Vicki in West Virginia sent us a SLASH mention from Entertainment Weekly magazine.
In their "Hit List", they had this remark...."Bono nominated for Nobel Peace Prize - Did
everyone who performed that charity version of 'Across the Universe' get nominated? Because
I'd love to hear SLASH's acceptance speech: 'I'd like to thank the guy who makes my top
hats, all my porn-star friends, Mr. Brownstone...Oh, yeah, and in your face, Axl!!!' "
Thanks for that, we think!
We are sometimes asked how a band can be the opening band for Velvet Revolver. We've
been told that the promoter or the tour manager may do this. And sometimes a band may
meet up with a VR band member and make a big dream come true. Scott ran into a band
called Second Line in Camden's Jazz Cafe, and they showed him around London's bars.
After that, they went back to the guitarist's place and listened to some records and
gave him a demo before he left. A few days later, Velvet Revolver's tour manager called
them asking if they would open for VR at their Brixton Academy show, a once in a lifetime
opporunity. Nice!
Kerrang! Online had news that some big musicians including Velvet Revolver have thrown
their weight behind Kerrang! Radio's bid to launch a station in Manchester. Letters of support have
been written to support Emap Performance, who own Kerrang! 105.2 in the West Midlands in their
bid for a new FM commercial radio station in Manchester this week, proposing its alternative rock
music format Kerrang! Proposed shows would include Ctrl, Alt, Delete: a celebration of the new alternative.
Raw: fresh material from new and established bands. The Grind: skate rock. The Slab: goth music.
A commitment to supporting live music in Manchester including performances at Manchester City's
stadium are among other key components of the bid. Velvet Revolver is in good company getting
behind this station bid.
When you're over at the official site, you have a chance to watch all three band official videos,
including the most recent "Dirty Little Thing". It's so great...all we were promised. We think you'll
enjoy it and watch it several times!
Vicki sent in another mention which was from Spin. They always seem to have something
nasty to say, probably a hold over from the way they feel they were treated by GNR. In their
"Noise" section, they covered the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas show in LA, and mentioned that
VR performed. The picture of Scott and SLASH onstage said, "Here's an old one you might
remember. His name is SLASH, ha, ha: Velvet Revolver's Weiland and SLASH". This is one reason
we never check out Spin.
Keep an eye out for your morning paper. It may have a mini Life magazine with a
section on "Hey Rockers Show Us Your Parents". Inside is a picture of SLASH with his
Dad Tony and Mom Ola. Laura told us about this and sent us
a link to the
picture of SLASH and Mom and Dad. And the text says:
this. Thank you so much, Laura!
Lisa wrote a very excited note that Velvet Revolver will be at the Heineken Jamming Festival
in Imola, Italy. Lisa flew into Vegas to see VR at the Hard Rock New Year's Eve and she's
planning a road trip to this festival even though they have to drive hours and hours. Maybe
you'll see her there, down front!
Dave in the UK saw Adler's Appetite at JB's in Dudley Friday night and thought it was a really
great show. They played all the classic GNR stuff with an acoustic set, too. Dave thought Steven
was great. Keri Kelli gave him his guitar pick. There was a signing session after the show by
the merchandise, so it was a good chance to meet the band and get Steven to sign his copy
of "Appetite..." and get a photo with him. The band was very friendly and would sign anything.
Jizzy mentioned he was pleased to be touring with the band. Sounds like a great evening!
Dave didn't mention if Adler's Appetite was opening for Hanoi Rocks that night, but they've
been forced to pull out of their support slot in Nottingham, UK after the wife of Hanoi Rocks
guitarist Andy McCoy objected to disparaging comments Adler made about her in a recent interview.
Keri said that Andy's wife didn't like the comments Steven made so they asked us not to play
and said they would still pay us, so that's what we did. The bad feelings between the two date
back to the old GNR days when Andy's wife was Izzy Stradlin's girlfriend. Steven had some really
harsh words about her and said that all the stories about his injecting Erin Everly with
heroin were false, so it seems like this is one of those old wars that no one will ever be
able to figure out. So, the opportunity to see Hanoi Rocks and Adler's Appetite at the time
are out the window.
