NONPOINT drummer Robb Rivera has weighed in on Vince Neil‘s disastrous comeback performance at an Iowa festival last month.
On May 29, the MÖTLEY CRÜE singer struggled to complete his solo concert at the Boone Iowa River Valley Festival in Boone. Based on fan-filmed video footage of the gig posted on YouTube, the 60-year-old rocker, who hadn’t performed in more than a year and a half due to the COVID-19 pandemic, began losing his voice several songs into his set, which consisted exclusively of CRÜE classics and cover songs previously recorded by the band.
14 songs into the performance, Vince attempted to sing CRÜE‘s smash hit “Girls, Girls, Girls” but gave up mid-song, explaining to the crowd: “Hey, guys… I’m sorry, you guys. It’s been a long time playin’. My fuckin’ voice is gone… Eh… We love you, and we’ll hopefully see you next time, man. Take care.”
After Neil walked off the stage, his backing band — which still consists of bassist Dana Strum and guitarist Jeff “Blando” Bland from SLAUGHTER, along with drummer Zoltan Chaney — continued to play the song, singing along to what appeared to be pre-recorded backing vocals.
Rivera discussed Neil‘s return to the stage during a brand new interview with Sofa King Cool. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I feel bad for Vince. MÖTLEY CRÜE is such a great band. He’s got a year to get it together for [the 2022 start of CRÜE‘s ‘The Stadium Tour’ with DEF LEPPARD and POISON]. And it’s sad, but I still love MÖTLEY CRÜE regardless. I know he’s had some struggles, and getting older, stuff like that, it happens. Not everyone can be a Rob Halford, or like Ronnie James Dio before he passed — he was still singing at a high level. You have to take care of yourself. I don’t know Vince personally, but I hope he takes the right steps. ‘Cause I know that DEF LEPPARD and MÖTLEY CRÜE together is gonna be an amazing tour. Anybody who lived that era, it’s gonna be like high school all over again.”
“The Stadium Tour” was originally scheduled to take place last summer but ended up being pushed back to 2021, and then to 2022, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In December 2019, CRÜE manager Allen Kovac told Fox Business that “some of” the bandmembers had enlisted outside help to get in shape for the trek. Kovac was referring to criticism of Neil for his supposed diminished singing ability and weight gain, as well as the health status of guitarist Mick Mars, who has been dealing with a chronic form of arthritis that led him to undergo a hip replacement.
Kovac explained: “Some of them are working with a trainer, some of them are working with a nutritionist to make themselves the best they can be. The greatest insecurity for an artist is: Is anyone going to care about my music? Is anyone going to buy a ticket? We were in November [2019] when the discussions were happening, and these guys were already into regimens of how they get ready for a tour.”
Speaking specifically about Neil, Kovac added: “Let’s see what Vince sings like and looks like when the tour goes out.”
CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx also said that Vince was “killing it” while working with “trainers” and “nutritionists” in preparation for “The Stadium Tour”.
