Velvet Revolver and Alice in Chains

The promoter started giving away free tickets to the Velvet Revolver and Alice and Chains show in Atlanta at the HiFi Buys Amphitheater (Lakewood). With free tickets available, why not? We scored some lousy seats and then just sat in some good ones for the show.



The crowd was a bit rough looking, but all seemed to be there just to have a good time. I am grateful I was not hit with a drug test at work this morning. It seems like everybody was smoking pot at the show and everybody also ignored all the no smoking signs. Usually Lakewood is good about enforcing that rule, but they really did not even make an effort last night.

Alice in Chains was loud. Their 3 big hits sounded fantastic and all their other stuff kind of blurred together. The had great video for "Rooster" which included morphing images of Bush, shots of GOP presidents, various wars, Bush's crooked administration, one image of a "Bush Lied, Thousands Die" sign, and the last image "No War!" That seemed to get approval form the crowd that did not really look political.

Velvet Revolver was decent. Weiland has a stage presence very similar to Mick Jagger. His voice in inconsistent, however. Slash is great when not screwing licks. The rhythm section is the best part of the band. The did a few Stone Temple Pilot songs and GNR's "Patience." I enjoyed it, but we did not bother to stay till the end. Beating the traffic seemed more important than catching the last few songs.

Overall good, but probably not worth the hearing loss I suffered.