July 29, 2004 - Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom

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General Information

Date: July 29, 2004
Location: Sayreville, NJ
Venue: Starland Ballroom; 570 Jernee Mill Road; Sayreville, NJ 08872 [ Venue website ]
Box Office Number: (732) 238-5500
Additional Info: Supporting Act: River City Rebels

Set List

• Sucker Train Blues
• Do It For The Kids
• Headspace
• Big Machine
• Crackerman
• Illegal i Song
• It's So Easy
• Fall To Pieces
• Set Me Free
• Used To Love Her
• Slither
• Sex Type Thing
• Mr. Brownstone
• Surrender

Reviews (11) [ send in your own review/pictures of the Sayreville show ]

Thanks to Susan O: Best concert I've ever seen!!! It couldn't have been a better night. I'm from Sayreville so to ride 10 minutes and pay $33.00 to see such an awesome band is incredible. My husband and I were right up front in the middle. During Slither when Slash was playing his solo, right in front of us, my husband reached up and plucked a pick right off his guitar. That was amazing. Go see Velvet Revolver, you will not be sorry. I also wanted to add my husband is in picture #12 (bald guy with the g-tee). Very cool :-)

Thanks to Mike Henry: Hey RD my wife and I also flew up from Atlanta to the Sayreville show. We were both blown away by the performance. The last show I attended that even came close was STP in the Tabernacle in Atlanta. I wish the vocals had cut through the mix a little better but hey no big deal. The small room experience was awesome. I hope they expand their set list to include some of the other cuts on Contraband as I think they are all good. RD lets rock sometime, drop me an email at fattroot@yahoo.com

Thanks to R.D. Waters: Two friends and I flew up from Atlanta knowing we might never get another opportunity to see Velvet Revolver in such an intimate setting as The Starland. Of course we weren't dissapointed---with this line up of pros, you're going to get what you pay for and more. Mr. Weiland is still at the top of his game with his patended eclectic mix of art, punk and androgynous venom letting us into his world if only for a short time. At his side is a blisteringly powerful and tight unit in which each member knows his role and plays it to the hilt, but never overdoes it. I was paticularly impressed with Dave Kushner-- his fueled rythyms hit hard and effective as the driving force behind the runaway train that we saw pummel through Sayreville on Thursday.

Thanks to Stixz68: Thank God for Velvet Revolver! I am only 35 and have been a musician for 20 something years. I was thinking that rock was really dead for a while. Now I finally have a new band I can really listen to and really enjoy. Rock is back and it is Velvet Revolver. I saw both shows: Atlantic City and Starland. They were both great shows. Starland was a small venue with great atmosphere with high intensity. Atlantic City was bigger venue, but these guys rocked. They are such veterans of rock they owned that stage. These guys are arena-bound and who ever got to see the Starland show was very lucky !!! I am having trouble getting the CD out of my player. It kicks ass. Thanks Velvet Revolver for breathing some rock and roll life into what seemed to be at the end of its rope !!

Thanks to Bobby Digi: From start to finish, it was the most intense show I've ever seen. I didn't realize that Scott Weiland is such a fuckin incredible frontman. The crowd loved the band, Slash, Duff, Matt, and Dave, but Scott was really the one who moved the audience. The chemistry and energy that Velvet Revolver elicited was amazing since they've only been together for a short time. Velvet Revolver Rocks!

Thanks to Alex H : I got spit on, stepped on (I really shouldn't have worn my sandals), soaked in beer and strangers' sweat, sent bodysurfing, beat up in a mosh pit, and loved every minute of it. Wow! What a show!!! I truly think that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to see Velvet Revolver in a setting like this because I figure that they would start playing in arenas pretty soon the way they're selling records now. And to see them for the first time like this made it even more special.

I was totally star struck. To see those guys up close like that was so amazing. All those years I looked up to Slash & co. when they were in Guns and now to be right up there in front of them was just so damn cool!

Overall this was the most energetic and pumped up show I've ever been to. There was no lack of energy and the crowd in general was great. I don't know who the openning band was but they weren't bad. The only downside to the show really was the long wait for Velvet Revolver to come on (I don't think they went on earlier than 10 PM) and the sound was a bit below my expectations. Either the PA system really sucks there or they gotta get a new sound guy. But as far as the energy and intensity is concerned, it was all there. I wish they would've played "You Got No Right" but I think the Cheap Trick cover "Surrender" was the perfect song to end the night with. Awesome show!

Thanks to Mike Shepard: I couldn't agree more. I was in the front the entire time and it was like being a part of one huge organism with unbelievable energy. They were such great performers last night and the crowd absolutely fed off of them. I could not ask for a better rock concert ever. Genuinely brilliant.

Thanks to Julian: Amazing fucking show...the set list above is correct for the most part, but you missed Crackerman, which for me was one of the highlights. Anyway, the band was tight, the sound was decent, Scott's vocals could've been turned up just a notch, but I'm not complaining, the crowd drowned out most of the lyrics anyway. Funny story, I met the manager of the band after the show and he introduced me to Duff and I got Slashs' autograph, amazing night, I'll never forget it. He told me to be glad I came tonite, as it will be their last club performance around here for a long time, seeing as how the guys will be coming back "around november" and doing "much larger places"....the garden, maybe?

