VINCE NEIL: Wrist Injury Forces MÖTLEY CRÜE Singer To Cut Solo Set Short

MÖTLEY CRÜE frontman Vince Neil cut his solo set short at the Westbury Music Fair in Westbury, New York Friday night (Oct. 1) after an audience member injured Vince's wrist while rushing the stage. A first-hand fan account from a BLABBERMOUTH.NET visitor follows:

"As soon as Vince did 'Home Sweet Home' a few songs into his set, girls began to rush the stage to sing with him arm in arm, hug him, etc. This seemed under control for the first few girls. The girls would get a few seconds with him and then get off the stage. It then started getting out of hand, with girls not leaving, and more and more of them going onstage, and security soon had a problem on their hands, exacerbated by the fact that this venue is 'in the round' with a rotating stage. Every time a security guy or two would be grabbing and escorting girls off the stage, two or three more would be sneaking behind them to make the mad dash towards Vince.

"Finally, on his seventh song (can't remember the tune right now),as a girl had just gotten on the stage and begun to grab at Vince, a security literally yanked her backwards and she grabbed onto Vince's left wrist to break her fall (although unknownst to her, the security guard was there to catch her). Vince immediately yanked his hand back in what seemed to be some pain and kept his left hand and arm immobile straight down his side for the rest of the song. I could tell something was wrong. Mid-song, he confirmed it for me when he walked over to his drummer while singing and gave him a hand signal (with mike in hand) to 'cut' after the song (the 'cut sign' across his throat). A few moments later he walked over to his guitar player and it took him a few taps to get his attention and obviously tell him the same thing. The song ended and he said something to the effect of 'goodnight and thank you very much,' and the lights came on immediately and the exits were opened within minutes. It was obvious that there would be no encore. He wound up playing about 40 to 45 minutes, which was about the length of SLAUGHTER's set (the opener) and somewhat shorter than RATT's set (middle performer).

"In Vince's defense, the guy was coherent throughout, in other words not drunk, and he was still favoring the left wrist when they ended the show. Granted, the guy still sang every other word of every song he sang, but that's been expected the last couple of years, and more due to the fact that he's out of shape. But he looked in good spirits and was really into it. Security was virtually non-existent with respect to rushing the stage."