Guns' hits stir Velvet Revolver's audienceExtended show covers 3 decades of rock
By NATHAN WALLIN
Special to the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Jan. 26, 2008
Velvet Revolver, the guns-and-grunge hybrid formed by core members of Guns N' Roses and the lead singer of the Stone Temple Pilots, gave hope when it formed that such a talented lineup would restore rock to its rightful place atop the American music scene.
The band - composed of Guns N' Roses' Slash on lead guitar, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum, along with Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland and well-traveled guitarist Dave Kushner - has fulfilled that hope, sort of.
Velvet Revolver's show on Friday at the Rave ran almost three hours and covered three decades of rock music.
Curiously though, save for one original Velvet Revolver number - the night's finale, "Slither" - one got the impression that the crowd patiently and politely listened through, not to, VR's own songs.
It was as if the audience was hoping to be treated to a better, earlier brand of rock.
While a few of Velvet Revolver's singles - "Fall to Pieces," "She's Mine" and "Let it Roll" - spurred the crowd into a mild clamor, it was the Guns N' Roses tracks "Patience" and "Mr. Brownstone" and the Pilots' "Vaseline" that won the obligatory cigarette-lighters salute. The cover of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" might have drawn the greatest response, with Weiland leading the crowd through the refrain.
The show began energetically with three of Velvet Revolver's stronger tracks.
After the opening, Weiland nearly lost the entire audience during the usual meet-and-greet interlude when he stuck his foot in his mouth and addressed the crowd "Chi . . . CA . . . go . . . " He was met with a barrage of boos.
Realizing his interstate slip, he offered an apology by way of explaining that he woke up in Chicago earlier in the day and was slightly out of sorts. Ultimately, the insult was forgiven and forgotten, and the show went on.
Weiland later made a point to belt out "Milwaukee, let's go!" to remind everyone he (now) knew where he was.
A confident showman in command of the crowd, Weiland sported a full beard and sunglasses and wore a blaze orange vest with a fur-lined hood, giving the impression that he had checked the area weather forecast, if not the area weather map. As the show progressed, he coaxed the audience into singing with him, climbed atop a speaker and gradually shed layers of clothing until he rendered himself shirtless.
Slash still holds stature as one of the top guitarists in rock.
With his signature black top hat resting on his long black curls, he treated the crowd to two guitar solos (one played almost entirely behind his head) and a handful of well-aged favorites from early days.
For a musician who once prowled the stage from end to end while playing football stadiums in the 1990s, he seemed a bit caged in by the smaller confines of the stage at the Rave.
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