December 3.2011
Celebrity Theater, Phoenix, AZ
Vince Neil, front man of Motley Crue, stopped by Phoenix last night for a solo show, with special guest Skid Row. The Celebrity Theater is a fascinating place, an intimate theater with a round, rotating stage. What a marvelous idea! Makes you wonder why more places don’t do this, but maybe it just isn’t practical due to overhead costs for maintenance. It does provide fans with a unique experince, though, and there really is no bad seat in the house.
There are those purists that believe that Skid Row is nothing without former singer Sebastian Bach, but in my opinion, Johnny Solinger makes a fine front man for this band. His vocals are on point, his stage presence suits the band well and there is a great chemistry. It was a solid performance that included a good selection of their hits. Guitarist Scottie Hill particularly seemed to enjoy interacting with the crowd as the stage made its slow spin.
Vince Neil also has his critics, those that feel he’s a has-been and should give it up. He seemed to be on his game last night, looking and sounding pretty good. His band, three-fourths of the group Slaughter, has talent enough to fill in any holes. Jeff Blando is not only a talented guitarist, but he can sing as well. He routinely does his own mini-set consisting mostly of Zeppelin tunes when Neil steps away for a bit, and last night was no exception. Dana Strum is one of the more animated bass players I’ve seen and he loves interacting with the crowd. Zoltan Chaney on drums is worth the price of admission by himself. He’s a madman, tossing and balancing his sticks while kicking cymbals with his feet and that’s before he starts jumping around. He rarely seems to miss a beat, though. It’s crazy! At one point, Neil brought Johnny Solinger up on stage for a song, which both the crowd and Johnny both seemed to enjoy. The set itself was a predectible, though enjoyable combination of Motley Crue classics.