We got a letter from Anne in New Zealand...a real snailmail! In it, she enclosed a nice
article about Velvet Revolver and some $$ in support of this site as well as a terrific review
of the Christchurch show. We wish we could share the whole review with you, but since it was
snailmail, we'll just give you some highpoints. Anne said she decided to be part of the mosh
pit. When the 18-20 year olds gave out, the oldies were still jumping around! Anne said she
was still flailing while the kids peaked too early. Velvet Revolver was fantastic and played
for about 90 minutes. Anne saw the band in the US last year, and she was so pleased they
played "You Got No Right" this time as they hadn't before. Glorious! Scott talked to the crowd
and said not to take freedom for granted, and Anne likes the way he has something of substance
to say instead of the usual "Hello (insert city name)". SLASH said he knew that Christchurch
would be beautiful but he didn't know it would be this beautiful. He said it was one of the
best places they had played. There were about 4000 there, and everyone showed their appreciation.
She sent some things into SLASH using security. And if they come again, there would be even
more coming out to see them because everyone was talking about the show. Thanks, Anne for that
great review, the clipping and the donation!
Pete is the fan we told you about that had to choose between The Doors and Velvet Revolver,
and he said he made the right choice. He said he noticed SLASH's hat looked different. The
hat he wore there looked like leather but same shape and size. Pete said he wanted to point
out something he didn't care for too much. The Velvet Revolver sign for the encores attempts
to start a chant like the old GNR sign did. The trouble is they do it slow so the chant goes
Vel..vet...Revol..ver which reminded Pete of Spinal Tap or the Simpsons. Anyway, it was a
great show with 2 hours of playing and the crowd didn't stop jumping. Pete says he only saw
only 1 STP t-shirt, but heaps of GNR and Velvet Revolver shirts. Thanks, Pete!
My from Sweden sent in some pictures from one of the VR shows in London, the one on the 10th
in Hammersmith where there was a good view in the first row. We'll show you some of those
here and probably more later. And Matt passed along a drumstick! Thanks!
As you know, SLASH's top hat was stolen at the Grammy awards from the limo he was using that
night. Also items were taken from Perla's purse. The latest thing on this is that SLASH
is asking a TV show to help him retrieve that hat. Anyone with information can contact the
show Celebrity Justice or this site. Read about the
TV appeal.
The tour calendar shows gigs through the beginning of June. Although the band will be on
the road until the end of summer, Scott says he wants the band in pre-production this spring
on the sophomore album. They are aiming for a release by Christmas. Scott said the band has
reached every goal they've set so far and he sees no reason why they wouldn't miss that one.
New material is being written while the band is on the road. Check the tour list on the
band's official site, velvetrevolver.com or on the tour truck above. This "Electric Wonderland"
tour will begin March 22 in Montreal. March shows are in Canada. April and May shows are in the
US. June shows are in Europe. The band's newsletter sent out a list of the US tour dates. Guest
will be Hoobastank. Velvet Revolver and iloveallaccess.com have teamed to offer you VIP ticket
packages. Packages for select shows go on sale February 25. Click here to login to
this location: Special Access. The
password is wonderland.
We had an interesting email from Jennifer that was a followup to a question someone had
asked. In the "November Rain" video, SLASH is on stage playing without tabs or score or
notes, but the orchestra needed scores, and these are people that have played for many years.
