September 5, 2004 - Bologna, Italy - Independent Days Festival

[ back to Concert Chronology 2004 ]

General Information

Date: September 5, 2004
Location: Bologna, Italy
Venue: Independent Days Festival ; Via Stalingrado 40100, Bologna, Italy [ Venue website ]
Box Office Number: 0254271
Additional Info: Izzy Stradlin was a special guest for It's So Easy. Other bands of this festival: The Darkness, New Found Glory, Yellowcard, etc.

Set List

• Sucker Train Blues
• Do It For The Kids
• Headspace
• Big Machine
• Spectacle
• Fall To Pieces
• It's So Easy
• Sex Type Thing
• Set Me Free
• Slither

Reviews (4) [ send in your own review/pictures of the Bologna show ]

Thanks to Mao: Man, that was breathtaking. I'm from Milan and I spent my week end in Bologna. Just one purpose: check the Velvet Revolver and see if those old men could still rock. They rock for real. Jumping and screaming all over the stage. The crowd was absolutely astonished by the energy the band created. It wasn't really about the song they played but how they did it. I saw the Gunners 10 years ago in Modena. Since then I've been waiting to scream those words again...Guns N' Roses. And so did a lot of other people from what I've heard. Of course Duff & Co didn't appreciate when the whole crowd in the front started the GNR thing, I understand that. But it was inevitable. Especially if you decide to invite on stage Sir Izzy Stradlin. It was a blast. I can't remember much of "It's So Easy", but dust, laughing and pogo pogo pogo. I loved it and even thou I like the darkness, I def agree that a lot of people didn't give a shit about them. Velvet Revolver were the main thing. It was just another beautiful Italian night. ciao

Thanks to Lisa: It really happened!

Last night, in front of I don’t have any idea of how many people but we were a lot, Velvet Revolver exploded in Italy!

It really was a blast…in fact I have wounds…

Since the very first moment we got there we had the feeling that the most of the people came for VR, there were so many wearing VR, Slash’s Snakepit or Guns N’ Roses t-shirt!

And the most of the T-shirt for sale were VR’s!!!

It was the longest day of our lives, it started very early in the morning when we left from home to reach Bologna and I drove hundreds of miles to get there! As soon as we arrived we met a bunch of friends of ours and we stood in line with them for more then one hour, our goal was to reach the first line from the very first moment and never leave all day long to stay there when VR would have played!

Ok, we reached the goal of staying in the first line and on Slash’s side… can you still say that there is a Slash’s side??? Because he is always moving and running all over the stage!

We had hard time to reach and then keep the position for 10 and a half hours!

The sun was burning and we had no chance of eating, thank you so much to all the staff people that have been so nice and supporting and helpful with continuous water feeding, and wetting us with water also!

The more the time for VR to be on stage got closer, the more excitement was rising but we kept the line!

They were not the last band playing but they were soon before them and we got very tired listening all the bands before, some of them have been cheated, at a certain point Duff was seen back on the scene of the stage when a band from Canada was playing and the crowd started to call him and everyone got crazy and every now and then from that moment on people was calling “Slash, Slash, Slash, Slash!!!!!!”

I knew it would have happened, it was the same in Pistoia 9 years ago!

When you’re waiting to see Slash you definitely don’t have time to loose listening to any other one, whoever and however good he is!

You only want one thing to happen, Slash and the band on stage!!!

From the moment they started to keep out Matt’s drums, that is really impressive and beautiful and enormous!!! And then Slash’s guitars … and the top hat … people lost control!

And then, at almost half past nine (no chance of watching the watch when it started!)!!! Ghey got on stage!!!

It was a blast, everybody got crazy, everybody wanted to get closer and they were pushing and pushing… I really can’t believe I could survive it!

At a certain point I really thought about famous St. Louis riot and of how easy it could be to change a fantastic night in a tragedy!

Today I’m in pieces, I’ve got haematomas all over my body, I’m alive only thanks to my husband (Max) who left his first line to come behind me and try to protect me from being squeezed on the barriers!

I don’t know, I’m convinced that the show was stopped before time because of security reasons…

The band left the stage and they didn’t came out for encore, they left the stage without a good night or a bye bye or whatever a word and before the scheduled time that’s the reason why I’m pretty sure they were stopped!
But let's go back to the show!

They’ve been fantastic, great, big, wonderful, incredible!

Slash and Duff and all of them moving from one side to another of the stage spreading energy and power!

Highlight of the night was the gift they gave us!

Izzy Stradlin!!! He guested It’s so easy and it was such an emotion!

The crowd lost control, they’ve been singing along all the show but it’s so easy was a blast!

After this song, I think obviously, many people started to call “Guns N' Roses!”, I’m sorry that Slash didn’t like it (he said “Velvet revolver, Velvet revolver, it’s easy!”) surely it wasn’t nice towards Scott but we had Guns n’ Roses on stage!

All there but Axl and I think maybe, deep in his heart, Slash and Duff was also glad thinking of all the love their former band still gets from all over the world!

I’m sure everybody loved the show, they were great, they played almost an hour.

They almost never talked except for introducing their very good friend and for Scott saying the usual “We’re Velvet Revolver, a rock n’ roll band” … I really think he had no need of telling us!

It was a fantastic night and I’m not going to talk of how hard was then to take the car and stay awake, and go back for hundreds of miles because this morning we had to go to work!

I’m very angry with myself because I didn’t put the film in the camera before and once started it was impossible to do it, but I’m so happy of having been there! I’d definitely do it again million times!

Thanks to Girl@Rock: I saw Velvet Revolver in Bologna...it was the first time...they were great. I went in Bologna only for them & I was very happy when at 21 40 they came out...definitely a great concert...the best I've ever seen. Also my friend...she's a punk ....loved them!!!! Slither was wonderful all the people with Duff saying..hey!!! My favourite song is Big Machine and I'm still shocked...Velvet Revolver rocks!!!! And Izzy....a great surprise...thank you Velvet Revolver your show was too short but you are the best!!!

Thanks to Slash_131085: Amazing show!!! They played only ten songs but it was fantastic. They started at 9.40 pm more or less and they played about 50 minutes. The first song was Sucker Train Blues that is one of my favourite and the live version really rocked (big pogo during it), then they played Do It For The Kids, a song that I don't like so much but I think they played it very well and the live version is definitely much better than the studio one. After that they played Headspace (really really powerfull).

After Headspace I don't remember the order of the songs but i'm sure they played Spectacle, Set Me Free, It's So Easy (with Izzy introduced by Scott, that has been a really good surprise, thank you guys), Sex Type Thing from STP, Big Machine, Slither (that was the last one), Fall To Pieces (I realized that Velvet Revolver is much famous in Italy than what I thought cause all the public was singing the chorus with Scott and lots of them knew all of the words....also of the others songs).

After Slither the show ended and I think a great number of persons didn't give a fuck to The Darkness cause I think that 1/4 of the public minimum went away after the end of Velvet Revolver concert (me and my friends too).

The band was fantastic...I've never seen Guns N'Roses or Stone Temple Pilots so that was the first time I saw them. All the guys looked good also Scott and Slash.