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VELVET REVOLVER
Leeds University March 16 2008

7.00 PM and the gates to hell opened as an array of Velvet Revolver fans poured into Leeds Uni for a feast of pure rock n roll. After a rather impressive jump-start from supporting female hard rockers 'McQueen' with their compilation of heavy metal and angry vocals the crowd at Leeds University were going absolutely insane for legends of rock..Velvet Revolver.

It must be said Duff McKagen, playing on his fame blessed the crowd with his godly presence for a few minutes joining McQueen on stage for one song. Upon his leaving the audiences were left chanting his name, no one could seem to care less or even noticed that Scott Weiland had also been present for this little shenanigan.

They kicked off the gig with song 'Let it Roll' from current album 'Libertad', a catchy and bouncy number, which gave the audience their first adrenaline rush. They later performed songs from both albums Contraband and Libertad. It became clear that Contraband was the more popular choice amongst the audience of Velvet Revolver fans, and also the band themselves.

As we now know this may have been due to the band's friction because of Scott's soon to be departure, therefore enthusiasm for the second album was somewhat brushed under the carpet.

Limiting their time to the old Gun's covers, they conveniently fitted in one old Melodic Hit, 'Patience'. Scott pulled this off pretty well, surprisingly adapting his voice to the sound of Axl's. Although this was never going to be as good as the original due to the limits of Scott's vocal abilities it was rather well done with smashing solos from Slash.

Full to the brim with attitude they made a fantastic connection with the audience, with Scott claiming; 'We don't play pop music, we play fucking rock n roll!!!' which we all agree with, but if he doesn't play his cards right with his frequent brushes with the law, good old Scott will be playing nothing but the metal bars of his prison cell.

Nothing short of outstanding, these guys are the bee's-knees when it comes to head banging your way into heaven. For a band created for the big stage they seemed as if they loved the intimacy which a smaller audience brings, although the lack of intimacy between the band members and Scott was more then evident it put no downer on the audience.

The only possible downside to this gig is that the support acts were on for a little too long. We now wait with bated breath to see what the boys come up with next without the vocal contribution of Scott Weiland, no doubt there will always be trouble in paradise with the Gunners but this seems to be the basis of their appeal.

Review by Betsy Green