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Velvet Revolver @ Quest Club - Minneapolis

Written by Tom Baribeau

As the clock got closer to 9:00 pm the anticipation in the, packed to the rafters, club seemed to be turning to an uneasy concern. These people had been awaiting this moment, anxiously for a very long time. One mishap after another had been plaguing this band and delaying this much anticipated show for what seemed to be an eternity. If you give people to much time to think and dissapoint them time and time again their feelings will begin to change. So here it is, the time has finally come, and these people who had been ecstatic over the announcement that front man extraordinaire, Scott Weilland, was hooking up with the majority of their one time demi-gods, Guns and Roses to form the pseudo super group that would become Velvet Revolver. And these onetime euphoric fans had been disappointed for one reason or another for well over a year and they had become a bit leary that they would be disappointed again. At 9:10 the lights go off, the crowd erupts and is going berserk, the time is finally here, wait, the lights come back up? A collective groan vibrates through the hall. 9:20, lights go off, ok here we go, again the crowd blows up all the waiting is about to be over. Four minutes of dark, lights go back up. The groan now is more of a growl, they are not happy at this point. 9:32 Dark, finally the payoff for their loyalty is here the eruption this time is noticeably less feverish.

Four minutes, lights up once again! This time, however no groan of a tricky false start, no growl of pissed off „cmon already‰ this reaction was clearly oh my god something has happened with these troubled rockers and the show is going to be cancelled. The buzz is immediate and spreading like a wild fire. Is Scott alright? Are Duff and Slash to shitfaced to play? What is happening? Not Again! The club and the road crew were no help to these people with not a single word of what was going on uttered. One false start, fine, but three with over ten minutes in between each one something has got to be wrong.

The apprehension that had quickly overcome these people disappeared just as quickly, at 9:47 lights go down and within 10 seconds the unmistakable sound of Slashs purposely out of tune gibson rips through the room and Weilland comes jetting out from behind the drum kit, wearing what looked to be a cross between a 50s era police hat and a marine cap, with the opening lyric of Suckertrain Blues and while the screaming was so loud you couldn‚t hear yourself think you could actually FEEL a sigh of relief come over these loyal fans.

The apprehension of will they still play like we expect after all this time off was completely gone before the first chorus was over. The band , which were always a bit loose do what feels right kind of unit, were so tight it was unbelievable. Scott was also at the very best I have ever heard him he looked healthy and that incredible voice was completely restored to its original form.

The band ripped through the first five songs,that were all Velvet Revolver songs, seamlessly like they had been playing them for 10 years. The sound was clean and crisp but yet if you closed your eyes there would be no question as to who you were hearing. The „gunners‰ had evolved from a bit sloppy and fantastic to an extremely tight band without losing any of the grit and power.

After they blasted through the first five songs without giving anyone, including themselves, a second to catch their breath they stopped for a much needed break. Scott strutted to the front as the rest of the band tucked back by Sorums drum kit I‚m assuming to rehydrate after the blistering first first twenty minutes non stop. Scott did obligatory „its great to be in Minneapolis bit‰ but in true Weilland form he added his cocky swagger to his love fest making jokes about himself and his „issues‰ He was genuinely very happy to be doing what he loved again after so long not being able to. At that moment every single one of the thousand fans that had been pissed off because they had to wait for this tour for so long instantly forgave everything because just watching him and hearing his words it was obvious it was 100% more difficult for him not being allowed to do what he loves than for us to just go to a rock show.

After the much needed five minute cool down slash slowly appeared from the back, as his shadow started to come into the light his Les Paul started screaming the intro to Its So Easy, The crowd absolutely exploded. This was the first non revolver song , and arguably one of GnRs best, a majority of the audience were unfamiliar with the revolver songs and were expecting a GnR STP greatest hits show could finally belt out the words with Scott, and they made the most of it it seemed every single person knew every word and sang it completely beginning to end with Scott. And this was also the first point of the show where all the die hard rockers could look at their friends and say what they had been waiting almost two years to say, Axl Who?? Scott took that song and made it his belting it out like the now facially reconstructed dreadlock wearing one time rock god could have never even came close to doing.

