Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Good show with no surprises. They play again on 6/9 in LA. Could they possible play the same set list 'again'???  My only gripes: two short (about 1:30) and the same set again. Before the 'net, you could get away with it. But now, it's pretty lame to play the identical set every night. That's half the fun - wondering what they'll play next.

As for the band - they rock pretty hard. While Weiland is no Axl (Axl of old, that is), he still commands the stage and carries the crowd. Highlights for me were the STP songs, Fall to Pieces, Slither, and Brownstone.  I really missed Axl's howls and screeches on Used to Love Her.  Weiland really made Fall to Pieces though.  It should be a hit for them.  I wish they'd play You Got No Right - saw the Smashbox show and it was terrific live.  Slash soloed several times tonight. He also took time out to talk about the Lakers victory.  Most of the audience skipped the opening band (including me) to watch the NBA finals in the lobby.  We had passes and chose the balcony.  Went to the floor but it was completely packed. Couldn't move.  

Sound was okay. Little muffled here and there. Slash's guitar needs more volume.

Sounds like it rocked a llama's anus.......did they play Superhuman again?

Live Review: Velvet Revolver at The Wiltern LG in Los Angeles

by Gabriel Sheffer
liveDaily Contributor  
 
June 09, 2004 12:25 PM - Old-fashioned hard rock took center stage Tuesday night (6/8) in Los Angeles. A month after flooring the crowd at The Roxy on Sunset Strip, the all-star amalgam that is Velvet Revolver did the same thing for an excited, sold-out crowd at the larger Wiltern LG theater.  

Featuring former Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland, three former members of Guns n' Roses (guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagen and drummer Matt Sorum), plus guitarist Dave Kushner (McKagan's onetime Loaded partner and ex-Wasted Youth guitarist), Velvet Revolver is most definitely a supergroup. Though its debut album, "Contraband," hit stores on Tuesday, the band already has been on the road for nearly a month.

When the lights went dark at 9:40--about 30 minutes later than scheduled--the crowd shrieked in unison. Then VR took the stage. McKagan, standing front and center, plucked an intense, boiling, bass line as Sorum pounded a meaty beat. Then--all at once--the lights exploded and the band was in full throttle. Weiland looked eerily like Axl Rose, wearing aviator sunglasses and a bawdy police cap. For much of the night, he snaked across the stage, his left hand clutching his hip.

"Hollywood," the singer announced, "do you believe in rock and roll?" And, true to form, this night included nearly every hard-rock cliche out there: sweaty, long-haired guys without shirts, singers posing atop the stage's manifold monitors, guitarists spitting out fast solos, and even the requisite shoulder-to-shoulder posturing. "This band's about rock and roll, people," the singer later reminded the crowd. Indeed.

The nearly 90-minute set featured several tracks off the group's debut, including "Headspace" and the ballad "Fall to Pieces," which Weiland said was inspired by his wife. "Big Machine" was a locomotive of distortion. After rebuking the moshing numbskulls down front, Weiland and boys launched into "Set Me Free," their hard charging contribution to "The Hulk" soundtrack. Here, Slash offered a quick, pissed-off guitar solo on his Les Paul. It was tight, screaming, vintage Slash. And while loyal fans rocked out to tunes they had yet to learn, some just couldn't wait for the more familiar stuff.

It was no surprise, then, that the tunes that earned the loudest applause were the ones that most attendees already had in their music collections.

GN'R fans were rewarded with "It's So Easy" and "I Used to Love Her," which opened the show's encore. Next came VR's first single, "Slither," with Weiland clutching the microphone with both hands. The song included some dramatic interludes with Slash dipping angry guitar licks into the mix.

Likewise, STP fans got what they were looking for when the group offered "Sex Type Thing." With a dangling cigarette peering from behind his poodle hair, Slash made the song his own, rocking out as he ran across the stage. But the clear fan favorite was "Mr. Brownstone," which showed up toward the end of the night. At the peak of his guitar solo, Slash leaned back onto Weiland's shoulders, two rock stars getting down and intimate.

With Scott Weiland, this band, which began its life as something called The Project--and in search of a lead singer--has managed to discover a primo rock-star frontman, preening, sexy, and powerful (sort of like their last singer). The Wiltern was also the right place for this band, with its massive sound system blasting gobs of distortion out into the crowd and its myriad lights blazing colors across the room.

By the show's encore, all the rockers onstage were shirtless. Slash had donned his signature top hat and played a solo behind his back, Weiland had spouted sweet rock nothings into his bullhorn, and the crack rhythm section of Kushner, McKagan and Sorum had obliterated any notion that they were past their prime.

As Velvet Revolver left the stage, sirens, noise, thunderous drums and lightning crashes filled the room. And if the avalanche of sound that recoiled across the Wiltern auditorium was any proof, hard rock remains alive and well--even in 2004.

http://www.livedaily.com/news/6636.html



/jarmo

No superhuman, just the normal 14 track set.

I stood in the pit. I wore my L.A. Guns tshirt and if anyone was there was right next to the big blond asshole who kept moshing  and caused a fight. I loved the pissed off look on scott's face while watching this go down and then his coments about it afterwards

LA Review 6/9

I had an amazing time at the show.   The opening band was decent (whoever the singer is, he's got enough attitude for 2 frontmen), and after waiting forever until about 10 pm, VR takes the stage.

My highlights were Do it for the kids, Big Machine (I'm starting to get into this song now), and Slither.  I was rocking out and keeping my eyes on Slash. Duff looked real happy to be there and he was smiling and Slash was running around all over the place.

Scott invited more people down into the pit because it was a "fucking tea party" according to him.  Well, more people came in, and then there was plenty of shoving and crowd surfing.  He sounded amazing on Fall to Pieces.  And everyone was singing along to the GNR songs.


They finished the set with Sex Pistols - all in all, it was a night to remember.

I dont know if Perla has had her baby yet... but a very pregnant lady with a kid in her arms waved to us early on in the show.  

i have to say tonight 6/9, my shit was thuroughly rocked. I came with a group of friends we were right in the pit the crowd was so mixed there was even a family, it was a dad grabbing onto his wife and kid having the best time ever. some dude with a mohawk really got people crazy. Scott is so amazing. This band really is something else everyone I went with was blown away and said it was the best show they've been to. Slash is unbelievable!
(oh and the opening band Living Things was super awesome punk rock)

ha - I remember the mohawk dude.  He was the star of the show according to the Living Things lead singer  ;D

Slash in a Manson shirt, and Scott in red pants.  I saw a lot of GNR shirts (AFD era) which was cool.

Now I wish I could see them again!  

I picked the wrong show to goto, I would of rather heard bodies than negative creep again

slash said something like "wow we arent used to this kind of reception in LA" something like that. And the lighting for the show was amazing.