January 22, 2005 - London, England - The Carling Apollo Hammersmith

[ back to Concert Chronology 2005 ]

General Information

Date: January 22, 2005
Location: London, England
Venue: The Carling Apollo Hammersmith; Queen Caroline Street; London, W6 9QH England [ Venue website ]
Box Office Number: (+44) (0870) 606 3400
Additional Info: Support Act: The Datsuns

Set List

• Sucker Train Blues
• Do It for the Kids
• Headspace
• Superhuman
• Crackerman
• Illegal I
• Fall To Pieces
• Dirty Little Thing
• Big Machine
• It's So Easy
• Sex Type Thing
• Set Me Free
• Used to Love Her
• You Got No Right
• Mr. Brownstone
• Slither

Reviews (12) [ send in your own review/pictures of the London show ]

Thanks to Trev: It was a bit of a wait for them to come on, but after 2 seconds it was all worth it. Duff appearing from the smoke, playing the intro to Sucker Train Blues. The whole place nearly vibrated to pieces due to the excitement and volume. Slash's first solo on STB sent shivers down everyone's spine and continued through the whole night.

This is the first time I've seen them live. The band looked and sounded great. Dave fitted in well and Slash looked like he was 21.

Highlights were STB, Slither, Fall To Pieces and Matt's GnR drum intro's that eventually broke into Mr Brownstone.

One of the greatest experiences of my life, can't wait to see them again soon.

Thanks to Tom: The gig was fuckin amazing, the band gave it their all.
I was a bit pissed off that they came on an hour late due to a fact I've been told not to mention, but it was great. I didn't expect Matt to do a drum solo but he did and it was the first time I ever enjoyed a drum solo. I was so close to catching one of Matt's sticks but some big WANKER behind me pushed me out the way...what an arsehole. But it was fucking great and Slash fucking rules!

Thanks to Matt Spencer: Jesus Christ. What a gig. The Datsuns were great, just the type of band to get you hyped up for a great gig. The wait was terrible, after every track played on the speakers the crowd were clapping and cheering just hoping that they would come on stage. When they finally did it was like a bomb had hit us, seeing Slash walk out on stage, pick up a Les Paul and hear Duff rip out that intro to STB, amazing. Moshing at the front for the whole set. When Slash came out with his hat no he sat at the front of the stage and played some weird blues thing which sounded awesome.

My highlight would definitely be Illegal I song, it's one of my favourites and just screaming "just look and you'll see me..." was an experience and a half. So glad it didn't dissapoint. Slash remains my God.

Thanks to 8Ball: I travelled from Ireland for this one and I wasn't disappointed!! Just getting back to normality now!!The Velvet Revolver show on Sat night was the most amazing Rock N Roll Show I have ever seen.They are by far the most powerful live band on earth!! The Datsuns supported. They were pretty good but I would have preffered to see someone like Silvertide or Backyard Babies. Velvet Revolver (in true rock n roll style)were 40 mins late going on stage!! They were late arriving and we heard from a security member that one of them was refusing to go onstage until he got a HOMEMADE Shepards Pie (whether it's true or not its still funny)!!!!!(A far cry from the two bottles of vodka of the old days!!) Their set rocked from start to finish with two encores.The GNR/STP covers were cool but the highlights of the set for me were the new single Dirty Little Thing and Illegal I. Absolutely amazing. The energy from the stage was incredible and the overall sound couldnt have been better.

So all I can say is that if you get even the slightest chance to see this band live snap it up. Best Rock N Roll Band in the world!!!!!!!

Thanks to www.raysgigs.com: 21/22/23 Jan 2005 Velvet Revolver last 3 shows of UK tour, Brixton Academy and two Ham Apollo. Velvet Revolver back in London after their two shows here in London a couple of weeks ago. In the end I ended going to all five London shows. Each night though the band turned up late at the venue which meant there were a few boos in the far too long gap of 60 mins between the end of The Datsuns set and start of the Velvet Revolver set. The shows this weekend were much better than the warm up shows a fortnight ago . The band were tighter and the crowd were the hard core fans who were the first to buy tickets when they went on sale. Pretty much the same set as a couple of weeks ago. Plenty of great songs like 'Fall To Pieces' and 'Big Machine' along with three Guns And Roses tunes (see previous review ). The Brixton show was the best of the bunch and tonight was the only night on the tour they played Sex Pistols 'Bodies' and dedicated it to Pistols bassist Glen Matlock who was in the crowd tonight. The following two nights at Hammersmith Apollo were excellent as well. The Sunday show was finished off by The Doors track '5 To 1' .The band themselves were totally blown away by how popular they are here. They are a great live rock n roll band. Have a look at the website www.raysgigs.com to see what happened backstage

Thanks to Sarah: The album does not do them justice, you must see them live. Imagine the best sex you've ever had, I'm not talking under the covers with the light off shit I'm talking pure no holds barred unadulterated carnal sex, put THAT to music and you have Velvet Revolver LIVE. When I get to HELL this WILL be the band that is PLAYING. ROCK ON I can't wait for you to come back. When I said just now that the album didn't do them justice, I didn't mean I didn't like it, it is phenonemal, I just meant they are 4,000,000 million times better live.

