DEF LEPPARD‘s Phil Collen, whose band is scheduled to hit the road with MÖTLEY CRÜE next year as part of their “The Stadium Tour,” has shared his thoughts with Vince Neil‘s first concert after pandemic when his solo band headlined the Boone River Valley Festival in Iowa last weekend.
Vince’s band opened with “Looks That Kill” before jumping into “Dr. Feelgood,” and though Neil’s vocals on “Dr. Feelgood” weren’t “that bad,” it definitely wasn’t one of his strongest performances.
But everything started to fall apart when Neil launched into a cover of the THE BEATLES’ “Helter Skelter.” Vince seemed to forget the words to the Beatles classic, while struggling to keep up with his band’s down-tuned instrumentals.
And then, while performing “Girls Girls Girls,” Vince finally gave up addressing to the crowd: “Hey guys… I’m sorry, you guys. It’s been a long time playin’. My f*ckin’ voice is gone… uhh… we love you and we uhh… hope to see you next time, man. Thank you.”
In a new interview with “The Jeremy White Podcast,” Collen was asked if he has seen any of the footage of Vince‘s gig, to which he responded: “I heard about it. Hey, look, he’s got a year [to get ready for ‘The Stadium Tour’]. There’s a lot at stake when you got out [on tour], and you wanna be your best. Hopefully we’ll be working out together and all that stuff. That’s the other thing — we do have a camaraderie, especially with MÖTLEY CRÜE. With Nikki [Sixx, CRÜE bassist], we were talking just before the tour [was announced], like, ‘We’re gonna work out together. We’re gonna do all this stuff.’
He continued: “One of the things I learned from touring with KISS is that they really go a hundred percent about the show and every aspect of the show, [including when] different bands are touring together. Our crews would be working together on the KISS tour so the show would look great. And I do feel a thing with that. If the show is even better [for the other band], then it’s even better for all of us; you want that to happen.
“With Vince, he’s got a year to go. Hopefully everything is cool by then. I hope so. Fingers crossed.”
New dates and tickets for “The Stadium Tour,” featuring MÖTLEY CRÜE, DEF LEPPARD, POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS can be found at this location.