I along with the majority of the people here knew Scott was a much better vocalist than Axl but this was one of a few songs of GnR that I wasn‚t quite sure if it would work without Axls snarl. I stand corrected!! The guys went right into Fall to pieces before we got to see the other side of the coin, how would the gunners do with a STP tune. Well again from the start of Big Machine until the end the band played with a rejuvenated spirit and drive that I haven‚t seen from them since their hungry Appetite days and pulled it off without a hitch. Then came set me free, perhaps the low part of the show but considering how good it had been even the low point was still pretty damn good. Then another brief catch our breath moment as our tour guide Weilland threw a few more little stories at us, and then came the surprise of the night, they pulled out Used to Love Her, I for one would never had guessed that song to be on this play list for one that was pretty much Axl‚s scribblings to vent frustration and not so much a GnR thing, and secondly its not a very good song it‚s more of a joke.

It was no joke this night with Scott spewing the venom and the band speeding up the song and making it a legitimate heavy metal song. It was fantastic and I had never liked that song before. Then they pulled out their first single off the album called Slither, now I loved this song from the moment I heard it, but they attacked this song with such ferocity it was mind blowing and much heavier then on the album, Scott pulled out the cop megaphone and did the strutting and posing. About half of the way through the song it hit me that the way they were attacking this song and the lights were going berserk and all the picks that were being tossed in the crowd that somehow over an hour had gone by and this was the last song before the obligatory encore. A sudden feeling came over me like „I can‚t believe this is it. The song ended and sure enough Matt stands up behind the drum kit and starts banging on the gong it goes dark as they walk off giving the, half wave because you all know as well as us we‚re coming back.

After about five minutes I hear it the opening riff of the one song I was truly hoping to hear screams though the building, the crowd again explodes but this time at a much higher decibal than any previous roars. Weilland leaps to the front of the stage with the opening lines of Sex Type Thing, in my oppinion the best STP song ever written. Once again every member attacked this song like their life depended on it. The absolute highlight of the night and although I didn‚t want the show to end I was feeling much better about it ending now that the song I was hoping for was just completely shredded unlike I had ever heard it before, I was content.

The perfect ending to an incredible, a bit surprisingly so, show. It couldn‚t have ended any better. Lights go down, but wait there was no bow, that wasn‚t the perfect ending, how in the hell are they going to top that? My answer came five minutes later in a very explosive way, as they reached into the bag of rockers and pulled out an extremely, almost Slayer like, version of Mr. Brownstone that was absolutely amazing. The only flaw of the night, even though a very minor one, came now. The show should have ended with that ravenous version of Brownstone but they went right into Negative Creep, which is a gret song but the way they did Brownstone the two should have been switched. Lights came up the bows then dark.

It was over, the long wait, the doubts all comfortably put to rest, the questions answered unmistakably. While most so called super groups never live up to the title this is one that surely does. After the show I questioned a bunch of fans and got the same answer from all, AMAZING! Well almost everyone, one woman said that while the band sounded good she wanted more STP and GNR to which the still hopped up on adrenaline swarm around me started verbally attacking the woman that she was at a Velvet Revolver show so that‚s what she should expect.

Just as the crowd was getting into this heated discussion a commotion stirs behind us, I turn to see what was going on and out of the alley walks Weilland flanked on each side by security and gets on the tour bus parked out front. The mood completely changes, frowns turn to smiles and laughter and name calling turns into great show Scott, well worth the wait Scott, good luck Scott. And as he steps on the bus just as the door is beginning to close behind him a loud bellow booms out above the commotion it screams, AXL WHO???????

SETLIST
SUCKERTRAIN BLUES- DO IT FOR THE KIDS-HEADSPACE-CRACKERMAN-ILLEGAL-ITS SO EASY-FALL TO PIECES-BIG MACHINE-SET ME FREE USED TO LOVE HER-SLITHER-SEX TYPE THING-MR.BROWNSTONE

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