2003.06.20 - MTV News, Rolling Stone - Velvet Revolver Live Debut

MTV News, June 20, 2003:
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Ex-GN'R Members, Weiland Make Live Debut As Velvet Revolver

Band plays Guns N' Roses tune 'It's So Easy,' Stone Temple Pilots cut 'Sex Type Thing' during short set Thursday night in L.A.

LOS ANGELES — Not only was Velvet Revolver's debut performance more visceral, more pummeling and more hypercharged than even the most devoted Stone Temple Pilots or Guns N' Roses fan could have expected, but there was evidence of genuine personal chemistry — as opposed to a convenient partnership designed to boost mutually unstable careers — between the band's key players.

Specifically, it was the moment when Slash affectionately laid his head on Scott Weiland's shoulder that seemed to drive the point of the evening home: The former "Project" is officially a real band.

The new group's short set at the El Rey Theatre on Thursday night, taken in by an energetic crowd that included Dave Grohl, Vincent Gallo, Shane West, David Spade, No Doubt's Tony Kanal and "Hulk" director Ang Lee as well as some lucky fans, kicked off with a sped-up and chunky cover of the Sex Pistols classic "Bodies," which led directly into the band's "Hulk" soundtrack single, "Set Me Free."

In spite of their veteran résumés and well chronicled battles with various substances, the bandmembers — Weiland, Slash, the former GN'R rhythm section of Duff McKagan (bass) and Matt Sorum (drums) and McKagan's onetime Loaded partner/ ex-Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner — appeared every bit as youthful and muscular as their set sounded, with all of them winding up shirtless by the end of the evening.

Weiland promised a couple of "presents" before the show began, and the group delivered, launching into STP's "Sex Type Thing" as if Slash wrote the riff himself, and following up with the Appetite for Destruction track "It's So Easy," an appropriate choice for Weiland's vocal range. The addition of his trademark bullhorn added a surreal element to the proceedings.

The band next laid into another original track — the moody, grooving and understandably STP-like "Slither," before exiting the stage, only to return to encore with Nirvana's "Negative Creep," a track so beefy in this setting that it almost sounded like a death metal song. As the band clobbered its way through the track, Weiland dove into the crowd several times, peppering the tune as he had the entire set with his well-known arachnidlike crouching, trippy dancing and waving arms.

Velvet Revolver's performance was preceded by a short press conference where the band outlined its plans for the next few months, made light of its long search for a suitable frontman and downplayed its troubled new singer's recent arrest.

"What happened to Scott Weiland a few weeks ago, it really could happen to any one of us," Duff said. Then he added, "It has happened to all of us."

Sorum said he and his bandmates listened to more than 500 CDs, but when Scott walked in they immediately knew he was the guy. After the press conference, Weiland revealed that he was nine songs into a second solo album before he joined Velvet Revolver and referred to what appears to be the final dissolution of his former group as merely a "very, very" long hiatus.

"Everything [else] is pretty much on hold now," he said. "I know that there is talk about a greatest-hits album for STP, but I don't know anything about it really, because my heart and soul is into Velvet Revolver right now. ... We were in the middle of our set [at sound check] and I just kind of went over to those guys and went, 'I feel like we've been on tour for about a year now.' The chemistry's there. It's a band."

"The chemistry is perfect," offered Slash. "It just fits. It's like all of a sudden we are just us, all five of us, and it just happened like that." "And we really bonded as friends, as brothers, in a relatively short time," Duff chimed in.

"Duff, Dave [and I] spent a month together in the mountains in Washington in a secluded area, just recently," Scott said, "so we've gotten to know each other pretty intimately."

Velvet Revolver are currently sorting through close to 50 songs (around 10 of which were written with original GN'R axeman Izzy Stradlin) for their debut album, which, Weiland's legal hassles notwithstanding, they hope to release by Christmas. In addition to "Set Me Free" and "Slither," Weiland said he's written vocals for around four more of the band's instrumental tunes so far. They're still looking for a producer and they'll probably record the album on their own before bothering with a record deal. For now, it's back to the practice room, where Weiland said Velvet Revolver have been writing and rehearsing every single day.

— Ryan J. Downey

https://web.archive.org/web/20050105103033/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1473089/20030620/story.jhtml

Related article in Rolling Stone, June 20, 2003:
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Revolver Unload in L.A.

Live debut includes STP, Gn'R, Nirvana covers

Velvet Revolver -- the supergroup featuring Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland, former Guns n' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, and Suicidal Tendencies' guitarist Dave Kushner -- made their live debut last night at the celebrity-filled El Rey Theater in Los Angeles.

The band kicked off their six-song set with the Sex Pistols' "Bodies." Next was "Set Me Free," their single from the Hulk soundtrack, which is already garnering heavy spins on L.A. rock radio stations.

"You're never gonna see anything like that, motherfuckers!" a healthy-looking Weiland told the audience before launching into "Sex Type Thing," from his other band's 1992 debut set Core. "You wanna know who influenced that song for me?" he asked when the song was over. "You sure you're ready for it?" The answer came in the form of a rocking cover of "It's So Easy," Weiland's favorite Gn'R track, from Appetite for Destruction.

The set ended with a second new song, "Slither," which drew raves from comedian David Spade. "When you can hear his voice, it's good," Spade quipped. "He nailed some shit in there like he does on Plush."

Velvet Revolver returned with an encore of Nirvana's "Negative Creep," served up special for the band's former drummer Dave Grohl. Also in the audience were Hulk director Ang Lee, No Doubt's Tony Kanal, actor/musician Vincent Gallo, and members of the Cult and Lit.

"Weiland's an amazing frontman," Lit guitarist Jeremy Popoff said. "It's great to see all those guys onstage together . . . it's like watching an all-star basketball game."

Velvet Revolver, currently unsigned, also drew many A&R; scouts from such major labels as Columbia, Warner Bros. and Island Def Jam. One label executive, who didn't want to be named, said the show "rocked" and that the band "didn't look too old."

At a press conference before the show, Slash said Velvet Revolver will do more gigs around L.A. "just to get in front of an audience" before entering the recording studio this fall. Now, they're rehearsing full-time, five days a week, and still hoping for a pre-Christmas release for their debut album, despite Weiland's looming July 11th court date, when he'll face his latest round of drug charges.

"What happened to Scott could, and has, happened to all of us," McKagan said. "There's a common thread, and it relates to all of our pasts."

CARRIE BORZILLO-VRENNA

https://web.archive.org/web/20040107132131/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/newsarticle.asp?nid=18248