Here’s your VVFF exclusive... I just returned from the Birthday Bash after spending close to 6 hours with VINNIE VINCENT and other awesome fans.

First off... the actual location of the Birthday Bash hasn’t been known to us for two months, by design. It was NOT at the Airport Marriott, though there was a really amusing rumor that it was being held in the Stones River room there right down the hall from Rock N Pod (which I also attended and enjoyed very much). That rumor took on extra life when someone showed up this morning with boxes of pink cupcakes and pink balloons. Turned out to be a birthday party for an elderly family, LOL. I do want to apologize again to Rick for being unable to talk about the Bash. There will be another time, I’m certain. Thank you so much for being understanding and cool. Loved meeting and getting to know you. You rock, my friend!

We were promised something special, and around 6:30 received a text to the actual address with instructions to come on down. Turned out to be SIR Studios, the same location that Speedball Jamm was to have occurred in. We waited in the lobby for a few minutes as we listened to someone in the back wailing loudly on a guitar, then were invited into a room down the hall. We walked into a darkened room cast with streaks of light from a few colored bulbs, and there on the stage with a big smile on his face was VINNIE VINCENT himself with a big grin on his face and wailing on his Carvin double-V guitar! HOLY SHIT!!!

We gathered up front with a LOUD reaction of approval. Talk about a freakin’ adrenaline rush! I kid you not... I was standing about 4 feet in front of him and his hands and fingers were FLYING on that fretboard. I’ve never seen Vinnie play live before so pardon my lack of a better comparison, but at several points his movements reminded me very much of the Vinnie from his instructional guitar video in the way his pick hand is just a blur and he rocks forward and back as he kicks out the f’in jam. So rest assured... I can absolutely put to rest ANY thought that Vinnie can’t play anymore, or at least can’t play lead. FALSE!!! This was definitely the Vinnie we know from KISS/VVI on guitar.

Vinnie shredded up a storm for about 10-15 minutes, then greeted us all and invited us to eat and drink up. He greeted us individually, and when he asked my name, I gave him my real first name. I was surprised when he smiled and identified me by my FB screen name “John Clayton”. I gave him a big hug.

About that food... wow! What a spread. I asked him who had catered, and he mentioned that he prepared it all himself because he wanted it to be perfect for us. I was stunned... Vinnie Vincent made dinner for us! It was awesome!!!

Damn... what an unforgettable evening. More to come. Wanted to give VVFF the scoop first, though I haven’t checked to see what our friends are posting on Facebook yet.

Wow man, that's all great to hear. Great you had a great time and great that Vinnie played up a storm for you.

I am mucking about with a setup on one of my guitars right now and am reminded how crap I am compared to Vinnie, but I do ok. Sure wish I had his chops though.

Good call on the location, it would have been strange at the Marriott and nobody could crash the party this way.

Thanks, Vic! Yes, keeping the details close to the vest was crucial to the success of this particular event. This is just the starting point.

A couple more little tidbits before I collapse. This is a video greeting recorded for him by Jeff Scott Soto. Enjoy!

[BBvideo=560,315]https://www.cameo.com/v/zVSF44f9L[/BBvideo]

Here is one of the items he autographed for me (he must have signed for around 90 minutes and we wrapped up close to 1am)... whew, what a rush. He was so kind to sign this for me a little differently on request. How cool is this?

Wow, nice video from Jeff. I did enjoy the songs he sang on back then.

Nice autograph you got there. I wonder if he's ever signed anything with that name before, when he was with Hartman or Winter?

Other goodies

Genebaby wrote: Sun Aug 11, 2019 5:22 pm Wow, nice video from Jeff. I did enjoy the songs he sang on back then.

Nice autograph you got there. I wonder if he's ever signed anything with that name before, when he was with Hartman or Winter?

I’ve wondered that myself, but didn’t ask. I figure I have something fairly uncommon if not unique.

I guess it's super cool to have items when he was Vinnie Cusano to be autographed that way. Makes sense when you think about it.

