Vince Neil keeps Mötley Crüe’s legacy alive with solo tour
It’s been almost five years since Mötley Crüe played their definitively chaotic brand of hair metal for a sold-out Spokane Arena in late November 2014.
Just a few weeks ago, former frontman Vince Neil was in Ridgefield, Washington, parading the songs that embodied the Sunset Strip of the ’80s to a capacity crowd in his self-titled 2019 solo tour.
Now, after a stop in Southern California, Neil is bringing his catalog of anthems back to the Pacific Northwest, playing at the Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort Hotel on June 1.
After Mötley Crüe’s 2015 “Final Tour” covered 158 sold-out shows across 72 markets, grossing $100 million, a “cessation of touring” agreement binded the band to never perform under the name together again.
Now, it’s Neil and Neil alone who is carrying the live legacy of what’s generally considered of one of the world’s most notorious rock bands.
“It’s a cool thing, because I love Mötley Crüe, I love Mötley Crüe’s music, and I love singing,” said Neil in an interview with the SiriusXM show “Trunk Nation.” “I’m happy for me and for the fans to be able to still hear that music after Mötley Crüe is finished.”
The touring lineup features a trio of Slaughter alumni, with guitarist Jeff Blando, bassist Dana Strum and drummer Zoltan Chaney rounding out the four-piece.
In his solo career, Neil has released three albums, with “Tattoos & Tequila” being the most recent addition in 2010.
The Mötley Crüe discography got a second lease on life with the March release of Netflix’s “The Dirt,” a film adaptation of a 2001 book of the same name written by Rolling Stone’s Neil Strauss.
The movie, directed by Jeff Tremaine (“Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa”), documents the Crüe’s rise, fall, and return – among a dozen other things we won’t mention in this family newspaper – and ultimately how the Los Angeles products sold more than 100 million records globally.
The movie was released alongside “The Dirt Soundtrack,” which featured three new songs “The Dirt (Est. 1981)” featuring Machine Gun Kelly, “Ride With The Devil,” “Crash And Burn” and a cover of Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” – in addition to the songs heard in the film.
Speaking of Neil’s efforts on the latest album, founding member and bassist Nikki Sixx told Apple Music, “The idea of doing the Madonna song came up, and it just felt kind of snotty and punk rock,” said Sixx. “I mean, Vince Neil singing, ‘I’m like a virgin’ – come on, that’s funny.”
This week, “The Dirt Soundtrack” sits between Fleetwood Mac’s Greatest Hits and Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” at No.10 on the iTunes rock album standings.
On Pandora, 2.4 million listeners recently lifted the band to 1 billion streams with “Kickstart my Heart,” “Dr. Feelgood” and “Wild Side” leading the charge on the platform.