Thanks to Robbie: Awesome show, totally worth going!! It was my first time seeing the band and they were great. I was so excited seeing the ex GNR members, especially Slash!!! He was looking super cool as usual and he used his B.C Rich Guitar, Les Paul and GODZILLA!!! To top it of he did a talkbox solo!!! The sound was great and everyone played really well. The crowd went crazy when they came out and Slash spoke to the crowd. Best parts of the show: Slash and his top hat, Matt's drum solo, Mr Brownstone and It's So Easy.

Thanks to Matt Rees: This gig was amazing, although we were kept waiting for over an hour between when The Datsuns(who rocked to) before Velvet Revolver came on when they did they did with a bang. The strobe lighting kicked in as Duff stood on the monitors and delivered the opening track, Sucker Train Blues. The rest of the set kicked major ass and the crowd was so hyped after the hour long wait they we sang everyword and jumped moshed everything for 90 minutes straight with no water or anyting. THESE GUYS ROCK SO HARD and the tour slogan rock & f n roll it certainly lived up to.

Thanks to Caroline: What can I say? AMAZING! The stage was lit up all blue and Matt and Duff came out first, hurrah. It was so surreal seeing these guys that you see pictures of every day waving at you and walking around and I kept pointing at Duff (I know, fangirl) before I saw Dave, Scott and Slash come out. Oh. My. God. They all looked sooooo good! Scott had his Axl trousers on from the Halloween show with a black shirt, red waistcoat and his hat (yay!), Duff had on that leather jacket he's been wearing a lot lately and Slash, Matt and Dave wore pretty much their usual garb, but Slash looked amazing. Scott said 'Sorry, we were out saving the world' (hah) and Duff took centre stage for a bit while they did the intro to Sucker train blues then Scott started writhing about as only Scotty can. He's a completely mesmerising front-man... he's so unique and he puts 110% into it... they all do. Slash totally went for it, jumping around and standing on stuff - so did Dave, who rocks! - It was unbelievable.

I'm trying to remember the setlist, but I'll have to wait until someone posts it here. I really liked STB live, along with Do it for the kids, Illegal I, Fall to pieces, It's so easy and Headspace, and the the encores were mind-blowing. Slash came out (WITH THE HAT, REJOICE!) and played a little solo before Used to love her and kept it on for You Got No Right (probably the highlight), Mr. Brownstone and Slither. Before they did Illegal I, he said 'I know the more I say this the more it seems insincere, but it's totally fucking amazing being here in front of you guys'. Scott also seemed to like being in 'motherfucking London' and in-between songs he quietly said 'Do you dig it?' and not many people heard him, so he said it again and everyone cheered and he said 'Yeah, me too' and grinned - it was so cute. Matt did a groovy little drum solo, during which he started drumming the intro to You could be mine and the crowd got all excited... it's a shame they don't play it. The crowd seemed to really enjoy the original Velvet Revolver material, but there was a definite buzz going when they played GnR covers (I have to admit I was psyched to hear them).

Scott did an interesting little monologue about the 'driving force behind rock and roll' (sex) and started going on about 'FUCKING!', finishing by asking 'who here has been LAID?' (big cheer from the crowd). By the end, Scott, Duff (thank you, God) and Slash were shirtless and I was totally deaf and hoarse from having such a fantastic time, but in my book it just shows you've been to a kick-ass gig if you can't hear or speak. These guys rock, enough said.

Thanks to Rocket: Rock n' f**ck'in Roll man!!! What a front man Scott is!! Slash is at his usual best. Mr.Brownstone, Sex type thing, Crackerman, It's so easy & Used to Love Her. However Revolver's tracks were the best. Lookin forward to a new album & a new tour. Fantastic

Thanks to Someone: The concert was great except the support band went on a bit...they were alright but it would of been betta if there were 2 and they were on for a shorter time. But Velvet Revolver were great, I was a bit down that they didn't play Paradise City, but I suppose it's understandable. Matt looked awesome...they all did...me and my friends loved it. I was knackered the next day but it was worth it...it was one of the best day of my life.

Thanks to Richard Offord: It was a great show, kicked off in style with Sucker Train Blues, followed swiftly by Do It for the Kids. The band played with great energy and Scott's vocals and Slash's guitar sounded excellent, neither missed a note all night. I can't remember the exact order of all the songs, but looking at previous set lists I think it went as follows (there were two songs I didn't recognise - presumably STP songs - and again following previous set lists I am assuming they were Crackerman and Sex Type Thing).

The highlight for me was You Got No Right, which sounded absolutely fantastic, especially Slash's solo, which was as crisp and smooth as you could possibly imagine. It was my first Velvet Revolver gig and I would definitely go again in the future.