Velvet Revolver & Alice in Chains Entertainment Art First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre Chicago, Ill. August 28, 2007

Velvet Revolver is just one of those bands that have that perfect mixture. There’s not many front man out there as cool or as much fucking fun as Scott Weiland. He’s one of those guys you know has been to hell and back, survived the inner demons and you love him for it all. Then you add the genius top hat guitar playing fare of Slash and well, it’s magic.

Of course Weiland was just as cool fronting STP but there was one important element missing, an equally cool guitarist. Don’t get me wrong, Dean DeLeo is great and a talented guitarist but who wants to be him? Anyone?

Now GnR on the other hand had it all, they were sex, drugs and rock-n-roll living it to the fullest. They would still probably be all of that except of course for the fact that Axl is apparently just an asshole these days.

So with all that in mind, Velvet Revolver pounced on Tinley Park bringing along the grunge gods Alice in Chains with them as well. The night was surprisingly not sold out, maybe because it was a Tuesday or maybe because they decided to announced another show coming up at Star Plaza in October. Regardless, it was a beautiful night to see a rock-n-roll show outside and slowly say goodbye to the summer.

The show opened like it should, Slash in the spot light doing what he does best - shredding the opening riffs of a new track, “Let it Roll.” Not being familiar with the new tracks I must admit it was a solid opening and a teaser for a great set. Tonight, as has been the case for the tour, the setlist consisted of a nice balance of songs from VR’s two albums as well as tracks from the STP and GN’R catalog as well.

Ex-Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner got his chance to show his chops during STP’s “Vasoline” and proved he is qualified to stand on stage with the GN’R alumni. During the new track “Last Fight,” the band did their up close and personal sit down not completely acoustic set. Other tracks included the beautifully STP rocker “Interstate Love Song” and a spot on of GN’R “Patience.” Weiland and the boys handled their parts perfect as true rock veterans with Matt Sorum sporting a “In Funk We Trust” trucker hat to top it all off.

Of course the night had plenty of solid Slash moments on tracks like GN’R’s “It’s So Easy” and “Set Me Free” that led to no one questioning his guitar god dominance.

The night ended with an encore to end all encores with Matt Sorum pounding the skins to the GN’R’s classic “Mr. Brownstone” driving the crowd to hysterics. Following up with the STP’s Sex Type Thing” and closing with arguably the best VR track off of their first album or current album, “Slither.”

After a brief set by Chicago’s own Kill Hannah that included a nice surprise appearance by VR’s own Matt Sorum, Alice in Chain came out to prove they were equally a powerful live band opening up with the catchy “Again.”

The new Alice in Chains proved themselves tonight playing a solid set and showed that an audience could easily accept Comes With The Fall’s singer as front man. William DuVall has easily stepped in and taken over vocal duty once handled by the now deceased Layne Staley in an almost too perfect eerily way. To the point wondering if this is him or just forced emulation to fit the role!?! Regardless, the audience loved it and songs like “Man in the Box” and “Would” were solid but brought back equally strong memories of sadness of a life worthy of saving and not wasted away and destroyed by cliche.

Let’s hope if Alice in Chains continues as a band they go back into the studio to produce new material. Their live show proves they still have the talent but they haven’t had a new album of new material since the self-titled album in 1995. They’ve won me over live so let’s stop waxing nostalgia and see if you are still truly a band or are they just another bunch of guys tripping down memory lane.

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