Velvet Revolver To Make Things 'Tight And Sweaty' In May It might not have seemed possible just a few months ago, but Velvet Revolver ? whose lead singer was almost lost to them ? are going to hit the road.
The band has just one full show under its belt. Velvet Revolver have had hardly any other occasion to play with singer Scott Weiland because since their show last June he's been in and out of court and rehab, with his last stint threatening to keep him in lockdown until July. That order was modified last month, sending Weiland to a different level of live-in rehab and after-care where he would have more freedom to come and go.
Though Velvet Revolver were able to finish their forthcoming debut, Contraband, despite Weiland's limited availability, getting the tour lined up is what made the band feel like it was finally getting in gear.
"We were talking today to Scott, like, 'Can you imagine we'd get to this point?' " guitarist Slash said. "It's been rough, step A to step B, but it's a blast. We still have a record release coming and a whole tour to go, and that's as much as you can ask for. Getting started is the best part."
"When you start a band, you feel like five young punks," bassist Duff McKagan said. "After what we've been through and everything, we feel like five young punks again."
The tour is going to concentrate on club and theater shows, Slash said, so that they can get "toe-to-toe" with the crowd. "You should always be tight and sweaty," he said.
After the club tour, Velvet Revolver plan to travel to Europe for the festival season. Once there, they hope to fit in a few club gigs as well, just to have it both ways.
"It's great to play as a headliner," Slash said, "but just to break it up, playing festivals with other bands is more exciting than trying to go out on your own."
"That's what keeps a band real," McKagan said, "when you can hear the roar between songs. Hopefully, there's a roar ... or a few claps."
Still, as exciting as announcing the tour is to them, it doesn't quite take the place of actually being on tour, which is what they say is needed to convince them that this isn't just a pipe dream.
"When I see the bus pull up," Slash said, "then I'll know it's real."
Meanwhile, the band's video for "Slither," which was released to radio this week, premieres April 27 at 9 p.m. ET on MTV2's "Velvet Revolver Makes a Video Premiere".
Velvet Revolver tour dates, according to RCA Records:
5/13 - St. Louis, MO @ Pageant
5/14 - Kansas City, MO @ Memorial Hall
5/15 - Minneapolis, MN @ Quest
5/19 - Chicago, IL @ The Riviera
5/20 - Detroit, MI @ TBA
5/21 - Toronto, ON @ Kool Haus
5/26 - New York, NY @ Roseland
5/27 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
5/28 - Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
5/29 - Boston, MA @ TBA
6/4 - Portland, OR @ Roseland
6/5 - Seattle, WA @ Moore Theater
6/7 - San Francisco, CA @ Warfield
6/8 - Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern Theatre
6/9 - Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern Theatre
?Jennifer Vineyard
Source(s):
http://www.mtv.com /jarmo