fearlessness ran in the family. Decades of escalating stage contraptions followed, each year wilder than the last, until the Crucifly: a roller coaster that travels from the front of the stage all the way to the back of the arena while Tommy plays drums upside down, spinning as it goes. The engineering challenges were enormous — gravity reverses the direction of force on every stroke, pedals fall open without springs, hi-hats won't close. Tommy solved each problem iteratively. The nine-minute ride ends with him sucking oxygen from a bottle while Mick Mars plays guitar solo. Joe calls it the most athletic thing in all of music.
Before Mötley Crüe could afford professional production, Tommy Lee's mechanic dad drilled out wooden blocks, wired in electrical prongs, and filled pipes with gunpowder to make homemade pyrotechnics in the backyard. Neighbors called the fire department. Dad loved every second of it.
Tommy Lee strapped a pedometer to his shoe for a 2-hour Mötley Crüe show. The answer: 13.3 miles. That's why he eats whatever he wants and never gains weight. Drumming isn't just music — it's the most athletic thing in rock.
Tommy Lee attached a pedometer to his shoe during a 2-hour Mötley Crüe show and discovered he covers 13.3 miles, which explains why he has weighed the same since high school.
