August 21, 2005 - Tucson, AZ - Ava - Anselmo Valencia Amphitheater

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General Information

Date: August 21, 2005
Location: Tucson, AZ
Venue: Ava - Anselmo Valencia Amphitheater; 5655 West Valencia, Tucson, AZ 85746 [ Venue website ]
Box Office Number: 520.879.5417
Additional Info: Brian Tichy was a temporary replacement for Matt Sorum, who fractured his hand in a boating accident. Support Act: The Actual and Chevelle

Thanks to Nathan for the set list!

Set List

• Sucker Train Blues
• Do it For The Kids
• Headspace
• Superhuman
• Dead and Bloated
• Illegal I Song
• Fall To Pieces
• Come On, Come In
• Big Machine
• It's So Easy
• Sex Type Thing
• Set Me Free
• Wish You Were Here
• You Got No Right
• Mr. Brownstone
• Slither

Reviews (10) [ send in your own review/pictures of the Tucson show ]

Thanks to Mike: Big memo to anyone associated with Velvet Revolver who might read this. The sound was finally good! I think it's because they used the gigantic house speakers for the vocals. You could actually hear them sing! And they're damn good! Duff looked stunned that he could hear himself. Sixth time I've seen them and it was the first time Scott didn't have to struggle and scream over the bass, drums and distortion.

The opening act "The Actual" was pretty good. The singer sounded like a cross between the two singers from the Goo Goo Dolls and the music was like Blink 182/Sum 41..only with balls and some real rock n' roll thrown in. Scott Weiland co-produced their new album and they sound good--real punk not the cookie cutter stuff out now. Got to meet all of them and had them sign their album--great guys! Hope they make it.

Chevelle--embarassing! Hopefully they learned something about rock n' roll and stage presence from watching Velvet Revolver. Why were they there?

As for Velvet Revolver. Slash added an extra solo to almost every song. "Wish You Were Here" was as great as previously described by others. Dave stayed away from most of the band and didn't "mingle" as much as he has. It was weird. Kinda like when the band first started. Hope all is well with him. Nothing much else to say that hasn't been said by others. Go and see them. It will be one of the best nights of your life! They haven't been within six hours of where I live and I've driven up to 12 hours to see them and it is worth it every time!

Thanks to ed: Great show. My second time seeing Velvet Revolver. They absolutely kicked ass. An almost 2 hour preformance. Great intro from the announcer "Tucson!! Please welcome, the band that needs no introduction, but gets one anyway. From Hollywood, Velvet Revolver" then they just went right into Sucker Train Blues. After they were done playing that, Scott introduced themselves to Tucson, Arizona and exclaimed they play motherfucking rock 'n roll. Then came Do It For The Kids which was amazing. Headspace was great as well. Superhuman was incredible, with a great intro by Scott. Then they went straight into the STP song Dead And Blaoted (but not before Scott put us all in a time capsule and broght us back to 1992). Illegal I was next with some great hooks to it. Fall To Pieces was great as usual. Can't go wrong with a ballad. The new song Come On, Come In was great. Great to hear the new stuff. Big Machine followed with a great performance by the band. They did a remarkable job of covering GNR when they did It's So Easy. Scott is much better on vocals then Axl. Sex Type Thing was out of this world. 11 minutes long with a 9 minutes jam in the middle of it, with Scott giving up his place as bandleader and followed them.

Slash even broke into the opening strings of the Queensryche classic Silent Lucidity. Set Me Free closed the set before they came out to do their encores. Slash did a great 7 minute Guitar solo to open their cover of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here. I never like Pink Floyd all that much till I heard Velvet Revolver cover them. It was the highlight of the night. You Got No Right falls under the same heading as Fall To Pieces, you can't go wrong with a ballad (so long as you still can rock, which Velvet Revolver has got that down). Then the band broke into a long jam to start the GNR song Mr. Brownstone. Earlier comments of It's So Easy apply here. Then they closed the show with an 11 minute rendition of Slither.

It was by far the best show I have ever heard them do. I listen to it all the time. I hope they come back to Tucson soon.

Thanks to ziptang: Show was quite awesome. I flew out from OKC to go see it. Fifth Velvet Revolver outing.

Anyone have pics? Bootlegs? I was a lawn seat looser so I didn't get to get any pics this time. Hoping Wendybird was there as she's usually pretty great at it but Iadmit.the lawn seats weren't bad at ALL. You had a great view of the stage. It was very intimate. That ampitheater was pretty small.

But it was a nice night in TUS with a slight breeze. And the set was probably the best I've ever seen the guys.. Although the article failed to annouce the massive booing when chevelle was told to cut their set short. I thought they were great as well.

And has anyone mentioned The Actual? They were a lot better than I expected. Although the multiple name checking of Scott kinda put me off....

