The last time I went to the NIA was a couple of years ago when my brother 
and I saw Linkin Park. I'm not keen on arena gigs, there's usually little 
or no atmosphere and Linkin Park proved that point pretty well last time. 
So I was not sure what was going to happen at the VR show. After seeing 
them in Manchester in September 2004 and being blown away I was hoping they 
would live up to the previous performance.
The warm-up band was The Datsuns (I think!!!) and I was pretty impressed by 
both the guitarists. The lead guy was playing a Les Paul and was a bit of a 
showman and obviously enjoyed the crowd cheering him on.
There was such anticipation in the crowd before VR came on. Everyone was 
packed in real tight, and it got very hot down the front. One guy next to 
me passed out about 20mins before the band came on. By the time people were 
shouting, 'Come on!', I knew it was gonna be something special, everyone was 
really up for it.
I know what songs they played, but not the order they played them in! So 
I'm sorry I can't remember what they opened with but, needless to say, 
everyone went fucking mental when Velvet Revolver came on! It was awesome.
Slash was smiling lots and looked real happy to be there, he looked like he 
was having fun. I was a bit worried about how tired he looked sometimes, he 
looked really out of breath or something. I hope he's okay. He addressed 
the audience a few times, at one point he said, 'Birmingham is a pretty 
small place so everyone but their parents must be here tonight!'. I felt 
rather embarrassed as I realised I now fall into the 'parents' category!!! 
Duff looked happy and business-like. Matt always looks happy, so no change 
there. And Scott and Dave looked relaxed. Duff dedicated a song to a guy 
at the front in a Black Flag t-shirt who had obviously been to a few of the 
shows already as he recognised him.
There was a funny moment as Slash seemed to forget the start of Set Me Free, 
his guitar wasn't on and that put him off I think. I can't decide what the 
best bit was, it was all too good! Unfortunately, I had to leave before 
they had finished (fucking car parks!) they were doing the encore and had 
played Used To Love Her and had just started You Got No Right when I left. 
They started around 9.20pm and were still going when I left at 10.40pm which 
is just bloody brilliant for a band with one album behind them. It was 
definitely the best gig I've been to in a while, it was just rock 'n' 
fuckin' roll fun! My faith has been restored in arena gigs now, as long as 
it's Velvet Revolver playing anyway!