Velvet Revolver Review - Chicago

[AxlCorey]

I'm usually just a lurker here but I though some of you would like to read my review of Velvet Revolver last night in Chicago, and other would like to tell me how they suck anyway and to wait for Chinese Democracy.

So here is my review of the Velvet Revolver concert last night in Chicago:

Arrived at the Riviera Theatre a little before 7:00 which is when "Silvertide" was supposed to take the stage. My buddy and I decided to take position on the floor at the back of the crowd, which at this point was about 25 ft from the stage. This may have been a mistake, which I'll touch on later.

Silvertide - These guys were real energetic and tried really hard to get the crowd into it. They have a really good guitarist and the frontman was o.k. but not that great. It was hard to tell if their songs were that good because at this point the sound mix sucked.

Velvet Revolver - They came on stage at about 8:30, Axl Rose style late, but the wait was well worth it. These guys totally blew me away. Weiland was slithering and sliding all over the stage all night, Slash was in top form as were Duff, Matt and the other guy. They played GNR classics - Mr. Bownstone, Used to Love Her and It's so Easy and STP songs (as best as I can remember) Interstate Love Song, Sex Type Thing and Crackerman? They finished the show with Nirvana's Negative Creep and did a few encores before that. At one point, I believe before Sex Type Thing, Slash did a long guitar solo and during the song, Scott climbed up onto a balcony next to the stage and dove off of it into the crowd. As for new songs, Slither and Set me Free were great live. Falling to Pieces was a good rock ballad and a few others sounded great too (not sure of the names).

The only low point of the concert was that the mosh pit broke out right in front of me and my buddy. From what I could gather it was about a half dozen stoned high schoolers and another half dozen guys from the trailer park methed out. Aside from that everything was perfect.

I'll definitely be buying Contraband when it comes out next month after seeing this concert and if you haven't bought tickets yet I suggest getting them soon. This is a concert not to miss.

[JamieG]

How could they play a Nirvana song?

Nirvana HATED Guns N' Roses. They used to mock Axl and Duff all the time.

[echrisl]

They came on stage at about 8:30, Axl Rose style late

Wouldn't that be 12:30 to be Axl Rose style late?  J/K  

Thanks for the review, and welcome to the board.  

[SLCPUNK]

Thanks for your review.

Yea, if it was Axl he would not have even left his house yet by 8:30.

[Jizzo]

because its a heavy song,

[WalrusOct9]

Axl was the mouthpiece of Gn'R and hated Nirvana.  Slash and especially Duff probably liked Nirvana but there was no point saying so at the time with the whole Axl/Kurt thing.  

For whatever reason it's not "cool" in some circles to like Nirvana, but Kurt was a great songwriter, and Duff and/or Slash probably realized that and maybe for them it was a way to kind of pay tribute to someone who's music they liked and put all the bad Gn'R/Nirvana vibes to rest.

I also don't know much about Scott other than his music, but it's likely that he was at least an aquaintance of Kurt's before he died as well, so "Negative Creep" might have been his idea.

In any case, VR played the fuck out of that song.  I knew they were gonna do it, but my friend that I was going with to the Detroit show last night didn't, and he's one of those people who listens to a bit of every kind of music, so he's a Guns fan, a Dream Theater fan, and a big Nirvana fan...so I didn't tell him about Negative Creep and when they started playing it he was freaking out like a 9 year old at Christmas, it was really cool.  

[Prodigal Son]

Axl was the mouthpiece of Gn'R and hated Nirvana.  

No
Didn't axl wear a nirvana cap?
He had some problems with Kurt's attitude, that's more of the truth i think

[Freya]

Axl liked Nirvana's music very much, he had a personal problem with Cobain.

Weiland is a friend of Courtney Love, or at least they were "junkie buddies", they might have even slept together, I don't know.  

[Booker Floyd]

Weiland is a friend of Courtney Love, or at least they were "junkie buddies", they might have even slept together, I don't know.  

You obviously havent heard STP "Too Cool Queenie"...

[Freya]

You obviously havent heard STP "Too Cool Queenie"...

Hmm...so I read the lyrics, he slams her.  Which is funny because for awhile there in the nineties they were hanging out, writing together and appearing on radio interviews together.  Is Hollywood Bitch about her too?  

[Booker Floyd]

Hmm...so I read the lyrics, he slams her.

You should hear the song too...The melodies are stunning.  

 Which is funny because for awhile there in the nineties they were hanging out, writing together and appearing on radio interviews together.

