Battle of the bands: kiss vs. Crue, on the gridiron 

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Motley Crue frontman hoping to pack the arena again — for football

Vince Neil finally can exact revenge on behalf of Mötley Crüe.

The band’s first tour was in 1983 as the opening act for Kiss. The Crüe lasted only six shows before Kiss booted them for causing too much trouble, according to Neil.

More than 30 years later, the two rock titans will clash. Neil’s new Arena Football League franchise, the Las Vegas Outlaws, will share a division with the Los Angeles Kiss, owned by Kiss band members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons.

“That’s the fun thing about this; it’s a natural rivalry, Kiss vs. Crüe,” Neil said. “We’re going to play them three times a year and, of course, we want to beat them every time.”

The bands actually made amends decades ago. They co-headlined a North American tour in 2012, and the Kiss executives, having gone through the same process a year ago, have helped Neil and his partners get ready for their inaugural season.

So the competition will be mostly friendly without much trash talk.

“We’ll let the players take care of that,” Neil joked.

Stanley and Simmons called Neil to congratulate him shortly after the franchise was finalized. Several famous football names also reached out, including former NFL coaches Mike Shanahan and Jon Gruden, and Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley.

“(Gruden) said, ‘I want to be involved, but I think Vince is going to be harder to work for than (former Oakland Raiders owner) Al Davis,’ ” Neil said. “Haley called me and was like, ‘I need a head coaching job.’ They were all kidding, but it’s cool to have guys that big talking arena football.”

Neil is getting quite an education from “4th and Loud,” the AMC reality series that documents Stanley and Simmons’ first year at the helm of a team.

“I’ve been watching Kiss’ show on TV to try to learn what to do, but I’ve been learning what not to do by watching the show,” Neil cracked.

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