We asked if any orchestral musicians had an insight into this. Jennifer is an ex-classical
pianist, and she said she'd take a crack at explaining it. Orchestral musicians need to be on
the same page and because so many are playing together, scores make sure that no one has a
memory lapse. Professional musicians for a piece like this practice very little since their
time is money and they are sightreading the piece. Sightreading is a skill of playing a piece
you don't know at all from just reading the score. SLASH plays from memory not tabs. Playing
by ear is never done in classical music. Music is learned and played from the score. In rock
music it isn't necessary to play from a score and many musicians rely on more instinctive
abilities like improvisation and playing by ear. Although "November Rain" is rock music,
it has an orchestra with orchestral parts written out. Thanks, Jennifer, for that explanation!
Helen sent in the news that the author of SLASH's favorite book had died. The book
is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the author was Hunter S. Thompson. Thompson
died last Sunday, a suicide by shooting himself while on the phone talking to his wife.
His wife said Thompson had discussed suicide often, wanting to go out at the top of his
game, and putting a terrible strain on their relationship. Hunter S. Thompson, dead at 67.
It's been a long wait for those confirmed dates, but today we got a slew of them through
April in the US. The preliminary dates we had posted have been mostly changed and we now
have them changed so they match what is on the official list on the band's official fan
site. Either check on our list (click the truck above) or go to the velvetrevolver.com
site and check with them. Almost every date has a date listed when tickets go on sale which
seems to mean on everyone's mind. So, check the tour list before contacting us. If the gig
is listed, that's confirmed. If it's gone, it may be just moved around. We understand that
more may be coming in the days ahead.
We spent most of our time getting that gig information up, but we have some small items we
would like to mention. Vicki from West Virginia found a mention of SLASH in her People
magazine. There's a group picture with the heading "All About Clive...Fantasia, meet Santana:
At his big Grammy bash, music man Clive Davis celebrated with a posse of proteges". Velvet
Revolver are grouped together on the left end with SLASH and Scott sitting in the first row
and the other three standing behind them. Davis said the night felt like a milestone sitting
with all this great talent making him feel proud, inspired and excited. They then listed all
the musicians in the group picture. Thanks, Vicki!
Nelson let us know that he heard on the radio today that SLASH, Steven Tyler and Dave Navarro
will be on Tommy Lee's next solo album! Pete's in Australia and he said he had to turn down
free tickets to The Doors due to Velvet Revolver playing the same night and VR winning his
allegiance. It's ironic that Ian Astbury is the singer for The Doors meaning two
ex-Cult members have traveled so far to play in Sydney, Australia on the same night at
different gigs. Trivia question: who is the VR member that was in the Cult? If you knew it
was Matt Sorum, you know your VR background. Thanks, Pete! Kabir said he flew from Delhi
to Melbourne on Singapore Airlines. In their inflight rock Channel, Rock City chartgs had
"Slither" leading the rock section ahead of Green Day and Hoobastank. Rock City was doing
a GNR month to celebrate Axl, Duff and Steven's birthdays by playing "SCOM", "WTTJ"
and "Civil War". Kabir says that Singapore Airlines is one of the leading airlines in music
on flights and their charts are well spoken about. Thanks, Kabir! Another small item: we told
you about the GNR pinball machine found in a small bar in Spain. We heard from Sergio in
Portugal who says he found one in a small club in Alverca near Lisbon. Sergio didn't know
they were so rare!
Call out the gang at Law and Order! SLASH's hat was stolen at the Grammy awards
from the limo that took him and wife Perla there. Also missing were some personal items
from Perla's bag that she left in the limo with the top hat. The limo driver swears he
is innocent. Anyone out there has the hat or information about the hat
...let us know, no questions asked, and we'll
arrange for it to get back to The Man.
Check out the hat in full detail (along with the rest of SLASH) at the KnuckleBonz Inc.
site. The
sculpture is now there in full detail showing you the full front, side and
back views. It really is very nice and well worth the $99 plus shipping and handling. It's
limited to 3,000, so get yours ordered soon. Delivery is scheduled for April.
Nick saw Velvet Revolver in Brisbane, Australia, and he says the gig was fantastic! The only
problem seemed to be hearing Dave's guitar. It's a good review and we'll let you read what
Nick said himself. Give Nick a click to read what he sent to us!
