Artist: Velver Revolver
Opener: Hoobastank
Date: 5-14-2005
Live Pics: www.nyfiredup.com/concerts.asp?catalogid=76

VELVET REVOLVER'S ELECTRIC WONDERLAND HITS JONES BEACH

On my way to Jones Beach to christen the concert season with one of the hottest shows in town I felt confident that I could not be dissapointed. After all I'm going to check out a band that was part of one of the greatest albums ever released in rock history if not the greatest. The new singer is no slouch either fronting one of the greatest bands to come out in the early nineties among the grunge movement that took place back then. There are a lot of shows that before you go to see them you have your doubts but this one featuring Hoobastank as the opener and Velver Revolver as the main attraction had "kick ass show" written all over it. It was a cool night out at Jones Beach but the rain held out for most of us umbrella-less fools. Hoobastank took the stage first and did all their radio hits which the crowd seemed to enjoy them but I really did not pay much attention because I was so keyed up about seeing Slash and his new band with Scott Weiland at the helm. This new incarnation of two bands that have gone the wayside have been spewing out hits for over a year now. They are touring in support of a new CD called Contraband and if you are fan of either Guns or STP I suggest you go out and buy it.

So as I was saying they hit the stage with three new songs from the new CD the first one being "Sucker Train Blues" and that was it Slash and company were about to take over your soul. Scott Weiland was always a great frontman and things like that never change as he pranced around like a champ, sang great as he always does and talked to the audience quite a bit in between songs something that seems to be missing these days. And he didn't sound like the pompus ass that used to sing for this band before they changed their name he had some great things to say about being in New York City and how good he felt being on stage that evening. Now if you've been doing your research you knew that they were going to do some old stuff meaning some GNR and STP tunes were sure to be played. Well if you came to get your "Paradise City" or "Welcome to the Jungle" on, you can forget it but they did play a fantastic rendition of "It's So Easy" a song Weiland managed perfectly as if he were born to sing it. "Crackerman and "Sex Type Thing" stirred up the nearly sold out crowd for you STP fans out there and of course they did "Fall To Pieces" followed by "Dirty Little Thing" their new songs which are all over the radio these days.

Towards the end of the first set Weiland walked into the crowd and sang the rest of "Sex Type Thing" from the middle section of the venue something I don't think I've ever seen before. He stopped midway to give you his thoughts on what the music industry were which the crowd seemed to enjoy. Telling the audience about the greed of the record companies and so forth. He sang the rest of the song while running down the stairs went back on stage and the band said good night for about five minutes. When they reappeared Slash soloed into a mesmerizing version of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Here". I have to say the one thing that was a little dissapointing which wasn't really the band's fault was the sound at Jones Beach. The venue has no accoustics so they try to over compensate by playing everything so loud but it's always been that way there so you know what you are getting into. For the final encore drummer Matt Sorum rolls his drum solo into "Mr. Brownstone" and then the hour and a half or so set ends with "Slither". I guess you would have to say that there was plenty to look forward to at this show and as I said before the chances of being dissapointed were close none at this one. The band is doing another show on May 20 at PNC ARTS Center and they are contributing some new music to the Fantastic Four movie which will be out soon.

For more info go to www.velvetrevolver.com