Vince Neil
Irving Plaza
New York City, New York
September 24, 2010
Tony Pijar
Just hot off the brief Ozzfest Tour with Motley, Vince Neil has put things into overdrive. He’s got a new album out called “Tattoos and Tequila”, has assembled a kick-ass band and is currently on tour in the US. Neil surely knows how to pick’em too. The Slaughter guys, Dana Strum and Jeff Bland on bass and guitar, respectively, positively rocked out with unrestrained conviction; they surely didn’t show this much power when playing with Slaughter at Rock N America a few months ago! However, the star of the show had to be drummer Zoltan Cheney. This guy comes across as a youthful Tommy Lee, but better! His histrionics behind, in front and on the sides of his kit were truly amazing to see.
Give these guys some great music to play and it’s a win-win situation. That good music came in the form of set opener “Live Wire”. Bland dove across the stage and then broke into that familiar chainsaw riff we all know and love. “Dr. Feelgood” followed where Strum’s opening bass chugging shook the rafters. Neil seemed very happy, content, and wired to rock unlike his performance at Ozzfest where he seemed a bit lackluster. Not so here. His voice was in fine form too – not strained at all. The highlight of the show came early with the trashcan sleaze that is “Piece of your Action.” Absolutely breathtaking, especially Bland’s manic slide work during the middle break. The title track from Neil’s new solo album followed, along with that ol’ Cheap trick chestnut “He’s a Whore.” A couple more Motley songs were aired with “Same Old Situation” and “Don’t go Away Mad.” Then, interstingly, Neil played “Heaven and Hell” and “Whole Lotta Love” followed by the outro to “Stairway to Heaven”. Interesting because none of these songs are on Neil’s covers album! Maybe he should have plugged it a bit more by playing “Another Piece of Meat” or “Long Cool Woman”. “Girls Girls Girls” and “Wildside” concluded the evening in raucous form.
