LuminoMagazine.com - Velvet Revolver goes balls out

Velvet Revolver goes balls out

Written by and photos by JULIE MOSSLER

Friday, 29 April 2005

Rock concert buffs, take notice; if you're as jaded by the current music scene as I am, you owe your inner badass tickets to Velvet Revolver, easily one of the best live acts touring right now. Their April 29 show at the MetroCentre in Rockford delivered a chaotic, bat-out-of-hell experience that the crowd couldn't get enough of.

"Suckertrain Blues" kicked off the show, creating an energy that carried throughout the rest of the set. I came into the VR concert a skeptic; I want to go to a show and rock out, and I wasn't convinced that songs from the band's debut album, "Contraband," could do it. Guess what? Velvet Revolver is that elusive band that sounds better in person.

Velvet Revolver

Entertainment

Art

MetroCentre
Rockford, Ill.
April 29, 2005

I barely recognized 'Dirty Little Thing' or radio favorite "Fall to Pieces" ? and maybe that's the secret to understanding what VR really is. Critics are quick to peg the band as a gimmicky, Las Vegas reunion tour kind of thing (that's Slash, Duff McMahan, and Matt Sorum from Guns N' Roses, Dave Kushner of Jane's Addiction, and frontman Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots) but the five musicians play like they've been together for years. Pretty astonishing, considering "Contraband" came out last June.

Without doubt, the best part of the show was during the second encore, when Rick Neilson and Bun E. Carlos of Rockford-based Cheap Trick joined VR onstage for a cover of their song, "Surrender." Fans roared in disbelief of the line of prolific musicians onstage, which helped overshadow a brawl from 30 minutes before, when Weiland jumped into the crowd to fight an obnoxious drunk and $200+ VIP ticket holders were hit with heavy doses of pepper spray so strong that they were forced to leave their seats.

If nothing else, Velvet Revolver tickets guarantee the most rock you can possibly get for $44.50. Sound quality? Excellent for a larger venue. Cover songs? In addition to the ones above, VR put their own spin on the Pink Floyd classic 'Wish You Were Here.' Atmosphere? From snakes slithering to the music on video screens to a huge "Rock N Fuckin' Roll" sign hanging onstage, you can rock out without looking like an idiot.

It's worth going just to see Weiland himself, a man who has lived enough for eight lifetimes, appearing larger than life by singing into a megaphone while dancing shirtless with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. At one point he waded through a sea of fans in the bleachers, singing 'Sex Type Thing' and commenting that the band are all about "equal opportunity participation." No worries, Scott?I woke up the next day with a raspy throat, checking for a new tattoo.

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