Rockford Metro Centre Review

My worries about a small crowd proved to be true when the place seemed, at best, 1/2 full when VR took the stage. But, refreshingly, it made no difference whatsoever to the band.
Weiland certainly impressed me as a classic rock frontman, something I had my doubts about beforehand. The man owns the stage & I think, attracts the most attention from the audience. He even gave a true rock n' roll moment when, at the end of SMF, it became obvious there was some dumb shit happening in the front rows. Weiland was staring down some guy & trying to get security to get him during the long jam to end SMF, when security didn't get it done, Weiland jumped offstage, into the crowd, and right before it got real ugly, security tossed him back onstage, the band finished up & they all left the stage to end the set. I don't think any punches were thrown, but it was definitely tense for a few moments there.
Slash was great as always, although he could lose the voice box solo during Illegal I (i think), came across jumbled & didn't seem to fit. I would rather he just get true electric solo leading into another song. That would be cool. But, amazingly, Slash was running around, jumping on monitors, playing behind his head, he busted out the double-neck & used both guitars on YGNR, very nice! He had a great intro to Brownstone as well.
Towards the end, Cheap Trick's guitarist & drummer came out for a rousing cover of "Surrender". This made the place kinda' go off because CT is Rockfords pride & joy i guess & everyone was standing, smiling, dancing. EVERYONE. I would also say Slither was excellent as it closed the show. They really seemed to have the stage lights fit the intro perfectly & Slash totally nailed the solo to send everyone home happy.
I think they've ditched UTLH for Pink Floyd's WYWH. A wise move i think, because when i saw them a year ago, UTLH came off as almost hokey & seemed to not fit at all with what they're playing now. Once again, "sex type thing" i believe got the biggest reaction of all the covers to show maybe there are some STP lovers out there as well. Weiland makes this his own with a talked intro & a foray (this time planned!) into the crowd.
So yeah, it was a night well spent & i'm more anxious than ever for that 2nd album. These guys are really doing it!