April 19, 2005 - San Francisco, CA - Bill Graham Civic Center

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General Information

Date: April 19, 2005
Location: San Francisco, CA
Venue: Bill Graham Civic Center; 99 Grove Street; San Francisco, CA 94102 [ Venue website ]
Box Office Number: (415) 371-5500
Additional Info: Support Act: Hoobastank

Thanks to Jeremy for the set list!

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
• Wish You Were Here
• You Got No Right
• Used To Love Her
• Mr. Brownstone
• Slither

Reviews (19) [ send in your own review/pictures of the San Francisco show ]

Thanks to John Whitney: Twas fucking brilliant. Velvet Revolver are amazing live and this was the best gig I was ever at. I couldn't understand how the show didn't sell out. One things for sure I'll be spreading the word of who I th best band in the world - Velvet Revolver - that's fucking who! I'm from Ireland and I hear people on about U2 and Coldplay - fuck that!

Thanks to Arianna O.: I have to say although this was my first concert, I'm glad it was them. They were so into having a good time, making the audience scream and playing good music. It all payed off and it was worth it. I went with my mom and dad, and they loved it also. They haven't been to a concert in a long time before Velvet Revolver and to them it was like bringing back memories since they're fans of Guns N' Roses. Scott Weiland was so moving. And he didn't stop. His voice was so powerful. And I loved it. Slash was so awesome with his guitar solos, it was great. As for Matt, my mom and I were surprised because he could sing and play drums. I think that is pretty hard to do. But he pulled it off. Duff and Dave were just into their bass/guitar and having that energy that everyone loves.

Thank You Velvet Revolver.

Thanks to Elora Belt: I went to the show in San Francisco and holy shit best concert I've been to!!! Maybe just because it was Velvet Revolver but the show altogether was fucking awesome. (general admission!!) We were up front and it was totally amazing! Well just wanted to mention and keep it up you guys fucking rock!

Thanks to Neva Chonin from San Francisco Chronicle: It's only trashy rock 'n' roll, but we like it

From his lavish eyeliner to his crypto-fascist stage regalia, Scott Weiland is a master of the obvious. But when he faced the crowd at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on Tuesday and declared,"We are Velvet Revolver, and we play motherf- rock 'n' roll!", he wasn't just offering a reality check for bonged-out fans: He was stating his band's raison d'ê etre. Contemporary music culture might be awash with celebrities, but it boasts precious few rock stars versed in old-school bombast. Enter Velvet Revolver, a super-group featuring ex-Stone Temple Pilots singer Weiland, guitarist Dave Kushner and former Guns 'N' Roses guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum. Rising from the ashes of rehab and band breakups, this year the quintet pulled off the comeback of a lifetime by scoring a Grammy award and seeing its debut album,"Contraband," go platinum. Velvet Revolver songs pelt the airwaves, and for the final stretch of its world tour, the group has graduated from clubs to arenas. In truth, Velvet Revolver is built for cavernous venues. Live, its performance is a simultaneously ridiculous and magnificent undertaking in which every move, guitar lick and lighting trick comes straight from the arena-rock cheat sheet. And bless the band members' spandex hearts, it works. The result is as pleasantly retro as one of Fischerspooner's electro-pop extravaganzas. The Bill Graham Civic was less than full Tuesday, but it reeked of big-time excess. From the aging Slash look- alikes playing air guitar for their breast-flashing teenage dates to the videos of gun-wielding go-go dancers with reptilian vaginas, the atmosphere was template rock 'n' roll in the most predictable sense imaginable. That's an observation, not a criticism. Velvet Revolver gives good rock star. Weiland preened and flounced like a pastiche of iconic lead singers; Slash flopped his impressive mop while loosing solo after solo of blues-laced guitar rock. Most band members bared their chests - reminding us, in the lithe Weiland's case, that male rock sexuality once meant being elegantly wasted rather than athletically ripped. And while less than original, the band's brand of retro hard rock was superficially fun.

Velvet Revolver members trotted out a few standards by their earlier bands - GNR's"It's So Easy," "Mr. Brownstone" and "Used To Love Her" and amped-up versions of STP's "Sex Type Thing" and "Crackerman" - while still covering the majority of "Contraband." The audience ate it up with equal relish, flailing to "Slither" and "Do It for the Kids" ("For all you liberal little girls who like to f- real hard," quipped Weiland) and waving glowing cell phones for the power ballad "Fall to Pieces." They formed a mini-mosh pit for the thrashier "Dirty Little Things" and chanted along to the catchy, nihilistic glam of "Big Machine."

