Andrew Perry reviews Velvet Revolver at the Carling Apollo, Hammersmith
One might have expected a band formed by ex-members of Guns N' Roses to still be in bed at this early stage in the year. Velvet Revolver, though, mean business.
Despite being staffed by such legendary and dissolute figures as guitar hero Slash, GN'R rhythm section Duff McKagan (bass) and Matt Sorum (drums), plus singer Scott Weiland from multi-platinum grungers Stone Temple Pilots, they are the hottest "new" act in America.
Last year's album, Contraband, became the fastest-selling debut ever in the US, and, with limeys such as Franz Ferdinand and the Cure taking off there, American rock desperately needs messiahs right now.
After just a couple of dates here late last year, Velvet Revolver were back in Britain for a tour in front of 80,000 fans ? this without radio airplay, or anyone outside heavy metal circles knowing much about them.
The hype reached critical mass when, introducing their opening performance, a WWF wrestling-style announcer proclaimed them "the feelgood band of 2005".
They roared off with Contraband's opening track, Sucker Train Blues, leaping and posing with astonishing vigour on podiums wedged between their monitors. Strobe lights singed your synapses. Your ears took a similar pummelling.
The sense of grand scale was multiplied by the presence of screens on either side of the stage, relaying images scarcely bigger than those you could see unaided. It was as if, in their own minds, Velvet Revolver were already playing stadiums.
This is most assuredly the band's destiny. The songs they initially played, all from Contraband, perfectly updated GN'R's punchier side for the post-grunge age.
In fact, those hoping to see Slash fret-fiddling for minutes on end might have found it all a bit too grungy, more Weiland's show than Slash's. Leather-clad, burgundy-haired and often brandishing a loudhailer, Weiland was a revelation, a whirling, magnetising vortex of dark energy. You'd take him over GN'R frontman Axl Rose any time.
Then, for the grade-A power ballad Fall to Pieces, Slash, his corkscrew curls bouncier than ever, his shirt age-defyingly unbuttoned, soloed with exquisite lyricism. There was a sprinkling of Guns N' Roses classics ? It's So Easy, Used to Love Her, Mr Brownstone ? and a fierce cover of Aerosmith's No More No More.
At the breathtakingly exciting climax, Slash even donned his old top hat ? a crowning moment. By summer, they'll be needing those screens.
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