So last night I skipped the Brides Of Destruction concert. Even with all of my advance hoopla, I couldn't bring myself to go. It was a late show too, so I could have gone after work. I just didn't think it would be very good and I didn't have the energy to go watch Nikki Sixx pretending that he is doing something fresh. Plus, I have seen the next big thing and it's not the Brides Of Destruction.
I would like to put on a hat and then tip my hat to LCG, because he is the one who realized that when it came to new bands with old members, there would be no contest. He said that Velvet Revolver would be far bigger than the Brides Of Destruction and there is no way he can be wrong. I saw Velvet Revolver on Saturday night and they were excellent. They rocked, and then they kicked ass, and then they rocked some more.
I will admit, I had high expectations. I like both Guns N' Roses and Stone Temple Pilots, I think each group wrote some good rock songs. I expected that they would combine their talents and come up with some really good rock songs, and they didn't let me down.
My first exposure to Velvet Revolver came last year, when I worked at the worst job in the world. One day EQ asked me if I had heard the Velvet Revolver song from that one soundtrack. I had not, so she hollered for me the next time that it came on the radio. I raced over to her desk and listened. I only heard it the one time and I don't remember anything about it except I thought it was good.
Flash forward to this year, when Scott Weiland got permission to go on tour. First stop, the American Midwest! Woo-hoo! I think the show I saw was the second date. I only had a few weeks to get all excited, but I didn't. Back when I still had cable, I saw the Velvet Revolver video and I didn't care for it. Weiland looked way too skinny. He's never been a burly man, but his hipbones almost put my eyes out through the television. Plus the video was too busy and I didn't pay much attention to the song. It seemed good, but it didn't fuel the excitement of going to Velvet Revolver.
The night before the event I was surly because LCG's cat had to have an emergency trip to the vet and was being kept overnight and I was all who cares about Velvet Revolver when Barking Kitty is ailing?
LCG: Oh, tomorrow you will be so excited.
Me: Hmph.
LCG: They do both Mr. Brownstone and Sex Type Thing.
Me: I suppose they have to. Wait. Mr. Brownstone? Should Weiland be singing a song about heroin?
LCG: Of course he should. Hey, did you hear that in the past couple of weeks Scott Weiland has been at war with entertainment writers?
Me: Really? HEY! Technically I'm an entertainment writer!
LCG: Yes! (clapping his hands to emphasize key words) You! Should start! A war! With! Scott! Weiland!
Me: I don't want to start a war with Scott Weiland. I like him. But, you know, he's not off limits or anything.
LCG: See? You're going to have such a good time.
The next morning I got up bonus early and picked up LCG and then we went to pick up that handsome Barking Kitty, who was feeling much better. Then I was feeling better too! I dropped LCG off at the show and went home to have a nap.
Woo! A nap and a shower and a block of The Who on the classic rock station on the way to the show and I was ready! Woo! Rock and roooooolllll!
Or something like that.
I promise I was not hooting as I drove to the venue. I was singing Behind Blue Eyes.
I arrived, found LCG, and then went off to look for CEB. I managed to find him, but the return trip to LCG's spot was a bitch. Memo to other show attendees: if I stop moving forward, it is because the person in front of me has stopped. Do not elbow me in the back. I am short enough that you can good and well see that traffic has stopped. I hate you all. Okay, I hate whoever elbowed me. Settle down.
So I got a drink and went to the back of the club with LCG. Since I am short, I have two choices at venues. I can be within three feet of the stage or in the very back. Those are the only places I can see. There are a few other sweet spots I have staked out in the past, but that place was packed. Packed with folks much taller than I. So I went with the back of the room.
LCG: Can you see?
Me: I can see.
LCG: There's a tall chair over there, should I grab it?
Me: If I sit on those my sight line actually drops a couple of inches.
LCG: (looking dejected) Oh.
Me: Thank you though. I really can see!
LCG: Okay.
(two minutes elapse)
LCG: Can you see?
Me: YES!
LCG: Are you sure?
