I was backstage before the show with folks from KSQY radio because they had held a drawing to give away a Harley-Davidson motorcycle with the band's "Dr. Feelgood" album cover painted on it. The band was giving the winner the keys. Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars and Tommy Lee were very friendly and stood around and chatted about motorcycles, guitar playing and the Sturgis Rally. Lead singer Vince Neil however walked right past and didn't acknowledge anyone even when their stage manager called out to him. Perhaps he was in a bad mood that night as we shall see...
Here are Nikki and Mick.
As the show started and Motley was into about their third song, someone in the audience threw a cup of ice onto the stage. Vince Neil had a fit about it and said some things about kicking someone's..., but kept playing.
Here are Nikki and Mick again.
And Vince with the crowd in the palm of his hand, he thinks...
And then it happened - a tennis shoe came flying out of the crowd and nailed Vince right in the head. He turned around to the rest of the band, yelled, "STOP!" Then he said the some things about the audience that aren't appropriate in a family blog, threw his microphone stand into the crowd and walked off. The rest of the band looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and walked off too. The crowd began to boo, things looked like they could turn really ugly, and the lights came back up.
After about 10 or 15 minutes of booing and chanting, a tour manager or someone came to the stage and said that the band would come back and play, but would not put up with any more things being thrown at them. They did play another handful of songs, but with no gusto, just going through the motions.
So Tommy's rotating drum set that hung from the ceiling and slid out over the audience was never used that night, which was what I had been waiting to see. I'm sure the roadies were as unhappy as anyone else, having to put that thing together and take it back down for no reason.
Talking with people afterwards, opinions were mixed about whether to blame the audience or the band. Some people pointed out that throwing things had become kind of a problem with Rapid City concerts in recent years, so maybe a lesson was learned. Others felt the band ripped off their fans by only giving half a show. I see both sides. Even now years later, I'm not sure what I think should have happened, except that people should never throw things at performers. If you've never stood on a stage with a spotlight shining in your eyes while the rest of the room is dark, you don't know how blind you are up there. There was no chance for Vince to duck that shoe, or anything else that may come his way.
4 comments:
I was there as a 13y/o! I can not believe my parents let my brother and I go! I remember the compression in the crowd as the anticipation for the doors to open built up. I remember seeing fights in the crowd! I remember the opening set cut short by the stuff hitting Vince! I remember the lights turning on and the haze! I remember the stage manager coming out and telling the crowd to chill. I remember the rest of the set being less of a show. I remember being disappointed that tommy wasn’t going to do the elevated drum set! Good weird memories! What were my parents thinking! Lol,
Vince was hit by a shoe and while he was giving a big f-U to the crowd a guy standing next to me threw a cup of ice and nailed Vince in the Head that was the last straw and Vince picked up the Mic Stand and chucked it at the guy standing next to me. I was maybe 15 ft from Vince. In the front row, was our friend Kevin Loken from Murdo SD my older brother Scott and I was right behind them. What I do remember is a riot breaking out and the it became a free for all all over the stadium.
No riot broke out Hockenbary. There was no free for all. People stood around and booed for awhile, probably some pushing and shoving from the jerks that caused it all. Then the show restarted near the time and point in the setlist it would have been anyway.
I beg to differ once the lights came back on the second time there sure were a number of fights. I wouldn’t say riot but definitely more than any other concert I’d been to in Rapid for sure.
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