Singer Robert Fleischman will not take part in Vinnie Vincent's rescheduled comeback shows that were just moved from Memphis in December to Nashville on February 8 and 9.
Fleischman was the singer in the first iteration of the Vinnie Vincent Invasion from 1984 - 1986, Vincent's first and most legitimate shot at parlaying his association with KISS into a free-standing career.
But Fleischman, who is also a former member of Journey, recently announced that he dropped out of the would-be reunion with Vincent after he started getting flashbacks to the end of his first tenure with the mercurial virtuoso guitarist.
"I think a lot of you know my history with Mr. Vincent [has] been a rollercoaster or two," Fleischman wrote in a Facebook post.
He explained that "things were not feeling good on the business side...again" and that Vincent's management made him a paltry offer. But that wasn't all.
Fleischman also cited what he called "poor organization," saying he was hardly in contact with anyone from Vincent's team about the gigs since agreeing to take part. He wagged his finger at Vincent's promoter for the way the Memphis shows were canceled earlier this month, noting that they had known "some time ago it wasn't going to happen."
He says he lost money by having to cancel his travel arrangements so soon before the shows, and he was also more than a little hurt to see he was apparently demoted on the new bill, which advertised drummer Carmine Appice and bassist Tony Franklin as being part of the "all star band. Fleischman noted that his name was relegated to "tiny little letters which would take a microscope to read."
"[After] that I said to myself, 'I'm not going down this road again,'" Fleischman said. "...[U]nfortunately some people don't learn from their past. Well, I do. I'm not going to hop on that train ever again."
Below the statement, Fleischman included what he said was the text message he sent Vincent informing him of his resignation.
Fleischman confirmed in the comments below the post that his text went unanswered. He also expressed agreement with one commenter who described the shows falling apart as Vincent being "back to his usual BS."
Vincent's former Kiss collaborator and band mate Gene Simmons suggested in an interview this summer that he doubts Vincent will successfully relaunch his career.
"There's something called the classic failure mechanism, which I was told by doctors and everything — I'm not saying he is one," Simmons said at the time when asked about Vincent's attempt to trademark the name "Vinnie Vincent's Kiss." "But there are people who simply cannot handle when things are starting to go their way — success — so they torpedo it by making stupid decisions to make sure they don't succeed, so they can deal with that."
Vincent's plan for his comeback has publicly changed several times.
In his initial announcement, the show was described as a true solo gig with Kiss's former Ankh warrior singing and playing songs from his career on acoustic guitar and telling stories about the old days.
It's understandable that adding the vaunted "full shred" set would complicate matters; Vincent needed to find a band and rehearse it to his high standards, all while making appearances at conventions around the country.
The guitarist says all tickets purchased for the postponed shows will be honored at the February dates.
While tickets are on sale now, the new venue has still not been named.
Photo: Getty Images