Good times, dude. In an era when pop stars vote Republican and rappers praise the Lord between booty calls, Velvet Revolver even offered a welcome dose of old-school rock blasphemy. Introducing "Set Me Free," Weiland observed that performing a rock concert in San Francisco was infinitely more exciting than groveling in front of the new pope in Rome. A young woman in the front row responded by flashing her breasts. Weiland rolled his eyes. What it all meant is open to interpretation, but it felt ever so rock 'n' roll.

Thanks to Cindy Gagliardi: I wish I could get this review to the guys in the band, cause this review contains information that needs URGENT attention.

First let me say, I LOVE these guys. I was particularly looking forward to seeing Scott live, since I missed seeing STP. I am such a fan of his work (the last STP cd "Shangri la DEE da" was sooo good the band had to break up just to restore balance to the universe). Velvet Revolver's show could have been mediocre and I still would have paid my $50 and been happy.

I am sure the performance was brilliant. But the sound sucked. There's no other way to say it. The sound company and crew should be fired! The guitars cancelled each other out (I honestly never heard a single solo Slash played). The vocals emerged about once a song, and the bass and drums rumbled and echoed sloppily around the venue in a murky soup. What's worse is the audience didn't respond to Scott the way I'm sure he wanted (because we couldn't HEAR what he way saying/singing). He basically left the stage in what looked like disgust at the end of the night probably vowing never to come back to San Francisco again.

After so much anticipation, I have the Auditory equivilant of blue balls.

I just wanna say-- Come back guys, let's try it again.

Thanks to Blackmotorprincess: Setlist exactly like Reno show. Wish you were here is only the first verse, then into You got no right. Actually Scott forgot most of the words so he was kind of mumbling/humming. It was intersting.

I attended soundcheck as well, Scott was a no-show. The venue was probably only half filled!!!! This was by far the weirdest vibe at a Velvet Revolver show that I've ever seen. Still a great show though

Thanks to Kayley: It was my first concert and I'm so glad that it was with them! The sound was great, I was front row next to the speakers on the right. Duff came over alot and that rocked! It was the awesomest concert ever!

Thanks to Allain: Holy shit. Velvet Revolver couldn't of been better. They blew me away. They are all so talented and they really put on a show. The members always made sure to get around to the sides of the stages to play in front of everyone. I can't wait till they come back for there next tour!

Thanks to Doug: The show was great and very hard, the guys fit very well in an arena venue. They were tight and concise throughout. It was cool because they did extended jam sessions with some of their songs, like Dirty Little Thing leading into other songs. Very psychedelic and reminded me of another era of music. Then Slash got his double necked acoustic and played the intro to Wish you Were Here, which was very cool and Scott singing the opening lines before busting into one of Velvet Revolver's harder tracks I forget which one. 2 encores.

Thanks to Teresa: The show freakin rocked! I was so close to the stage, it was awesome. Hoobastank was rank (the name gives it away!) but they were better live. The only exciting thing was when the lead singer took his shirt off. But Velvet Revolver, oh dear god. So awesome every one was just flipping out! The crowd was crazy. Duff looked right at me man. It was a beautiful thing.

Thanks to Alicia: This was the best show I've ever seen! They were better than the Ozzfest I went to. As a hardcore Guns N' Roses fan, I was skeptical about Scott Weiland's ability to perform Guns N' Roses songs, but he proved himself! He did an excellent job. In fact, I believe he is the only person who could replace Axl Rose. The guys made a great decision!

I was also VERY impressed with Duff, Matt, Dave and Slash. I never saw GnR perform, but Duff and Slash surpassed anything I ever imagined they could do. Matt is an incredible drummer and Dave did an excellent job as well. If they continue the way they have, they will rule the rock 'n roll world very shortly!

I recommend getting VIP tickets the way I did--we got to get in place before the doors were opened to the public and we actually won a raffel to meet the band! The guys were exceptionally nice! They signed my CD and a picture.

Thanks so much for everything guys; words can never describe how awesome that show was and how great you guys are! If you haven't seen them live yet, do it! I'm a bigger fan now than I ever was!

Thanks to RigaTone: Major thanks to Velvet Revolver for an outstanding effort. However, lots of criticism for choosing the loser SF Civic as a venue. The acoustics were beyond horrible; guitars and vocals were a constant muddled reverberation. Too bad. This being my third Velvet Revolver show, it could've been Scott's most spirited, publicly addressing SF's psychadelic nostalgia. When he asked how many out there were trippin', the affirmative and energetic crowd response was very heart--and head--warming.

