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VELVET REVOLVER
Liverpool University, 15 March 2008

It was a pleasure to visit (a very rainy) Liverpool on Saturday night for an evening with hot Hollywood living legends Velvet Revolver.

A capacity crowd clearly felt the same and were met by first support act McQueen who spun into action straight away. There's little doubt that this all girl metal act from Brighton are for real and are hammering it home every single time especially with the awesome track 'The Line Went Dead'. Listen to McQueen... you won't be disappointed.

Year Long Disaster followed next and just in time to get everyone in the mood for some stonking riffs from Slash later on, because this is what this band does best. They were perfectly pitched, well received, and set the scene for the feature act.

When Velvet Revolver burst on stage under the thunderous introduction 'The band that put Punk into punctuality…from Hollywood…' you'd be forgiven for getting a little starry eyed. Scott Weiland does cool pretty damn good so when he starts singing (and that sounds actually pretty damn awesome) you start to realise that this band are rapidly, effortlessly moving off the scale.

With little to say but lots to sing about we like it like that and Velvet Revolver are mastering the fine line of slick and sleaze which we need so desperately to see in this band.

The tunes were delivered in that short, sharp shock treatment from 'Big Machine', 'American Man' to 'Do It for the Kids', all of which kept the screaming fans wanting more. Along with something for the fair maidens, that of Scott's 'hippy shake' he has come to be naughtily known for as well.

That aside, this band are as tight a unit as you can imagine. The Velvet tracks are fast becoming folklore. The rhythm is as right as it can be with many thanks to Matt Sorum's red hot drums sticks. Throughout all of this Dave Kushner keeps it real and gives it rock all everytime anyway, especially on 'She Builds Quick Machines'.

'Let It Roll' kept the train running and 'The Last Fight' equally so too.

There's no denying that watching this band though you do have to pinch yourself a little but none more so than the bass thing of Duff McKagan loved by Velvet fans everywhere for all sorts of different reasons. Again tonight the bass rocked it up along with fellow ex G'n'R guitar legend Sir Slash.

The guitar riffs were a plenty, and every one an ace. Slash has got to this place because of sheer talent without a shadow of a doubt. His riffs ring around the room and tickle your fancy, they hit your bits and then blow your socks off in all the right places and we all like it like that…don't we?

Amongst the Velvet tracks are the Guns 'N' Roses hits that we all love to love. So when 'Patience' rang out, the audience almost felt they'd come home then speeding things up for what is a personal favourite, 'It's So Easy' where once again Slash held the spotlight and made that guitar sing with a mouth watering guitar piece.

Another Velvet Revolver favourite, 'Fall To Pieces' gave the audience what they wanted and the encore was upon us.

'Mr Brownstone', another G'n'R hit from the 'Appetite For Destruction' record and the fantastic Stone Temple Pilots track 'Sex Type Thing' pretty much wrapped things up. Finishing with 'Slither' the boys left the room and gave us all a chance to get our breath back.

Velvet Revolver gave a distinctly polished performance for which we are eternally grateful and for this group, hot from Hollywood would be a more appropriate opener for this awesome spectacle. Anyone for some Saturday night fever?...but not even that gets this hot!

Review by Judith Reeves

McQueen gig review