Love this photo of Vinnie with his “Love Kills” Ibanez VV. (sorry if it shows up sideways) Also pictured are Simon D. Florez and Stephen Wilkie, who busted his butt working with Vinnie to do this for us. Btw, Vinnie and Steve put this together COMPLETELY on their own with no assistance. We cannot thank them enough. It was a PARTY!

These were made specifically for the event and I bought #3/100. EXACT reproductions. Another fan had purchased one of the originals and brought it with him. I took a photo of both in my hand and really could not tell the difference.

The Ibanez VVV, where has that been all these years? How many guitars did he have there?

Love the necklace.

Genebaby wrote: Sun Aug 11, 2019 6:07 pm The Ibanez VVV, where has that been all these years? How many guitars did he have there?

Love the necklace.

Thanks! He had two guitars — the Carvin VVV which he played, and the Ibanez for a bit of show-and-tell and photos with people. Very interesting, he showed us that he had it strung backwards with the low-E as the 6th string. According to Vinnie, after the video shoot was done, he put it in a case and hasn’t played it sense.

He had some really cool memorabilia, btw... some of his original KISS tour schedules, etc.

Oh yeah, it is strung upside down, I can see that now, how strange. Almost Hendrix like, for a left handed person to use.

Wowsers! Looks freegan fantastic!

Good work to all involved.
Glad you had fun....

Congrats and great that it all went well. Good stuff.

Interesting how the lower fin is painted on the Ibz? Not painted gold all the way?

Well this is great to hear. Was hoping to make it there (and saying hello to Rip!), but sadly my business travel plans got cancelled as I was enquiring about tickets.

But what I really hope is that a line can now be drawn after the several false starts and daft drama that's been going on, and VV can move forward with similar events.

Sounds like a great time - looking forward to hearing more details!

RipRokken wrote: Sun Aug 11, 2019 7:02 pm

Genebaby wrote: Sun Aug 11, 2019 6:07 pm The Ibanez VVV, where has that been all these years? How many guitars did he have there?

Love the necklace.

Thanks! He had two guitars — the Carvin VVV which he played, and the Ibanez for a bit of show-and-tell and photos with people. Very interesting, he showed us that he had it strung backwards with the low-E as the 6th string. According to Vinnie, after the video shoot was done, he put it in a case and hasn’t played it sense.

He had some really cool memorabilia, btw... some of his original KISS tour schedules, etc.

Thank you RIPROKKEN for all the wonderfull info you posted here in the forum. Very, very kind of you.

Do you think it’s him?

Needs more gain?

shramiac wrote: Sun Aug 11, 2019 7:48 pm Congrats and great that it all went well. Good stuff.

Interesting how the lower fin is painted on the Ibz? Not painted gold all the way?

I noticed that too. I only have a few pics where you can tell, but if you were to look from the side, the gold only covers the front half of the fin, with the back half and lower tip being white. Very interesting design.

Wow this is so cool!!! I’m glad to see Vinnie’s still kicking ass and that y’all got to have a great time hangin’ with him!

tukoztukoz wrote: Sun Aug 11, 2019 10:25 pm

Can someone confirm if this audio is real or fake ?

Obviously a fake but....I did burst out laughing, I’ll admit.
Kudos to who did that.


Now a video of the real thing, would be much cooler!

Im glad that he was able to pull this off. Very nice touch if he indeed cooked all the food for his guests. So he can still shred also. No need to hold back then. He is already in the studio, so please record something for us. Now I wish I was there.

shramiac wrote: Mon Aug 12, 2019 12:19 am Obviously a fake but....I did burst out laughing, I’ll admit.
Kudos to who did that.


Now a video of the real thing, would be much cooler!

Thanks for your reply. Not sure videos were allowed at the bash.

Awesomeness

I am not sure he cooked everything (I think he was kidding, but I would not be surprised if he did prepare some of it). I got him to wear my cowboy hat, the second ever hat he’s worn as an adult.

glad to know that everybody there had a great time,icluding him .

The rest doens't matter so much,in comparison.

drmoorejr wrote: Mon Aug 12, 2019 1:07 am I am not sure he cooked everything (I think he was kidding, but I would not be surprised if he did prepare some of it). I got him to wear my cowboy hat, the second ever hat he’s worn as an adult.