Yeah, they were friends...Not sure what the problem is, but they arent anymore.

Is Hollywood Bitch about her too?  

Dont think so, but I dont know if she wasnt thought of while writing it.

[younggunner]

stps last album was awesome. It didnt do well in terms of popularity but theres a lot of cool tracks on there. Same with the prevoisu one. Greta fukin band

[tomass74]

How could they play a Nirvana song?

Nirvana HATED Guns N' Roses. They used to mock Axl and Duff all the time.

Nirvana was basically thrashing out against what Axl had turned into.

[dave-gnfnr2k]

slash used to bash stp and scott calling them wannabees, now scott is slashs lead singer, go figure  

[younggunner]

Nirvana was basically thrashing out against what Axl had turned into.

There has been a million discussions on this board about this topic. To say that they just hated Axl is ridulous. Yes tehy did hate Axl but they also trashed gnrs music. I dont know the exact quotes...im sure dizzy has them or some 1 else...

[Falcon]

slash used to bash stp and scott calling them wannabees, now scott is slashs lead singer, go figure  

It shows Slash'a growth as a musician and a person.  He's realized Scott was the creative foil that would mesh with the modern direction Matt had discussed throughout the process
of picking a volcalist.

Scott's credentials and obvious talent seemed to have brought out untapped musicality in Slash he might have never realized in his past projects and partners.

From drawn out 9 minute opus butt rock to modern rock guitar hero.

He should be lauded for his open mindedness and ability to change.

Personal and most importantly, musical evolution in every sense...

[younggunner]

Scott's credentials and obvious talent seemed to have brought out untapped musicality in Slash he might have never realized in his past projects and partners

lets not get too crazy here.

[dave-gnfnr2k]

slash used to bash stp and scott calling them wannabees, now scott is slashs lead singer, go figure  

It shows Slash'a growth as a musician and a person.  He's realized Scott was the creative foil that would mesh with the modern direction Matt had discussed throughout the process
of picking a volcalist.

Scott's credentials and obvious talent seemed to have brought out untapped musicality in Slash he might have never realized in his past projects and partners.

From drawn out 9 minute opus butt rock to modern rock guitar hero.

He should be lauded for his open mindedness and ability to change.

Personal and most importantly, musical evolution in every sense...

That is funny, he would not change or be open minded to axls direction (like with oh my god, cd and madagascar) yet he would with scott?

Slash is not open minded at all, he just picked scott because he thought that was his best chance for selling albums bc scott was so popular in stp.

If slash really wanted to make his music, which is why he claims he left axl, he would have picked Bach for the singer but he knows if they picked him the album would not  have sold anything.

[Falcon]

slash used to bash stp and scott calling them wannabees, now scott is slashs lead singer, go figure  

It shows Slash'a growth as a musician and a person.  He's realized Scott was the creative foil that would mesh with the modern direction Matt had discussed throughout the process
of picking a volcalist.

Scott's credentials and obvious talent seemed to have brought out untapped musicality in Slash he might have never realized in his past projects and partners.

From drawn out 9 minute opus butt rock to modern rock guitar hero.

He should be lauded for his open mindedness and ability to change.

Personal and most importantly, musical evolution in every sense...

That is funny, he would not change or be open minded to axls direction (like with oh my god, cd and madagascar) yet he would with scott?

Slash is not open minded at all, he just picked scott because he thought that was his best chance for selling albums bc scott was so popular in stp.

If slash really wanted to make his music, which is why he claims he left axl, he would have picked Bach for the singer but he knows if they picked him the album would not  have sold anything.

Slash left Axl 8 years ago so that is absolutely irrelevent.  I'll play anyway though...

And just a thought here, but maybe Slash didn't agree with Axl's musical direction and deemed it a step backwards?  Maybe Axl was no longer the creative inspiration to will Slash in a new direction?

It's 2004 now, and apparently Slash has found someone who can
bring new things musically from him.  And if you haven't listened to the material, you can still tell it's Slash, just Slash with a modern feel..

[the dirt]

If slash really wanted to make his music, which is why he claims he left axl, he would have picked Bach for the singer but he knows if they picked him the album would not  have sold anything.

People never fail to mention this .

Wheather his voice sounds too 80's for some (whatever that really means... but for me, hearing something like "she blinded me with science" is REAL 80's style) he is a great vocalist and can wail with the best of 'em.

And are you forgetting how many albums Skid Row sold?

I don't mind scott at all, and am happy with it. But if it were Bach, the results would not be as bad as some of you think they would have been