Michael sent a pro review from from the Auckland, New Zealand show. This appeared in the
Auckland New Zealand Herald. We're going to post it here, too, because they take these down
fairly quickly. Thanks to Michael and the
New Zealand Herald. Ginelle also saw the band in Auckland and said
they were amazing. She sent us some pictures of which a few are posted here. Thank, Ginelle!
One of SLASH's biggest fans in Brazil is Eduardo Moto. He wrote to tell us what he is doing
right now to promote his own tribute band and Velvet Revolver. He participated in the Mtv
Brazil Studios with his Guns N'Roses tribute band. The program is all about your knowledge
of your tribute band, and small parts can be played during the show. The winner gets to play
an entire song. They won! And they played "Sweet Child O' Mine". His work is also going to
be part of a documentary made by a famous radio journalist, Paula Febbe, on Radio Brasil 2000.
Eduardo recently received the gift of a Gibson Les Paul Standard Premium Plus from a Brazilian
entrepreneur, Paulo Cesar Breim. Eduardo says he has only had used Epiphone guitars before this
and will be able to improve his SLASH tribute work with this, so he wants to thank Mr. Breim
and the best guitar player of all time, SLASH! We're proud of you, Eduardo!
Last year we told you about the SLASH Guitar Hero Sculpture which would soon be ready for
pre-order. The company doing the sculpture is KnuckleBonz, Inc. The sculpture is a hand-painted
and hand-numbered collectible in KnockleBonz' Guitar Heroes series. The SLASH figure is now
available for pre-order, and the company expects to ship at the end of April 2005. The SLASH
figure has been created by a skilled team of artists in poly-resin and hand painted in fine
detail. This is an officially licensed product from SLASH and Gibson Guitars. Each sculpture
displays a certificate of authenticity on the resin base and includes a wooden display base.
The sculpture displays SLASH with his trademark Gibson Les Paul and his top hat. The company
president says that it is a big honor to add this true and timeless musicians to the
sculpture series. The SLASH sculpture sells for $99 plus postage and handling. Pre-orders
are being taken at www.guitarhero.net/slash.html. This takes you right
to the pre-order page. Then click on the word SLASH on the right side.
Another limited item is the Guns N'Roses pinball machine which SLASH had a lot to do with
designing. Diana says she lives in a little town in Spain called Rota. It's very small and
has only one bar where they play good music.The bar owner has a GNR pinball machine. SLASH
commented once that there were only 500 of these ever made, and one of these found a home
in a little bar in a little town in Spain!
The AP interviewed Scott where he commented on a persistent rumor that there is a rift between
himself and SLASH. Scott says they get along great. There are always conflicts in bands, but
whatever they are, he prefers to keep them private. That's how to keep the band together.
When asked if this toxic music cocktail will drive rock to explosive heights or will they crash and
burn. Scott says this is the Evil Knievel factor...that people don't pay big bucks just to
watch him jump. If he never crashed and burned once in awhile, he wouldn't have sold out those
stadiums. Scott also commented on a report that he broke the Grammy smoking ban backstage.
He was seen strolling around, flicking ash on the carpet. He jokes, "I think they prefer us smoking
cigarettes as opposed to drugs."
Tonight we have news of Canadian dates confirmed, and there are quite a few of them. They are
up on the band's web site along with dates for pre-sales and the venues. If you haven't visited
that site for tour information, you should. What is posted there are the confirmed gigs and which
shows are on sale and which are pre-sales. We have these on this site, too,but they come from
that site. If you haven't done so already, be sure to go to the
official site and sign up for the band's newsletter, too.
When they have some information to send out, this is the list they use. Right now, you can check
the March gigs in Canada there or by clicking our tour truck and going to March.
Looking back at the Japanese gigs, Hitomi went to two shows, the SonicMania and the Zepp Tokyo.
