Concert Review: Velvet Revolver and Alice in Chains Las Vegas

[Copernicus]

Another great show this summer.

Opening act Sparta was meh, they started early and kept it short, and they have some potential, but the time should have been given to AiC for a longer set.

AiC took no prisoners. William Duvall is a very capable replacement for Layne Staley. Not an imitator, but with very similar range and delivery. He doesn't have the stage presence that Layne had, and Jerry Cantrell has to carry that load a bit more, but was up to it. If anything his guitar has gotten cleaner and faster, and he harmonizes with Duvall as well as he did with LS. The set was as much of a "best of" as you could squeeze into an hour +, so no extended solos, but Cantrell nailed every solo on the head. If they can write songs at the same level as they did with Layne they will be around for a while.

Velvet Revolver was very on. They've been taking some heat from low sales of Libertad and reviews that say AiC has been stealing the show, and it looked like they were putting out a lot of effort to counter it. Scott Weiland is the most interesting front man in rock, imo, with Jagger and Tyler just too old to pull it off any longer. He's become a little more of a screamer with the heavier VR sound than he was with STP, but on the slower songs (Interstate Love Song and Patience in particular) his voice was still great. Slash was really on, looking like he was trying to outdo Cantrell. The GnR crew is much better with Weiland than they were with Axl Rose imo. The problem is the songs are lightweight standard rockers, nothing memorable about them, as opposed to the dark depths of Alice and Layne or the sex/evil of STP. Still Scott Weiland makes them all interesting.

check them out, its worth it.

[rothko]

aic without staley is just wrong. glad you enjoyed the show, however.

[Copernicus]

I felt the same for a while, but the world without any aic is worse than aic without layne. When I went back and saw how many of the songs were credited to JC alone I became a little less rigid about it, and am glad I did.

[Duke]

Velvet Revlver was a close second (imo) to Foo Fighters at that LA Invasion thing. They were a hell of a lot better than I would have expected.

[veggies]

I'm sorry but these bands are so old and tired. I remember loving AiC and GnR when I was growing up. Hell, Slash was the reason I learned to play guitar. But I gotta say that most music pretty much sux now.

Give me punk rock from bands that will never be on a major label any day over this regurgitated sell out crap.

I'm sorry I'm a music snob.

[ScottieK]

I saw these guys a couple weeks ago in Albuquerque. Excellent concert. Alice in Chains didn't play as long as I wanted them to, but that's okay. Yes, Duvall is a good lead singer, and sang things a little differently than Layne Staley, but other than that, it was definitely Alice in Chains. Before Velvet Revolver came on stage, they played "Straight Outta Compton" for a couple verses. Totally took me by surprise, it was funny as hell.

Slash, Duff, and Matt did their usual awesome performance. It was worth the ticket just to see Slash do a solo in the middle of the concert. Scott Weiland took some getting used to. He'd sing into a megaphone, as was appropriate for songs like Sucker Train Blues, but it got kind of annoying. He pranced around like he was Mick Jagger or something. Don't know if that's normal for him or what. He is one rail thin dude though. I appreciated that they weren't afraid to play old GNR and STP songs like Mr. Brownstone, Patience, and Plush. Very cool.

One thing I thought was interesting is that they didn't come close to selling out. It was the smallest crowd I had ever seen there. Sure, it was a Tuesday night, and that may explain it....but Albuquerque usually loves this kind of music. Security roped off the entire back lawn section of Journal Pavilion and moved everyone up. I had never seen that before. Great for us, but I'm sure the bands were disappointed. Oh well.

ScottieK

[bernie]

[ QUOTE ]
aic without staley is just wrong. glad you enjoyed the show, however.

[/ QUOTE ]

AIC, like say, the Doors, is dead without its singer. They should get some balls and call it something else(which it is).

They really should just call it the Jerry Cantrell project. Except they probably wouldn't sell as many tickets. Funny how a name changes things.

b

[capone0]

Have you seen them live? They are pretty damn good without him. I love AIC but it's a very good show. Same was said for VR. I saw them in Mississippi near Memphis. Almost full show near the end of the tour last week.

[bernie]

[ QUOTE ]
Have you seen them live? They are pretty damn good without him.

[/ QUOTE ]

Haven't seen the new AIC live. Not saying they can't be good. It just isn't Alice. The same way Queen isn't Queen w/o Mercury.

I saw AIC many times long before they were signed. In the old somewhat glam days of AIC(king of cats and all that stuff). Actually, back when they sucked and I was paying $3 to see them at a local community center then trying to bootleg alcohol off them after the show. But they kinda grew on ya.

Still got a flyer from back then.

b

[james_stansky22]

What was Duvall doing before AIC?