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Story and Photos by Phil Bonyata
Velvet Revolver was born from the ashes of Stone Temple Pilots (lead singer Scott
Weiland) and Guns N' Roses (lead guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt
Sorum. Apparently taking a page from the former success of Audioslave - which
consisted of former lead singer Chris Cornell and Rage Against the Machine members,
minus lead singer Zack de la Rocha. The mixing of of two former supergroups into a new one
seems to be a wise financial choice, but does the music compare to their former
glories? As with Audioslave (all the Rage members quit to reunite with de la
Rocha and reform the mighty titans - Rage Against the Machine) are these modern
amalgamations pre-programmed to burn-out rather quickly or can they keep the
match away from the fuse?
Usually, in a case like this the fans seem to be more interested in the music from
the members old day jobs than what they are currently spinning. STP's "Vaseline" was
greeted with a commanding applause as was GNR's "Mr. Brownstone" and "Patience."
Scott Weiland still has the charm and dangerous beauty of a menacing serpent.
Strutting so effortlessly between Slash's blistering, burned-out chords and
McKagan's jagged basslines, Weiland looked quite stylish in tight-fitting black
leather jacket and jeans, printed scarf, orange vest and a robust beard and
sunglasses. The orange vest was probably inspired by Wisconsin's love of hunting then again he did the "great road mistake" of addressing the crowd as "Chicago" to the loud dismay of the locals in attendance.
One of the foundations of GNR's music was the disorder and chaos that
was so effortlessly blended
in every song. On stage Slash and company were still able to keep things fresh and
deliciously loose on Revolver numbers "Let It Roll" and "Fall to Pieces." The
band's collective rock n' roll pedigree was evident on "She's Mine" - with a
muscled up chord structure and feverish beats by Sorum and McKagan that drove
Weiland into an other worldly stage persona.
The band played a rousing retake on Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" giving the
classic song a much needed shot of ragged edginess. Closing the nearly two hour
set with "Slither" from their 2004 debut album Contraband, the boys
convincingly proved that this rock n' roll union surely has a voice that's all it's
own.
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