Singer Chris VanDahl announces that Angels In Vein will be back the way it was originally intended

Singer Chris VanDahl announces that Angels In Vein will be back the way it was originally intended

Back in May 2016, a new sleaze “supergroup” was announced by the name of Angels In Vein, which consisted of Chris VanDahl (L.A. Guns) on lead vocals, Todd “Taz” Anthony on guitar, Stacey Blades (L.A. Guns) on guitar, Eric Stacy (Faster Pussycat) on bass and Troy Patrick Farrell (White Lion) on drums. The group released a number of videos but the line-up suffered some departures starting with Eric Stacy in August 2016 and Stacey Blades in January 2017. In August 2016, guitarist Todd “Taz” Anthony announced that the group’s full-length debut album would be released in June 2017 but we are still waiting for the release of any album from the group.

VanDahl released the following Facebook message late yesterday night to explain what is going on within the band:

“Hey everybody it’s Chris VanDahl,

Been meaning to post for quite some time now and to be completely honest I just haven’t had the heart but this is necessary and I feel I oh those of you who have followed in support of the band an explanation regarding our silence. So here goes….

There are great songs in the can. In my opinion better than anybody has heard up to this point but we’ve been quiet and haven’t released anything. Why?

The answer is pretty simple really. Timing.

After the blowup with former bandmembers it was very disheartening for me. It had been a really long time since I had done anything original and doing this record with Taz Todd Osterhouse started out as nothing more than a labor of love.

No hidden agenda, no timelines or deadlines and definitely no rockstar bullshit. It was purely about making music that we love for the sake of doing it. Everything that you’ve heard thus far and I do mean everything was already written and recorded by the two of us.

There were minor contributions after The fact. Stacey’s solo on “Trip of a Lifetime” for example. “Which is actually a song I cowrote with former Boneyard/The Vow guitarist Paul Alvereze” but that was pretty much the extent of it. I refuse to discuss Erik, short of stating that I had real love for the guy and I hope he finds his happiness but we all have our demons whatever they may be. I will say for the record that I have plenty of love for Stacey and am extremely happy to see him doing so well with his band Electric Radio Kings.

I made the choice to share some of the music we had written with Stacey well before Taz and I had any plans to make it public or had even decided whether we were going to.

I’m guessing it was always the plan but had never really gotten deeply into the specifics.

Stace’ loved it suggested we turn it into a real band and brought in Erik. Originally Vick Foxx was slated to be our drummer but when it turned out he was unable he recommended Troy Patrick Farrell. The band went directly into a studio to shoot video for what we chose to be the first release. We put it out there and decided to see what would happen. The response was overwhelming! Radio stations started putting us into rotation hundreds of thousands of people on Facebook were talking about the band, magazines both online and hardcopy were calling to do interviews. Hell, we were even talking to the head guy at iTunes about putting AIV in their spotlight artist section. Did I mention, that we did a photo shoot with John Charles for the Grammys and that the band was to appear in the distributed program? No bullshit here just facts. All this and we hadn’t even written an entire song as a group yet. Internal pressure’s started immediately. Stupid shit, unnecessary personality conflicts, unrealistic expectations, financial debates, distrust and egos all played a part in the quick demise of that lineup.

The simple fact of the matter is, ‘The band wasn’t ready but the public was and I don’t have any intention of making the same mistake twice.

If you love the music there’s nothing that made it what it is missing and there’s a lot more that came from. If it was the individual members that you’re interested in, they’re all still alive and breathing and doing different things. Check them out and support them. If you can be patient AIV will be back the way it was originally intended.

Nothing but love and appreciation for all the support you’ve shown!

From the bottom of my heart, thank you!”

Angels In Vein‘s “Trip Of A Lifetime” Big Kids video version:

Trip Of A Lifetime (Big Kids) version

The big kids version of the video….