A minute later he ran off and when he came back he was looking all pleased.
LCG: Do you want to watch the show from the sound booth?
Me: What? Are you kidding?
LCG: Do you?
Me: Seriously?
LCG: Yeah, but you have to stay in the back.
Me: That's fine.
I tell you what, that is more than fine. If they are going to let me sit in the sound booth I am going to follow their rules. Just because LCG knows the guy in the booth does not mean that he had to do a favor for LCG. Since I was the beneficiary of the favor to LCG you can bet I was going to be on my best behavior.
LCG grabbed me by the hand and dragged me through the packed crowd to the sound booth. The entrance has a little rope as a gate. LCG unhooked it and ushered me up the ramp to the booth. Even if Marc Beneke himself had let me past the rope I could not have been more giddy. LCG went off to find his own spot and I sat down in the back of the booth on Velvet Revolver's equipment trunk, deeply impressed by both my unobstructed view and the never-ending kindness of LCG.
But my cocktail was almost empty. That was just poor planning on my part. Not two minutes later I thought I heard my name being called. I already had in my earplugs but just in case I looked back down to the entrance. There was LCG, with a fresh cocktail for me. Un-be-liev-able. I decided to ignore the notebook in my pocket because a chance like this doesn't happen very often.
Two songs into the set I changed my mind and whipped out the notebook. Since the majority of the songs would be unfamiliar I figured I would need some sort of memory jog. Plus, you know, cocktails. According to my notes, the first two songs rocked. That's all I've got.
When the band came out they started up at full throttle and when Weiland appeared he was just darling in his Rob Halford-ish outfit. Big military type hat, mirrored sunglasses, a vest, and a scarf that clashed with his t-shirt. Both shirt and scarf looked like they had writing on them and it was a real wrapped-in-newspaper kind of look. But that's okay, I've always liked him because I thought he wanted to be David Bowie, if he wants to be Rob Halford that's okay too. He was able to pull off the fashion mishmash.
After the second song Scott Weiland started talking! And he complained about the press! And I was delighted that everything was going so well because I wasn't going to have to start a war with Weiland! They didn't suck! At all! Back to the notebook, where it states that the third song rocked as well. I really didn't leave myself much to work with here.
Next, Weiland did the band introductions! "That guy over there, his name is Slash. And that guy over there, his name is Duff. That guy back there is Matt. And over there, the most famous of them all, that's Dave." In the Billboard article I read about Velvet Revolver, they mentioned Dave had been in Suicidal Tendencies. Upon further research I found it was only for one album, but at least it gave me a point of reference. All members of the band got a large cheer, even Dave, although his was not quite as loud as the others were. It was still a much better effort from the audience than I expected.
Then Weiland said they were going to do a Burt Bacharach song and I was so hopeful, but they actually played their hit single. Everyone knew it but me. And I was sad that it wasn't a Burt Bacharach song. Give me a break, they only have one as-yet-unreleased album. They have to pad out the set somehow! The next song, it rocked. I know, my notes are bad, but I was in the pitch black with a black pen drinking screwdrivers hoping I didn't spill on the Velvet Revolver trunks. I did my best. Somewhere along the line Weiland removed all clothing above his waist (including hat and glasses) and had started doing the Scott Weiland Slither.
He vanished briefly after the song and reappeared wearing the hat and then asked us if we liked rock and roll music. Not rock music, rock and roll music, and he added that there is a difference. I loved that. It was the crowd banter equivalent of giving me a plate of nachos and a neck rub. Then they launched into a blistering rendition of It's So Easy. I was surprised because I thought Mr. Brownstone was the only GNR track on the set list. Those two songs must be Slash's favorites because they were the two GNR songs that Slash's Snakepit played as well.
Oh, no. The next song is special to them. That can only mean a slow song. It was actually mid-tempo and therefore not slow enough to qualify as taking it down a notch. There were big drum fills and Weiland was slithering some more. Then he slithered through another song I didn't know. Then came an intro that got a huge pop from the crowd. It sounded good, and everyone seemed to know it but me. I thought, oh, those crazy kids with their Internet and their downloads. I figured it was some Velvet Revolver song that had been available somewhere. When I read the review of the concert in my local paper it mentioned that it was a Stone Temple Pilots song. Oh.
