
VELVET REVOLVER - LIVE IN HOUSTON (2010)
Featuring Slash, Scott Weiland, Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum and Dave Kushner.
Directed by Kevin Kerslake.
Distributed by Eagle Rock Entertainment. 78 minutes. Not Rated.
Velvet Revolver was supposed to be the state of the art of the new supergroup.
Essentially, most of the classic lineup of Guns ’N’ Roses decided that they were tired of dealing with a drug-addled, self-absorbed, headline-grabbing drama-king frontman like Axl Rose (the feeling was mutual, the fight between Rose and the rest of the guys was one of the uglier rock’n’roll divorces in history.) So, instead the guys set their sights on … uhhh … Scott Weiland of Stone Temple pilots, a drug-addled, self-absorbed, headline-grabbing drama king.
It was a combustible mix (between Slash, Duff and Weiland, the bar bills alone must have been astounding), but it was also a group of extremely talented musicians jamming, so the upside potential was huge.
Velvet Revolver never quite lived up to the hype, releasing two moderate-selling CDs and touring over a few years. Live in Houston captures the band while the bloom is still on the rose, at a stop of the tour for the debut CD Contraband.
It goes without saying that the musicianship is impressive. The band pounds out “Sucker Train Blues,” “Set Me Free” and the minor hits “Slither” and “Fall to Pieces” with passion and fire.
Then as the show is winding down, Velvet Revolver does a cover of the controversial and well-known Guns ’N’ Roses album track “Used to Love Her” from G’N’R Lies. (You know, the one that goes “Used to love her, but then I had to kill her.”) And this little snippet of the past points out an obvious truth – Velvet Revolver’s music simply isn’t as good as Guns ’N’ Roses old stuff had been. (I’m not going to comment on Chinese Democracy because these guys had nothing to do with that long-brewing fiasco.)
In fact, Velvet Revolver’s music isn’t even as good as that of Stone Temple Pilots – a band that was essentially derided for being a Pearl Jam wannabe through much of their career – as is shown by VR’s show-closing cover of STP’s “Sex Type Thing.”
Velvet Revolver continued on a few years after this show, but eventually such a combustible combo couldn’t last. Slash went solo, yet again, and Weiland mended fences with his old STP bandmates for a typically dramatic reunion tour.
However, with all this talent aboard, Live in Houston is a never less than intriguing. It is a snapshot of an interesting footnote in rock and roll history – a look at a terrific band of players that never quite lived up to their potential but had skills up the wazoo.
Dave Strohler
Copyright ©2011 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: January 11, 2011.
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