SLASH SAYS VELVET REVOLVER WILL STOP PLAYING GN’R & STP COVERS

I can’t decide if that makes the prospect of seeing them live more or less exciting; on the one hand, it’s hard to listen to anyone who isn’t Axl Rose sing GN’R songs, and on the other hand, the GN’R and Stone Temple Pilots covers are inevitably the most exciting part of any VR show, because, well, they’re better than pretty much every VR song. Also, the thought of never hearing Slash play the “Mr. Brownstone” solo live again that special way he does- where he holds the last note and lets the feedback build-up before letting it rip back into the main riff- kinda breaks my heart.

In any case, this obviously shows a real confidence in the band’s material, as it’s the exact opposite approach that Audioslave (seemingly the model for every supergroup of the past five years) took- they started doing Soundgarden and Rage tunes as soon as they realized they’d run out steam after just one album.

Vince and I just shelled out some hard earned dough to a scalper to go see VR on their upcoming warm-up tour, so we’ll know soon enough if Slash’s head-bobbing, Duff’s shirtless strutting, Not Izzy’s standing there and not being Izzy, and Scott Weiland’s prolonged homage to Iggy Pop is still worth the price of admission or not.

-AR