Thanks to julie116: Wow. I don't know what to say. Rock and roll lives! Scott, your an animal! The guitars and drums rocked! I can't even imagine any of these guys in bed; it would be out of this world! There was definantly a sexual vibe to the show. I was wet! I'm so glad that I saw them. There's nothing like a live performance to make you a true fan! The crowd was loving it! The whole place was yelling and screaming! My only disatisfation was involving the sound. I felt like the vocals were really quiet compared to the instruments, but what do I know!?! The visuals were awesome. All in all an amazing evening. I can't wait to see them again!

Thanks to Joel: Excellent, high energy show. Same set list as Reno (including Wish You Were Here intro leading into You Got Know Right).

Video screens hanging above both sides of the stage showed lots of cool angels throughout performance from side of stage, behind the stage looking out into the audience (Scott's view), Slash's fingers on the guitar...all sorts of cool views ;)

Scott sang his ass off. You Got No Right, Superhuman, Big Machine, Set Me Free were highlights for me.

Thanks to Neena: Holy crap! They freaking rocked the house down! I had a total blast and can't wait to see them again!

Thanks to saralovessolos: OMG!!! I just came back from the show and the first thing I had to do was post about it. It was AMAZING (as if something else was expected ). I don't remember what the exact setlist is, but I know I went crazy every song. I brought my mom from Sacramento to the show (I live in Berkeley), so unfortunately she didn't want to go down on the floor. I was up in the first balcony so it was still good seats. The only thing that bothered me was the people around me were just kinda sitting there, just simply clapping, not very enthusiastic. Meanwhile I was going crazy but yeah, I've lost my voice now and the show has made me so wound up! LOL it was GREAT, of course it was, it was FUCKIN Velvet Revolver!

Thanks to Velvet Revolverfan08: It's about 3 20 am here and just got back from the show. I was on the floor about 6 rows back. I don't think I'm going to be able to hear for a couple of days. The show was fucking amazing. There was soooo much energy. I could do without Hoobastank. I was kinda pissed thru that whole thing.

They sang some of Pink Floyd's "Wish you were here" again. I was glad to see that. But they only played the intro and sang the first couple verses. Kinda a tease. But it was a crazy show. Got stuck in the pit for a little bit and that's always interesting!

I had sooooooooooooooo much fun! Velvet Revolver fucking rocks!

Thanks to VirgoJams: WOW...blew me AWAY! What can I say..another Velvet Revolver show in the books and it was simply amazing from beginning to end! First if all I would like to say that Hoobastank put on a good show too..they played most of their popular songs and a few rare ones as well..they are fun to see! You can tell the lead singer puts lots of emotion into his singing.

Now let me get to the awsome part! What a show they put on! I was right in the front area near the stage and it was total chaos for a good while just trying to not get pushed down and what not. The crowd gave so much energy to the band. It was just great! Slash belted out his awesome guitar solos such as Fall to Pieces and Dirty Little Thing which I saw live for the first time as well as You Got No Right. That one was fun to watch because it started out with Scott sitting down in a stool and Slash standing next to him playing the beginning to You Got No Right.

Right before that I think was Wish You Were Here....it was a great sing along for them and the whole audience which they totally loved. There was one moment where Matt busted out his drum solo. YES sooo awesome! I loved when he did the intro to You Could Be Mine! The crowd responded well to the two STP songs Crackerman and Sex Type thing. The crowd mostly seemed to like when they played the GNR songs. They went totally ballistic! Their stage presence is just so huge..you can't believe that they are jamming out right in front of you. Just incredible! I think my highlights were..hearing Dirty Little Thing and You Got No Right and of course the final encore with Slither! What a way to end the night! They had did it once again! This was my second time seeing Velvet Revolver..first time was last year in SF as well. Scott looks better than ever. He is definetly in tip top shape as well as the rest of the band! Rock on guys! Awsome show and awsome memories! Thanks for a rockin kick ass performance!

Thanks to Joy: I just saw the Velvet Revolver show @ Bill Graham Amphitheater and was absolutely blown away. I've always appreciated the talent in GNR but Scott was the cherry on top. It's like they were meant to create incredible music together. Of course STP will always be close to my heart. It's all part of the evolution of the art of music. It's fascinating. When gifted artists finally find the perfect spiritual connection. Please continue being YOU!!! THANK YOU Velvet Revolver!!!