Yahoo! Music Review

Gig played on 26/03/08

Much like AC/DC's Angus Young, Slash remains - both visually and sonically - one of rock's most idiosyncratic guitarists. Sporting leather keks, his eyes hidden behind aviator shades with his unruly cascade of curls sat beneath his trademark top hat, the former Guns N' Roses plank-spanker tilts his guitar once more at 90 degrees to announce the commencement of another lead solo as he wrings notes from his axe like a cleaner would a wet sponge.

To his right, the lithe and wiry frame of bassist Duff McKagan strides the stage as rhythm guitarist Dave Kushner stands atop the monitors that line the lip of the stage. Singer Scott Weiland, a cocktail mixture of two parts Mick Jagger at his campest and one part cartoon rooster Foghorn Leghorn in deep heat, minces across his territory, while Matt Sorum's solid beats and backing vocals bring up the rear. So far so good. But why, then, ain't it happening for Velvet Revolver tonight?

Partly it's down to the friction that's gnawing greedily at the heart of the band. Less than seven days ago on a Glasgow stage, Weiland announced - much to the surprise and consternation of his band mates - that Velvet were in the process of playing their last tour. With cyber handbags drawn, the freshly rehabbed Weiland and a seething Sorum traded insults over the internet with all the gusto of quarrelling children. Consequently, the rapport between band members is virtually non-existent.

We could be witnessing five individuals with their own agendas who just happen to be on-stage at the same time, despite Weiland's assertion that "We still play rock'n'roll." Ah yes…rock'n'roll. Another crucial factor in tonight's let down is the material on offer. Whereas the likes of a particularly ferocious "Sucker Train Blues" and a magnificent "Slither" blast from the stage with a direct intensity, offerings such as "American Man" from the band's latest album, "Libertad", sound forced, shorn of anything resembling a hook.

Indeed, the near-deadly dispatching of Guns N' Roses gems "It's So Easy" and "Mr Brownstone" cruelly highlight the mid-set lull. Sadly, the band's attempts at reviving proceedings are undone at a stroke with a calamitous cover of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here", where the touching subtleties of the original are sacrificed to create something more suited to a football terrace. If Velvet Revolver, in this or any other incarnation, truly are finished, then this will be no way to remember them.

by Julian Marszalek