Hitomi got a guitar pick from SLASH, not thrown, but handed! As a 27th birthday gift, this was
just great! Excited, nervous and shaking is what Hitomi said, as any of us would be. Hitomi
want to tell SLASH a huge thank you and ask when the band will be back? Thanks, Hitomi!
SLASH was asked by Launch Radio if Velvet Revolver felt vindicated by their Grammy win, and
SLASH said he wouldn't put it quite that way. He said it's a little vindicating to have reached
the point where things have got to be so heavy that they were all surprised to be standing there
at this point. But as far as vindicating as far as the band's music is concerned or what
anyone was thinking along the way, no, it's just, this is what we wanted to do. And we feel
that means they did the music they wanted to do, and it was good to get the recognition, but
they never set out to win a Grammy and don't feel vindicated by winning one. The band will
be entering the studio later this spring to record their sophomore album.
Q had some mentions. The first was a little strange in that they reported an old item.
They said that a year after SLASH left GNR, he worked on the soundtrack of the Quentin
Terantino's movie Curdled. They said the movie would be out the same time the GNR new
album came out. Well, the movie came out long ago. A lot of fans really liked that Spanish
guitar sound SLASH came out with on the song "Obsession". He wrote one acoustic and one
electric which he did with Marta Sanchez. In a section where music celebs picked their
favorite Led Zepp tracks, SLASH selected "How Many More Times" from the album Led Zeppelin.
SLASH said the band had so many great songs, but this one encompasses how great a band they were
and what a great producer Jimmy Page is. And in the section on 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks,
SLASH shows up on #6, "Sweet Child O' Mine". They say GNR listened to Lynyrd Skynyrd to get the
"vibe" for their classic rock ballad. SLASH's liquid lead guitar riff is echoed on his new
band, Velvet Revolver's "Fall To Pieces". Gentle at first, then explosive. Best played with
shirt off and cigarette dangling from the mouth!
A big congratulations goes out to Velvet Revolver for winning a Grammy award last night!
They won Best Hard Rock Performance for "Slither" and were up against Incubus for
"Megalomaniac", Metallica for "Some Kind of Monster", Nickelback for "Feelin' Way Too Damn Good"
and Slipknot for "Duality". If you were watching you saw some fleeting shots of SLASH in his
new black leather jacket. Duff and Scott were interviewed and that went well.
Then, there was a larger section of shots of the rehearsal of
the tsunami disaster relief portion of the program. Norm sent us in a photo of SLASH and
Scott working on this. And finally, the tsunami relief program came on with Velveta Revolver
playing in the background and some of the best singers in rock up front. SLASH was up front
with Steven Tyler who played the maracas.
Just a sensational cover of The Beatles
"Across the Universe". Don't forget that you can get the song as a download at the
Apple iTunes for a mere 99 cents. Your payment provides additional help for the disaster victims.
And you can also go to cbs.com and see the video from the show. It was quite an evening, and
we are still on a high today! The only thing we regret is that the Grammy was not one of those
awarded live.
Vicki from West Virginia sent us some magazine mentions. In the current Rolling Stone,
they ask in their Random Notes section "What was the last book you read?" and SLASH replied
with a tiny smiling picture, " 'How to Raise Boys' by I don't know who." The Spring Movie Preview
of Entertainment Weekly has an article on "The 50 Greatest Love Songs". "SCOM"
comes in at #8 and saying SLASH is making sweet love to his Les Paul with Axl coming in with
lyrics written by a high school boy who writes his girlfriend's name in the bleachers. The
March 2005 issue of Blender has a small pic of SLASH and Sebastian Bach with a fan
in their "SuperFan...Bringing Out The Stalker in You Since 2001". The March issue of FHM
has an article where SLASH answers a couple of questions.
Q: Most rockers get fat and boring. How have you managed to stay interesting?
A: On the last tour, a maid yelled at me for getting hair dye all over the hotel bathroom. I dye
it black every eight months or so.
Q: What's life on the road like now that you are sober?