Thanks to Jade Levine: This show was the best experience of my life. They did the same setlist as the other shows, except their finale was a Cheap Trick Surrender cover which was awesome! During the extended solo of Illegal i Song Scott went on the keyboard. Slash's top hat made an appearance later into the performance. The band were in great form. They put on such an amazing show. People were shouting FUCK AXL on several occasions during the show. It was probably said to make Scott feel good. I love Axl, don't get me wrong, I do prefer Scott though. Scott is a better performer than Axl. Velvet Revolver seems to have great band chemistry. They must get along better with Scott than they did with Axl. Slash looks more at ease with Velvet Revolver than he did, with GNR. He doesn't wear his top hat as much, which I've heard he wears when he's feeling shy or uncomfortable. This was just another spectacular show they did. Velvet Revolver is probably the best live band you will see. I have never seen any bands that perform better than them. This was my second time seeing them and I think they got even better!

Thanks to Jade Electra: This show was amazing! When I got there I went around back and Duff was there signing autographs. He seemed very friendly but by the time I got up to him for an autograph he was in a rush to get inside. He just signed it for me quickly, but I was still really happy. The opening band was terrible, one of the guys was putting his hands in his pants, and his butt crack kept sticking out. So Velvet Revolver went on at about 10:15 and opened with Sucker Train Blues like all of their other shows on this tour. They played the same set list except they did a cover of Surrender by Cheap Trick for their finale. There were a few fights that broken out behind me and some pushing. I got pushed off the platform and to the side. I was in the second row but I was still holding on the front bar. I went to their show at Roseland Ballroom in NYC and personally I thought this one was better! This show was a lot tamer than Roseland which was the most chaotic show I had ever seen. Small venues were a really good choice for their first tour, it's very intimate, there is full on band contact. I had a great view and I took a bunch of photos. I will post them later after I have the film developed. Hopefully I got some good ones. They are just such and amazing, incredibly talented bands. The 2 performances that I have seen just blew me away. So many people were saying that AXL SUCKS! I was happy for Scott that people like him, it must make him feel good. At Roseland there were a lot of people holding up signs saying Where's Axl, and people were calling Weiland gay. I found that to be disrespectful to both Scott and the rest of the band. Weiland is an awesome performer, as is Slash and Duff. This show was even more enjoyable for me than the other. Everyone knew the words this time since their CD is out, unlike the Roseland show. All in all they put on another wonderful show! I had such an amazing time. Velvet Revolver is awesome, I love those guys!

Thanks to Roxy Freefall and Grunge: Two Words. Fucking Incredible.

First thing first. The opener was River City Rebels. They were pretty decent, however what pulled us in was that they were proud to be the drunken bafoons that New Jersians love to rip... and they held right on there and challanged every advance back. If an opener for a band of this caliber can survive a club in New Jersey, then they have a chance to make it pretty damn far.

On to the main event here kiddies. As most of you already know, they opened right with Sucker Train Blues. They followed that with Do it for the Kids, Big Machine, Cracker Man, Illegal i Song... now lets pause for a moment on that... Illegal i Song was one of the many highlights of the evening. During the solo, Scott jumped on the keyboards and extended an already masterful solo into something that was beyond this world. After Illegal i Song came It's so Easy, which was right up to par with the original. At times, even exceeded it. And in true form a few "Fuck Axl"'s were heard. Then came Fall To Pieces which we have to admit, actually got us a bit chocked up it was so good. Set Me Free was dead on tonight. It was probably one of the best versions of it we have ever heard... actually a note on the show as a whole, they played the best versions of ALL their songs. For a band that's been off for a fuckin month they were fuckin tight as hell. Then the first break happened and the crowd mellowed to a dull roar... until Slash came out with the top hat and started playing Used to Love her. The crowd at this point is going fuckin apeshit. Alright at this point we are so high off of the fuckin energy from the band and the crowd around us, so if we forget anything or mix anything up at this point, please be kind. :) They definitely played Slither and Sex Type thing before going onto their second encore of the evening.

At this point we almost jumped on the stage and attacked Matt Sorum because he started playing the intro to You Could be Mine before going into Mr. Brownstone. Now even though Mr. Brownstone was cool as hell, admit it folks, you wanted to hear You Could be Mine... really... admit it... And at the end of the evening, Scott asks the audience what the last song will be... actually he asked if anyone knew what the last one would be... the two if us, of course, shouted Bodies, and the rest of the crowd shouted Negative Creep. But actually, Scott peers up from under his hat and tells us they have a surprise..... Cheap Trick's Surrender. Holy fucking shit was that awesome and an appropriate way to end a fantastic evening.

Take our advice, if you haven't seen them yet... go as fast as you can. It is one of the most intense, amazing experiences you will have in your life. Take it from us...