Longtime Kiss collaborator Vinnie Vincent will not be making his comeback this February.
The reclusive guitar virtuoso began appearing in public again last January after a 30-year hiatus. Following a Vinnie Vincent Appears in KISS Makeup at Fan Expo , Kiss’s former Ankh Warrior quickly pledged to return to live performing this year.
As Ex-KISS Guitarist Vinnie Vincent Goes Dark After Solo Show Announcement , the two comeback shows were postponed in November and then officially canceled Tuesday. The Vinnie Vincent Live website was replaced with a message to fans.
“Mr. Vincent has sent a notification letter to the promoter that he will not be performing the concerts scheduled for Feb 8th and 9th, 2019, in Nashville,” the statement reads. “While we cannot discuss the terms of the contract due to a confidentiality clause within the contract, we are shocked at this development, and it is, unfortunately, beyond our control. The matter has been turned over to our attorney.”
The statement continued, promising refunds to the fans who've been strung along. It added that the website would be the “only source for updates.”
“A lot of really good people were involved and tried to make these shows a reality for the fans,” the statement concluded.
Fans who have attempted to keep up with Vincent during the past few decades will likely scoff at the idea that anyone would be “shocked” that Vincent bailed out of another commitment at the last minute. To put it mildly, the guitarist has been accused of bait-and-switch tactics for years.
Kiss front man Paul Stanley has repeatedly accused Vincent of unethical behavior over the years. When Gene Simmons was asked last summer about Vincent’s apparent Former KISS Guitarist Trademark's "Vinnie Vincent's KISS" , he suggested that Vincent's comeback reminded him of a Gene Simmons Warns Vinnie Vincent About KISS-Related Trademark
"I'm not saying he is one," Simmons clarified. He went on to explain that term is used to describe 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."
Simmons Gene Simmons Reunites With Vinnie Vincent at Vault Event in Nashville Gene Simmons Reunites With Vinnie Vincent at Vault Event in Nashville Gene Simmons Reunites With Vinnie Vincent at Vault Event in Nashville last spring. He remained loathe to work with him in any greater capacity, however.
"Vinnie is a great guy, very talented, and maybe, in my view, his own worst enemy," Simmons later added.
But Vincent’s management seemed to believe in him. The virtuoso guitarist showed up regularly at fan events all year. He even Vinnie Vincent Appears in KISS Makeup at Fan Expo in October.
Vincent’s comeback shows were initially advertised last summer as solo acoustic sets, featuring Vincent playing guitar, singing songs and telling stories from his long career with Kiss, the Vinnie Vincent Invasion and other artists.
As his comeback gained traction, Vincent announced Vinnie Vincent Postpones December Comeback Shows after all. He initially announced it would include legendary drummer Carmine Appice , bassist Tony Franklin and former VVI singer Robert Fleischman for a “full shred” set. But the December shows in Nashville fell apart by late-November, and Vincent’s team announced they would reschedule both dates to February.
Then Vinnie Vincent Loses Singer After Rescheduling Comeback dates due to concerns over things “not feeling good on the business side...again.” Fleischman was the singer in the first iteration of the Vinnie Vincent Invasion and famously butted heads with the known taskmaster Vincent before leaving the band in 1986. The band dissolved around Vincent a few years later, beginning the guitarist's period of musical inactivity and relative isolation.
Weeks went by before Vincent’s team announced a new venue for the comeback in Memphis. Last week, singer Jim Crean Vinnie Vincent's New Singer Hints at Tour Dates Beyond Comeback Shows , and that the first two “tour dates” were the February 8 – 9 shows.
Last week, Appice revealed that the band had yet to rehearse for its upcoming shows. A post on a Kiss Fan Forum claimed that Vincent had not signed off on Crean's inclusion in the comeback shows and that the singer was, in fact, put in place by the promoter.
With Vincent retreating from the spotlight, fans are again left wondering if they've seen him for the last time.
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