A: When I was 19, I'd wake up in a chandelier but still be able to make it to the gig on time, as
Keith Richards would put it. Now a good time for me is a bottle of wine, some Guinnesses and a few
cigarettes.
Last night we got an email announcing more merchandise in the Velvet Revolver online store.
There really is a lot of new stuff here! Special t-shirts, a terrific poster, pins, hats...
the only question is what choice to make. You can pay in a variety of ways, too. We really
think fans should take a lot and give yourself a present during these winter days. Helps
you wait for spring if you have a cool jacket to wear! Check out
VR Online Store
and buy, buy, buy!
IF you have major bucks, go beyond the VR store and get in on the bidding for one of
SLASH's signature guitars. He's going to sign it just before the Grammys, and it's up for
auction right now at ebay. The sale benefits the Grammy Foundation and MusicCares. One bid
currently, but bidding starts at $1,000 and it's just up to $2000 which doesn't meet the
reserve price. Go to ebay and search on SLASH guitar. Come on,
guys, we can do better than $2,000! The "Buy It Now" price is just over $4000.
We were a little confused about the Download Festival where Velvet Revolver will appear.
Sim tells us that this replaces the Donnington Monsters of Rock festival back in the 80's at
Donnington in the UK. It's only been on a few years and is called the Download Festival.
In the GNR history, GNR played there and some fans were crushed to death there. If you want
to see more about the Download Festival,
check out this link.
Thanks, Sim!
We found another guest appearance for SLASH. He plays on the album More Music From Ray
where he plays on the track "Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand" with Ray Charles. This is more music
from the film Ray, an autobiography of Ray Charles. Director James Austin had some
things to say about certain tracks, one of which was "Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand":
"In the film R.C. is seen performing certain performing "Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand" "live"
onstage at the Ebony Lounge. However, a "live" recording of that song didn't exist, so I
asked Ray to go into the studio an dcreate a "live" version. R.C. always contracted his own
musicians, so I was very surprised to see that he'd booked SLASH of Guns N'Roses on guitar
for this session. When I asked about his choice, he immediately retorted: 'Don't worry, baby, this
cat can play.' When I heard SLASH's Oscar Moore-like solo (Nat King Cole's guitarist, you knew
he was right. Also back in the early 50's, Ray had experimented with a celeste of this track,
but in 2003 he simply dialed up that tinkley sound on his Fender Rhodes." We have the movie
on order so we can let you know how it shows up there!
There's news of an honor for SLASH tonight. Our favorite guitarist has been appointed the
musical director at The Grammy Awards on February 13. Ken Ehrlich, the executive producer
in charge of the Grammy Awards, has asked SLASH to be the musical director for an all-star
lineup including Velvet Revolver, Stevie Wonder, Bono, Brian Wilson, Alicia Keys, Norah Jones,
Tim McGraw and Steven Tyler. The all-star lineup will perform The Beatles song "Across the
Universe". We're so pleased and proud of him! The track will be available for download at
Apple's iTunes Music Store for 99 cents with all proceeds to aid the victims of the tsunami
disaster. Video of the performance will be available on demand at CBS.com soon after the
the network's broadcast of the show. So you can see it and hear it right away! That's this
Sunday, February 13.
Chris sent in the news that Velvet Revolver will be headlining Foxfest on March 31 at the
Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, BC. For a time, we had their appearance listed on the a
different date, but this is the real thing. It's on the 99.3 radio web site, too. Tickets
go on sale Saturday morning. Chris said this is his first time seeing SLASH as he was too
young at the GNR tour, and SLASH was ill for the Snakepit tour. We hope you'll be right
up there to see him, Chris! Thanks.
Ticketmaster has revealed the lineup for the Download Festival which is set to expand from
two to three days. Ticketmaster listed Black Sabbath, Sysem of a Down, Feeder, Slipknot,
Slayer, Billy Idol, Velvet Revolver, H.I.M., and Garbage. The festival will be at Donington
Park in Derbyshire, England which can hold 60,000 fans, so there should be no need to lineup
for tickets! Dates are June 10-12.
