Neil Turbin
It was announced back in September that ONSLAUGHT vocalist Sy Keeler would sit out the band’s upcoming Thrash Invasion Tour of The US and Canada through October and November due to health issues with his son, reports Bravewords. The band hired former Anthrax vocalist NEIL TURBIN for the tour, guitarist Nige Rockett stating “I believe he’s one of the only guys in the genre who could step into Sy’s shoes. I think It brings a unique edge to this tour and I’m sure the fans will really dig what they hear.”
Two days before the end of the tour, however, Rockett revealed during an interview with Heavy Metal Television’s Susie Von Slaughter that Turbin had been fired following the band’s November 24th show in Anaheim, CA.
Rockett: “Things never really started off well with Neil. He had a reasonable amount of time to learn the songs. He turned up at the first show in New York with a prompter on stage, and that prompter was still there yesterday.”
Turbin initiated damage control via Facebook a short time later with the following statement:
“I agreed to do the Onslaught tour to fill-in for Sy Keeler who couldn’t do the tour due to his son’s illness. I turned down the offer three times because it was very low. I agreed after Nige Rockett wouldn’t let it go and kept after me and increased it slightly. The contract was signed a month before the tour and that’s the amount of time I had to learn an entire set of complex lyrics and vocals. There was no time on the road, except for poor situp sleeping in the van and numerous nights without hotel rooms, driving straight from gig to gig. That being said, up front it was shared with Nige that the only way I could sing the proper lyrics would be with some help, since we never rehearsed once and four weeks was not enough time to learn the amount of lyrics.
On Monday before showtime in Anaheim, I had a meeting with Nige and let him know I needed to be paid each of the last three shows the money that was owed to me which was a few hundred dollars, so he did not confirm or assure me that I would be paid and it was suspect the fact that he collected all the money from the Brazilian tour dates, even thought the tour cancelled. In Montreal before we played there were major arguments by some of the other members, with Nige expressing concern that they weren’t being paid. With this concern heavily in mind, I asked Nige Rockett, who told me he needs to get paid $2000 by Nate (tour manager). I then spoke with Nate Klug, tour manager, who said that all the money is going to the van and said Nige was supposed to pay me. When Nige didn’t on Monday night after the Anaheim show, I then told Nige and the band C-ya. No Pay No Way No Show! Therefore his interview providing false information about what happened is just damage control.
I left the tour on Monday by my own accord of not being paid for the final week of the tour. Nige Rockett stating that I was fired because of a teleprompter is total rubbish. I would like to add that whatever they pay Sy Keeler should be increased to double the amount to tolerate the verbal abusiveness and passive aggressive behavior of Mr. Rockett.
I quit the Onslaught tour due to non-payment. Nige had no intention of good faith and no intention of paying me. That is the only reason I am not playing the last shows. The rest is Nige Rockett damage control and anger venting.”
Rockett responded with the following, ramping up the war of words:
“Mr. Turbin was paid in full each week as per contract. If he states otherwise, we have evidence to confirm each of these payments. In fact, Turbin was paid over 300% in excess of what any other Onslaught band member was paid per week! So no, Neil was not ripped off, Neil was not done wrong, Neil got paid! Ask him to deny what I say!”
Watch for an official statement from Onslaught/Neil Turbin in the coming days.
Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 
He’s so full crap. I saw the show at Club Red in AZ, the first night after Neil left. Every reason he’s provided as to why Neil left can be easily disproven, and I have no reason to trust him now. If you want to watch the videos containing evidence that disproves his lie about Neil getting fired over using a teleprompter, links will all be at the bottom.
His reasoning for firing Neil was that Neil couldn’t remember the lyrics and needed a teleprompter. Which would be a good reason to fire a singer, but I have a series of videos showing Michael from Artillery, (awesome band, and great singer by the way) filling in for Nige after he stopped singing. And take a guess as to what he was doing? Reading the lyrics on his phone. Here’s a vid.
That show was the most cobbled together bullshit I’ve ever seen. They announced Neil wasn’t there about 20 seconds before the band took stage. My friend Tom and I were even speaking to the merch guy, saying things like “you guys should have done metal thrashing mad or something, since Neil is in the band, that would be badass”. Guy acknowledged we said something, then left. We spoke to a number of people who could have told us that Neil had left, but nobody did. It felt like they were trying to hide it. I even had a Fistful of Metal record for Neil to sign in case I got to meet him. That same roadie pointed to it from behind the merch table and started laughing about it with a friend, which in retrospect, was a red flag.
Then Nige sang for the first couple songs. Here’s a vid of that: http://youtu.be/-OiCuTr3VM0?list=UUzSbn0UPzmr4zxWuELvi37w
After that, it was Michael. Then once he got off, it was a free for all. People from the audience were singing, the merch guy selling t shirts twenty minutes beforehand was doing backing vocals… It was bizarre. The crowd (of about 27 people, by the way) wasn’t into it at all. Most people were just standing around as the bass player motioned for all of us to start chanting and head banging. Nobody did it though, as evidenced in the videos.
It got real awkward too, the bass player, Jeff, pointed at a guy next to me to sing, and he didn’t want to. Then the merch guy came out from behind the cab with an iPad, which I’m assuming had lyrics pulled up on it, on the floor and said “If you don’t know the words, I can help”.
Then someone else got on the mic, not sure who. He might have been a vocalist from a previous band, or a fan. In any case, he needed to read the lyrics as well. Here’s the vid of that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1yE4Dl5kyc&index=4&list=UUzSbn0UPzmr4zxWuELvi37w
It was really the worst show I’ve seen in a long time, felt more like a thrash karaoke night at a bar with a cover band than a concert. Lots of people, myself included, left early.
At the end of the day, I’m an Onslaught fan, and a Turbin fan. And I think the band is being a total dick to Neil. Nige was clearly lying about the teleprompter thing. I doubt he “fired” Neil so he could get 8 other people on teleprompters on stage instead of him. He, and everyone believing every word that comes out of Nige’s mouth need to stop dissing Neil. I 100% believe he’s an honest guy trying to make a few bucks on the side, that left the band when he stopped getting paid for his time. My impression of Onslaught has definitely dropped after this, the way I was treated with the record, and the merch guy dodging my question was pretty shitty. As a fan, the show was bullshit. But I suppose that’s just my opinion.
Here are the links.