VIXEN Doesn't Use Any Backing Tracks Live: 'We Don't Need To'

In a new interview with Dennis Wood of WOKW 102.9 FM's "Back To The 80s", VIXEN drummer Roxy Petrucci was asked what it means to her personally to "still be playing these great songs and connecting with fans all these years later." She responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's who I am. It's not just what I do. I still have the enthusiasm. I still have the drive. I love the band. I love playing with these girls. We're having a great time. So I think because I love VIXEN, I love the music. I just love this band, and I wanna continue doing it. And as long as the fans wanna keep hearing it, I will do it till I can't — physically can't. But right now I'm still in fairly good shape, still got tons of energy and I'm gonna keep slamming those skins."

As for what it is like to see a whole new generation discovering VIXEN and 1980s rock in general, Roxy said: "Oh, it's awesome. We'll be playing these shows and sometimes we go out and do meet-and-greets, and there'll be people that say, they come out to the meet-and-greet and they're, like, 'We saw you with Ozzy [Osbourne] back in 1989. This is my daughter, and she's [been] introduced [to] you, and she loves you guys.' So we get a lot of that — a lot of that. A lot of college kids that are totally into the '80s now. Because the '80s, there's nothing like it. That music, the fun, the anthems — how can you not like that? Because people wanna hear it, young kids wanna hear it, and they're totally all about it now. And the people want it. They're coming to the shows. That is the test."

Petrucci went on to confirm that VIXEN does not use any backing tracks during the band's live performance. "Hell yeah. None of that. We don't do that. We don't need to," she said. "When you go see a band, you kind of want that rawness. When I go to a concert, I don't want them to sound just like the CD or the recording. I wanna hear some rawness. We give it to you. But the vocals are incredible. Yeah, Rosa [Laricchiuta, VIXEN singer] nails it every night, and Britt [Lightning, a.k.a. Brittany Denaro, VIXEN guitarist], Julia [Lage, VIXEN bassist] and Tyson [Leslie, VIXEN touring keyboardist], we all do backing vocals, and it's just there."

VIXEN's most recent release was the 2023 single "Red". It marked the group's sole studio recording with singer Lorraine Lewis, who was fired from VIXEN in May 2024 and replaced with Laricchiuta, a singer, songwriter, and performer from Montreal, Quebec.

Laricchiuta's hard rock project BLACK ROSE MAZE released its self-titled debut album in August 2020 via Frontiers Music Srl.

Rosa made her live debut with VIXEN on June 21 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California alongside GREAT WHITE, SLAUGHTER and QUIET RIOT.

In January 2019, VIXEN recruited Lewis as its new lead singer following the departure of Janet Gardner.

Lewis had already performed with VIXEN in March 2018 in Durant, Oklahoma while Gardner was recovering from surgery.

Prior to Lewis's addition to VIXEN, Petrucci, bassist Share Ross and Lightning vowed to "expand upon the VIXEN legacy while remaining true to our musical roots."

Gardner, Petrucci and Ross are considered to be part of VIXEN's classic lineup, along with founding guitarist Jan Kuehnemund, who died of cancer in October 2013.

Gardner contributed lead vocals to VIXEN's most commercially successful studio albums — "Vixen" (1988),"Rev It Up" (1990) and "Tangerine" (1998) — as well as the group's latest full-length release, 2018's live album "Live Fire".

Three and a half years ago, Ross announced that she was "taking a hiatus" from VIXEN. Her replacement is Lage, formerly of the Latin Grammy-nominated Brazilian rock group BARRA DE SAIA and wife of Richie Kotzen. Lage made her live debut with VIXEN on February 8, 2022 at the pre-Monsters Of Rock cruise concert at Magic City Casino in Miami, Florida.

Image credit: Tom deBlonk