Lesley said that on Sunday there a program on Channel 4 called 100 Top Music Videos.
"November Rain" came in at 37. A couple of journalists who hated it called it schmaltzy, overblown
and suffocating. The director, Andy Morshan complained that Axl went to the dentist that day
and arrived late. He called the video "Spinal Tap with money"! One journalist had a friend
who was the make-up artist. She tried to get SLASH's shades off, and he stopped her and said
"just dust around the accessories"! Lesley says, "How cool is that sexy guy?!" The journalist
summed it up and said and said "that's why that guy can walk out of that tiddly little church
and do a guitar solo". Cool and a real pro. Lesley said there's also a program that started
last week called "Celebrities Uncensored", Thursday, 11:35 pm. where celebs get pissed off at
the paparazzi. This week SLASH is on apparently being hassled by a fan who doesn't believe it
is him. We think this episode was shown in the US awhile back and the episode took place at
CBGB's in NYC. Thanks, Lesley!
This is our first Japanese review, and we thank Yori for sending us the good words on the
Velvet Revolver show. The show was in Nagoya, Japan on February 2, and Yori said it was
so exciting. While most Japanese fans could not understand English, Scott said things like
"I know you understand me because rock and roll is the universal language!" SLASH was so
cool with his hat and cigarette that I was almost dying. Yori said her boyfriend Masafumi
missed Snakepit in Japan four years ago and has been waiting ever since. He got so excited
that he went out and got a tat of SLASH's face on his arm. Very cool. They would have liked
to have met with SLASH, but were very satisfied with the show and excited and hopes that VR
will come to Japan again soon. Thanks, Yori!
Velvet Revolver is confirmed for the Fields of Rock show on June 18 in the Netherlands. Our
Netherlands correspondent, Matthijs, translated what was on the Fields of Rock site
at Fields of Rock. It says
Velvet Revolver: a new band, old faces. While singer and jackass Axl Rose keeps postponing the
Guns N'Roses comeback album, are the ex-Gunners not doing nothing. Guitarist SLASH, drummer
Matt Sorum and bassist Duff McKagan put together Velvet Revolver back in 2003 and reinforced
it shortly after that with guitarist Dave Kushner and ex-STP singer Scott Weiland. The 2004
debut album is just as smashing as it is predictable. Indeed, VR sounds like Guns N'Roses
with the singer from Stone Temple Pilots. And there is nothing wrong with that!!! Thanks
for that translation, Matthijs!
A fan in the UK, Stuart, alerted us that a photographer friend of his has just shot SLASH
for the cover of March's Guitarist magazine. It will be on sale February 23 in the UK.
So, keep an eye out for that one, and thanks, Stuart. And speaking of photos, Wendybird gets
a big thank you for taking and sharing tons of photos from the Camp Freddy gig. This was the
charity event where Camp Freddy played with special guests to raise money for the tsunami victims.
Wendybird says there are pictures in there of Matt and SLASH, Jerry Cantrell and SLASH at the
Rainbow after the show. SLASH is sitting at a table with Donovan Leitch, Jerry, Perla and a
few of Donovan's friends. These are all thumbnails, but they blow up great! Thank you,
and see them here at
Wendybird's Pics.
Norm must also be a big Aerosmith fan, and who isn't? That band has always influenced SLASH and
Joe Perry is one of his idols. If you want to read more about the band's connections, Norm found
a good article in Aero Force One. It's a good, but long read, so save it for lunchtime.
Read about it at Aerosmith .
Velvet Revolver did a show on January 22 at the Hammersmith Apollo, and for some fans this
was a long awaited gig. Simrin was there and he took some of the greatest pictures around.
Check these onstage photos at
Hammersmith Apollo. And we have a review to go with that from the XFM web site. Read that
one at XFM Review. Thanks, Simrin!
