NIKKI SIXX Says KISS's 'End Of The Road' Stage Design Is 'An Exact Reenactment' Of MÖTLEY CRÜE's Final Tour

MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx has called out KISS for the band's stage production on its current "End Of The Road" tour, saying it is "an exact reenactment" of the show that the CRÜE took out on its own farewell trek a few years ago.

Just hours before KISS was scheduled to take the stage Saturday night (February 16) at the Forum in Los Angeles, Sixx posted two Instagram photos of the CRÜE's "The Final Tour" stage set in which he and singer Vince Neil are carried by two gigantic cranes over the entire arena floor. Sixx wrote in a caption, "If ya wanna see an exact reenactment of this just go to the #LosAngeles Forum tonight."

Sixx also responded to a similar accusation made by CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee nine days earlier. On February 7, Lee tweeted a video of the "End Of The Road" kick-off concert in Vancouver, in which bassist Gene Simmons and guitarist Tommy Thayer are transported by two cranes. Lee wrote in a caption, "Dayum @KISSOnline this sure looks identical to @MotleyCrue's final tour." On Saturday, Nikki tweeted in apparent agreement: "Damn..."

Earlier today, Sixx posted a side-by-side photo comparison of him being carried by a crane and Simmons on strikingly similar-looking stage prop. Nikki wrote in an accompanying message: "Wow. Our body wasn't even cold before they took this exact grande finale from our tour.Might not matter to Kiss fans but it does to Crue fans.I dug their music when I was a little kid and it was cool to Co-Headline together a few years but this disappoints me.Anyway."

Earlier in the month, fans responded to Lee's tweet by taking one side or the other, with one writing, "Your entire stage show and looks were inspired by KISS in the first place. Pretty much every 80s 'hair metal' band were doing what KISS had done years before."

This was not the first time Lee had implied that another artist was borrowing from his band's stage design. Last November, he threatened legal action against Travis Scott after finding out that the rapper's stage included a roller coaster the drummer claimed was too similar to the one he used on the CRÜE's last few tours.

Following Lee's comments, a lawyer for Scott told TMZ: "Tommy didn't invent the concept of a roller coaster on stage and there's no legal basis for his accusatory outburst. The actual creator and owner of the system has granted Travis all rights to use that equipment to complement his original stage design."

Back in 2012, KISS and MÖTLEY CRÜE teamed up for "The Tour", a joint summer package that saw each play a full set, with KISS closing every night.

Three years ago, Sixx and Simmons engaged in a war of words over the KISS star's admittedly callous comments regarding Prince's death. Nikki stated at the time that Gene's "heartless and uneducated remarks" about Prince's passing show "why he's not my hero anymore or anybody's. I think that he is an overrated, lucky guy that dresses like a clown. He wrote some good songs, but hasn't in a long time, and loves to brag about himself."