Here we are at the tenth song, and my notes look like a drunk scrawled them. In unrelated news, LCG had sent a text message to let me know when to bring me another drink and since the encore seemed to be arriving I sent him the okay. I figured the encore was coming up because Matt Sorum was standing up front chucking sticks into the crowd.
LCG dropped off another screwdriver and the guy next to me (another person with special permission, methinks) said, "You've got someone bringing you drinks?" "Yeah." "That's pretty slick." Then out came Velvet Revolver and they started playing Used To Love Her. No one expected Used To Love Her and we all went mental. I think the next cut was another Velvet Revolver tune, and then came Sex Type Thing.
The lights went down again, and I thought that maybe the double encore move was a little unnecessary for such a short set, but hey, they are big stars. When they came back out and started Mr. Brownstone, everyone flipped because Slash had on his top hat. And he was smoking. He whipped out classic Slash thereby whipping the crowd into a giddy state. The last song, everyone knew it but me. After the show the guy next to me said, "I can't believe they played fucking Nirvana!"
Me: What?
Guy: That last song was Nirvana!
Me: Oh. Well, how about that.
I reunited with LCG and asked him if that was a Nirvana song because I wouldn't know a Nirvana album track if it came up and introduced itself. He told me that it was indeed a Nirvana song called Negative Creep. While we were standing around I was given an unused VIP sticker which we immediately deemed useless ("there's no way they are still here") and I put in my pocket as a neato souvenir. Within thirty minutes LCG went and found out something from someone and came barreling back over to me.
LCG: Do you still have that pass?
Me: It's in my pocket!
LCG: They're signing stuff upstairs! Go now!
Me: I don't have anything I need signed.
LCG: That's okay, just go.
Me: Um, I don't really have anything to say to Velvet Revolver.
LCG: Go. Now.
Me: But...
LCG: Hurry up!
So I hurried upstairs and arrived in the meet and greet area. I looked around and everyone was there but Scott Weiland. Rats. Slash and Dave were taking pictures, Matt Sorum had a crowd around him, and Duff was leaning against a table. Matt Sorum has family in town and pops up at shows every so often, so I assumed that for him the meet and greet was a good chance to gossip with relatives.
I don't really know Dave's work all that well and I've met Slash before, so that left Duff. He was the biggest celebrity in the room that I hadn't met, and he was also the least occupied. So I went over and decided to apply my strictest pop star rules. That means don't go all sloppy giddy and don't start gushing about how much such-and-such a record meant to me, none of that Tiger Beat stuff. Be pleasant and leave, the man just got done working.
So I told him that they played a great show and thanked him. He smiled and shook my hand and thanked me for coming out. I thought for a second and added, "You know, I had high expectations for this show and you surpassed them." He thanked me again (very politely, go Duff!) and I went back downstairs.
Me: I met Duff McKagan, are you happy?
LCG: Yes.
Me: Good. I need to get a shirt.
We eventually left and when we were sitting in the car I realized that now I could go all Tiger Beat.
LCG: So, you met Duff.
Me: Remember the time Bart wanted to know why they made that one Muppet out of leather? But it wasn't a Muppet, it was Troy McClure.
LCG: Yeah.
Me: Why'd they make that one member of Velvet Revolver out of leather? Man, when Duff smiled he didn't have crow's feet, he had crow's canyons.
LCG: Hee!
Me: I didn't really expect that. It never occurred to me that Duff got older. Right now I'm remembering being a kid in the pool for eighth grade gym class and part of me thinks I should be screaming I MET DUFF MCKAGAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LCG: I like it. You should go with that.
And you know, I believe I will. I saw a really good concert, against my better judgement I got a pink Velvet Revolver shirt, and best of all, I MET DUFF MCKAGAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!