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Velvet Revolver Concert Review
Paradise City blared from the speakers at the entrance to the venue, serving to let fans know that they were in for an opportunity to see some true rock legends in action. This particular event was invitation only courtesy of the Miller Brewing Company and MGD, so I was pretty thankful to be there. Tickets were selling for $175 - $250 on eBay, not too shabby for an Emerald Theater gig. The venue was completely packed with plenty of partying fans ready to see the hottest ticket in the industry.
Plenty of celebrities turned out for the event including Kirk Gibson of the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers, Darren McCarty and Chris Chelios of the Detroit Red Wings and of course hometown hero Kid Rock. It took about twenty minutes for me to wrestle my way through the crowd and find a good vantage point to view the show in the aisle along the right side of the second tier.
While waiting for the group to take the stage, fans literally screamed along to the music on the public address system, during Pantera’s “Walk”, you would have thought that the boys from Texas were playing, the energetic crowd was so loud! Velvet Revolver stalled a bit in taking the stage, obviously knowing the tension was building in this full house of rabid fans. WRIF personality Doug Podell came out for a brief chat, thanking all that had participated in making the event happen and informing the crowd that the band would be out shortly to perform.
Fifteen minutes later, the crowd roared upon hearing the words ‘From Hollywood…Velvet Revolver’ The band hit the stage hard with the opener “Sucker Train Blues”, pulling off a snarling version of this opener from their debut album “Contraband”. In a very getup very similar to another quite famous vocalist who remains unmentionable, vocalist Scott Weiland prowled the stage, dancing and gyrating with the audience easily in the palm of his hand.
The band kicked into the mid-paced rocker “Do It For The Kids”, with the crowd singing along loudly as bassist Duff McKegan leapt from the drum riser and provided some cool backing vocals. Next up was a kicking version of ‘Headspace’ that had the crowd moving as Slash pulled off some ripping solos throughout the song. His playing just gets better and better and tonight he proved why he truly is the undisputed king of rock guitar. Nobody in the business can look as cool and laid back as this man while shredding the fretboard.
VR tore through “Crackerman”, the STP classic, to the delight of the fans. With plenty of fists in the air, the whole place was rocking hard and singing along with Weiland, who spun his megaphone around the stage in circles while his bandmates provided a wall of sound, blasting out the tune’s rhythm effortlessly. Next the group showed their lighter side with an excellent version of their current single, “Fall To Pieces”. The audience sang along as if the album had been out forever.
When VR busted into a dead on version of the classic GN’R track “It’s So Easy”, the crowd absolutely went nuts! The band performed the song with a ton of energy and obviously, fans were extremely happy to hear the band hit the nail on the head with this track. The group tore through “Dirty Little Thing” like a bullet train, then stomped into a rousing version of “Headspace” that hit the entire venue on their feet.
As an encore, Scott came out in his German police hat, wearing mirrored aviators and calmly sat down at the front of the stage, looking exactly like you-know-who. From stage left came Slash, displaying the infamous top hat proudly atop his curly do while clutching his acoustic guitar. The duo set into a riotous version of ‘Used To Love Her” that had the entire crowd screaming every word. This was an unexpected encore and the fans really showed their appreciation.
Without a doubt, Velvet Revolver puts on one of the best performances in hard music today, this band is so full of energy and has such a grand history that it would be a crime to miss this event when it hits your city. For those that think that these guys can’t rock a house down to the ground, give their show a shot! Wailing guitars, classic tunes and perhaps the most entertaining frontman in rock music today…what more can you ask for for your entertainment dollar? Pure and simple, VR will rock your ass off!
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