I have a pic of that... can I post it? He told me he did put all the food together (cooked or arranged depending on the item). I figure he at least did the homemade salads. It was delicious!

LUDIVINE wrote: Mon Aug 12, 2019 12:25 amNot sure videos were allowed at the bash.

Correct. We respected the request not to have our phones out, and volunteered to turn them off completely until picture time. It paid off too because it allowed us to truly be in the moment.

Does not prove that he can play. But does indeed prove that he was a chef.

So awesome that this happened and you had a great time. Maybe he now knows how much people love him and really love to just hang and watch him play guitar. Happy Birthday Vinnie and many more.

Agreed bro, the bash was phenomenal. I bought a ticket for Antlanta but sadly had to miss it. No way I was missing this one, especially in such an intimate setting. I was literally a foot from the Vinnie shredding and loving every minute of it. His hands were a blur they were moving so damn fast!! He played twice for us last night. Everyone was hi fiveing and had the biggest grins on their faces lol. Best time ever!

Zoid!!! So nice to meet you last night.

Btw, I don’t think Vinnie told anyone else but me (and only because I asked) that he’d handled all the food himself including several from scratch beautiful salads. I got confirmation of this today — apparently he’d stayed up the night before cooking and prepping. I could use another 2 plates right now. Very healthy and wide selection of stuff.

This is great news.
I am glad to see it all came off as planned.

RipRokken wrote: Mon Aug 12, 2019 4:19 am Zoid!!! So nice to meet you last night.

Btw, I don’t think Vinnie told anyone else but me (and only because I asked) that he’d handled all the food himself including several from scratch beautiful salads. I got confirmation of this today — apparently he’d stayed up the night before cooking and prepping. I could use another 2 plates right now. Very healthy and wide selection of stuff.

Very cool! Please tell us more about his playing. Was he really that good as he was back in his hayday.

Absolutely as good, and Zoid and drmoorejr can vouch for that, too. There is no doubt in my mind that he truly does keep in practice.

RipRokken wrote: Mon Aug 12, 2019 4:42 am Absolutely as good, and Zoid and drmoorejr can vouch for that, too. There is no doubt in my mind that he truly does keep in practice.

So cool! Stupid question but what was he like? Did he seem happy? Oh man I’m just so glad that this all went off and that everyone seems to have had a blast!!!

Man, I mean this with all sincerity. He was having as much of a blast taking care of us as we were being there with him. He treated us like it was our birthday, and was smiling all evening.

He told us that he’s happier now in life than ever because he feels more free now. Very comfortable with who he is, no desire to prove himself to doubters, and honestly gets a laugh when he reads people speculating negatively about his abilities.

The bottom line about this particular event is it was exactly what he wanted it to be. And damn did he deliver.

Post any pics you like, go for it, we'd all love to see what we can.

I have a ton of cool pics...

Invader wrote: Mon Aug 12, 2019 2:15 am Does not prove that he can play. But does indeed prove that he was a chef.

What?!? No “Post pics of the food or it didn’t happen” demands?

RipRokken wrote:

Invader wrote: Mon Aug 12, 2019 2:15 am Does not prove that he can play. But does indeed prove that he was a chef.

What?!? No “Post pics of the food or it didn’t happen” demands?

The rumours are true. He must have been a chef and made his money with that during the 25y we did not see him.

Mmmm yummy.

Lol, he laughed about that rumor actually. I’m no chef but I can definitely get around in the kitchen, so it means nothing other than he has great taste in healthy food.

I'm really glad for everybody who went. It took a long time, maybe too long, but Vinnie finally did an event the way he wanted and it appears to have been a success.

That room at the Marriott was indeed a hot topic, right down to the pink table cloth. Too funny when the people who rented it did turn up. Glad the event took place for those attending.

Vinnie fan Jason R. Randolph posted some cool pictures on facebook. Is he a member here?

Jeff Scott Soto was there?

Jeff did a video greeting for Vinnie, I don't think he attended.