Thanks to Caveman: The lights go down, the house announcer screams for the band from Hollywood CA. STB rocks... Heeeellllllo Tucson AZ, we play MF rock 'n roll!!! Followed by a nasty ol' version of Do It for the Kids, complete with David Bowie style "Strangerrrrrr". Headspace and Superhuman were next. Both exciting live versions with Dave and Duff jumping way up to Brian Tichy's drum platform numerous times.

Then Scott puts us in all in a time capsule and takes us back to 1992 for Dead and Bloated. Ahhh those days. Illegal I ignites, with Scott on keys and Slash on Vox. Cell phones are the new lighter for Fall To Pieces, Scott sounds great. Come On, Come In sounds great, I dig the Slash solo in that. Big drums for Big Machine. It's So Easy next. Sex Type Thing with a grand breakdown where Scott speaks up and follows the band back to the end of the song. Slash's stop/go start of Set Me Free was awesome, then the band's finish was even better!

Lights go down again for a moment, then Slash and Duff appear arm-in-arm, skipping back out. Slash, complete with double guitar for an extended jam with Duff and Brian adding nice atomspheric touches. Wish You Were Here follows, this was a nice cover, especially under the clouds and stars of the Tucson night sky. You Got No Right was powerful and Scott hit all the notes. Mr. Brownstone heavily rocked the crowd and then came extended Slither, the ooo's and ahh's during the breakdown are getting different!

Great show, Velvet Revolver is in top form, they have more confidence, if you can believe it. The songs are just rolling now, just waiting for even more material. I'm not 100% sure on the playing order, but it sounds good to me, thanks again Velvet Revolver, four times to Arizona about a year....WOW.

Thanks to Flecko: The second half of the show ruled. The security was hella lame, I got in without a ticket. Then I got in front row, got kicked out, then went right back in.

Huge fights over guitar picks and drumsticks!!!

Thanks to revolverman: Kicked ass!!! This is the 3rd time for me and this has been their best show yet. These guys keep getting better and better!! Scott's voice sounded fuller and stronger than before. The band put on a great show. My props go to the drummer who did an amazing job filling for Matt!!! Can't wait to see them again!!!

Thanks to Dave: Obviously, the band rocked. Great show from musicians who've honed their chops. Few bands have as much stage presence, professionalism or experience working an audience. They got the job done and didn't seem surly or put off by playing for a small-market city. That was appreciated. I believe this show followed Vegas, a potential death trap for musicians prone to party. As such, Chevelle's lead singer had some difficulty belting but he has one of the best voices in music. Scott's 3-man band he's apparently producing, is weak. I think they were called "No Appeal". The chap swinging the bass around annoys. Just a guess but they won't be playing the Vans Warpped Tour anytime soon.

Anyhoo, congrat's to Velvet Revolver for swaggering rock. One question, hey, Scott, what happened the sensitive wordsmith poet in you? Dropping the F bomb every sentence is fucked up. Oh yeah, phuck the press.

Thanks to Pete: The show was absolutely amazing! This is the third time I've seen Velvet Revolver (once at El Ray Theatre in LA, once at Wiltern in Hollywood). Velvet Revolver played even better this time then the last two times I had seen them. Scott was awesome, Duff was charging around the stage like he owned it, Slash-- what else can you say, absolutely breathtaking, the best guitar preformer I've ever seen! Dave was cool and the replacement drummer (Brian Tichy, I think) definetly held his own. I took three of my buddies and they were all in awe on how awesome Velvet Revolver was. All of them thought it was the best show they had ever been to. They played for about an hour and a half, playing most of Contraband, including "You Got No Right" in the encore. Played "Come on Come in", Pink Floyd's "Wish you were here", "Mr.Brownstone", "It's So Easy", STP's "Sex Type Thing" and "Dead and Bloated". Unbelievable show! Can't wait to see 'em again, probably in LA.

Thanks to Joe: The whole concert from beggining to end was great. Even though Matt Sorum wasn't there, the guy filling in did a great job. Just wanted to share my excitment. Thanx

Thanks to Johnny: Great show by the band. Fantastic way to enter Ozzfest. They played almost 2 hours. Long 10 Guitar solo by Slash in the beginning of the best Pink Floyd cover I've ever heard of "Wish You Were Here", as well as a great 10 minute jam in the middle of "Sex Type Thing". Scott even gave up his spot of band leader and let them take the song where they wanted it to go, instead of following him (his words). As I said, fantastic show. Great to hear over and over again. Also much better than the 10/23/04 Phoenix show that only clocked in around 1 hour and 20 minutes. It seemed real rushed. The 8/21/05 Tucson show was much more relaxed and the band gave the best preformance I've ever heard them do. Hope they come back to Arizona soon.