Robert Fleischman revealed he’d decided to quit Vinnie Vincent’s two comeback shows, which had originally been scheduled in Memphis, TN in December, but were moved to Nashville on Feb. 8 and 9.

Singer Fleischman, a former member of Journey and Vincent’s post-Kiss band Vinnie Vincent Invasion, said he’d been unhappy about elements of the production and had concluded he didn’t want to be part of it, although he hoped he could remain friends with the guitarist.

“I think a lot of you know my history with Mr. Vincent [has] been a rollercoaster or two,” he said in a Facebook post. “[T]hings were not feeling good on the business side… the promoter extremely low-balled me to the point of it being insulting.. the amount of money he offered and the poor organization and lack of respect.”

He added that the promoter had known “some time ago” that the original December Graceland dates weren’t going to go ahead, and that the changes had cost the band money, as well as doing the same to fans. He criticized the poster advertising the new dates, which named Carmine Appice and Tony Franklin as members of Vincent’s “all-star band” but only credited Fleischman “in tiny little letters which would take a microscope to read it.” He continued, “After that I said to myself, ‘I’m not going down this road again,’” and added, “unfortunately some people don't learn from their past.. well I do.. I'm not going to hop on that train ever again.”

Fleischman included the text message he sent to Vincent, which read, “I'm going to bow out doing the show in Nashville..I apologize but my heart is just not into it anymore… I would have called you but I feel you would have tried to talk me into doing this project with you.” It finished, “I’d love to still be in touch with you and be friends.. So all the best to you..R.”

His post triggered a series of responses which debated whether Vincent was to blame for the apparent bad planning, or if he was a victim of poor advice and negative influence. One person wrote, “Everyone keeps blaming VV’s manager or saying he has bad people in his ear. Haven't you all learned by now it’s HIM. Its Vinnie that does these things… I was excited as anyone VV was back. But soon he was back to his usual BS.” Fleischman replied, “Spot on.” He also said Vincent had not responded to the text message.

 

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