May 15, 2007 - Washington, DC - Nightclub 9:30

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General Information

Date: May 15, 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Venue: Nightclub 9:30; 815 V St. N.W.Washington, DC. [ Venue website ]
Box Office Number: (202) 393-0930
Additional Info: Special guests The Actual.

Set List

• Let It Roll
• Do It For The Kids
• Sucker Train Blues
• Superhuman
• The Last Fight
• She Mine
• Big Machine
• Get Out The Door
• Fall To Pieces
• Vasoline
• Just 16
• She Builds Quick Machines
• Set Me Free
• Wish You Were Here
• Used To Love Her
• Psycho Killer
• Slither

Reviews (7) [ send in your own review/pictures of the Washington show ]

Thanks to Cory Perlman: The show was great overall and we had a blast! We paid the $185 each for the VIP section which was in the balcony right over Duff. I heard a lot of people complain that it was too crowded and they didn't get enough for their money. One guy said "I was expecting lounge chairs!". I thought we had one of the best spots in the house and the band, especially Duff, made eye contact with us often. I was a bit jealous of the people right in front of the stage. Scott kept leaning over and touching them and people were practically playing Slash's guitar for him! It was one of the "softest" crowds I have ever seen, not much pushing and shoving. At times it was frustrating because most people were just standing there. Knowing their setlist, I kept saying which songs were coming next, but nobody seemed to care or know what the hell I was talking about. I do wish they could mix it up just a little bit each night and we were disappointed with Slash. He just stood there and his guitar was not turned up enough, maybe just an off night for him. Also, Scott and Dave almost ran into each other several times, they would both stop and go around each other. I know it is a small stage, but it looked awkward. Also, the only VIP to get anything was the blonde with the big tits, Matt handed her his drumstick, what a surprise!

Thanks to BluBabyDc: Everybody in my party (of four) thought this show was mediocre -- two of us saw them at the 9:30 three years ago and they were amazing. Made me a fan, anyway. ot so in this case, and I'm not sure why.

The problem might have been the motivation. It was clear upon entry that it was all staged for some serious filming. There were expensive monster video cameras about (one on a huge boom from the upstairs balcony) and signs that said you were consenting to being filmed simply by entering the premises -- something they should've told people before they bought tickets. The place was beyond packed, moreso than when this club normally sells out and that's because they opened up a new lot of tix at the end.

For the kick-off we were on the floor way in back, where the sound is normally pretty spot-on. But two songs in I felt the need to go higher because the sound was off, and I also wanted to see the guys in all their glory. So I went to the center balcony, one of the best spots for viewing and listening, and SHIT the vocals were still muddy! (I'm not a biker chick, Shaggy, but I must've been near you.) It was that way all night and I thought halfway through that it must be because they'd arranged the sound for the cams as opposed to a live room or something... ? Not sure, all I know is I felt screwed (in the wrong way). The band themselves were fine. A little cookie cutter. Scott was nearly himself, but he seemed rehearsed; I wouldn't say he was wild, and he normally is.

Glad I saw them last time. It was cool to be there again this time (seeing an arena band in a small club like this is always cool), but it was disappointing where it matters most -- musically! It was so muddy I can't even tell you if I liked the new tunes. Again, I'm not sure about the motivation. There was even a loss of rockstar drama with the all-lights-all-the-time scenario (for filming). And then we found out upon exit that there was a heavy duty push for the opening act because, to quote them, "we're on Scott's new label." BIG MACHINE INDEED!

Thanks to Gregg Picard: I'm a couple days late, but better late than never right? At any rate, my guitar player and I went to the 9:30 Club in DC Tuesday night (May 15) to check out Velvet Revolver. We were stoked to be going mainly because they are one of the last REAL rock n' roll bands remaining and the 9:30 Club is a VERY small venue. We actually were lucky enough to see VR there prior to the Contraband tour as well, so we knew we were in for a hell of a show.

Doors opened at 7:30pm and the room filled up quickly. The first thing we noticed was that there were legal disclaimers everywhere posted stating that anyone going to the show was concenting to be in a video they were shooting. They had many cameras around the venue including 3 by the soundboard, 2 on the balcony, one on a boom to the side of the stage and a few camera men standing in the security gap between the stage and the front row. 9:30 Club is strictly GA, so we parked to the right of the stage about 25 feet back.

The Actual started up at 8:45pm. I know Scott Weiland is high on them and sees something in them, but we thought they were awful. We are both musicians so we respect that they are doing their thing, but honestly the last 4-5 local bands we played with were quite a bit better than them. It's not that I simply didn't like their style....which I didn't really...BUT...they were boring performers with an unoriginal sound. Their mix was awful as well. Honestly it was painful to watch. For $70 for tickets it was a huge disappointment to have a band of that low caliber and low energy opening such a HUGE ROCK show. All being said they played about 40 minutes and ended their set with a disgraceful cover of Cheap Trick's Dream Police.

It took the crew about 40 more minutes to get the stage turned over and for VR to hit the stage. Lights went out at about 10pm sharp and the boys hit the stage and tore through the following set list.

The band was tight....the sound was GREAT. Scott sang incredible. I have seen him perform about 5-6 times with VR and STP and although he is an amazing frontman...his vocals usually suffer live as he dashes and slithers around the stage.....this was NOT the case this night...he was amazingly spot-on with the vocals. The new tracks were exceptional! They were somewhat more commercial than the tracks on Contraband and extremely catchy! "Last Fight" which people have been raving about was actually my least favorite. It is a beautiful seriously catchy ballad, but not really my thing. I particularly dug "Get Out The Door" which Scott intro'd as a song they wrote in Hollywood watching Transvestite Prostitutes on the corner by the studio and wondering what was going through their minds, etc.The tune was a very catchy 70's style rocker in the vein of Aerosmith meets Cheap Trick. Wish You Were Here was exceptional as well and very heartfelt by the band. Psycho Killer was absolutely phenominal as well. The show lasted just under 90 minutes and simply did not let up in energy! The cameras were all over so I'm excited to see what comes out of it. I think it's worth mentioning that in some of the other reviews I've seen, people said that the new material was played at a lower comfort level and energy by the band and also received the same way by the crowd. This was in NO WAY true at the DC show. It was even keel all night......LOT's OF ENERGY in both directions. I ended up standing about 3 people back center stage for everything other than the first few songs so I had an amazing view of the band from only a few feet and in some cases inches away. For all the gear heads I'll hit the nitty gritty next.

Matt was playing his Silver set consisting of 2 Floor Toms, 1 Rack Tom, Snare, Large Jason Bonham Style Kick Drum and about 7-8 cymbals. No logo on the drums at all this time...In fact no logos on anything. No back-drops, nothing on the amps, etc...Slash was in his usual right side of the stage. He used 4 full Marshall stacks (1960A Cabinets....16 in all stacked in 4 columns of 2). He wore the top hat the entire show and throughout the night he used about 4-5 Les Pauls, a double headed SG for Wish You Were Here, A Gibson Melody Maker for Used To Love Her and the Mockingbird for STB. No surprises from Duff who played his White and Black 80's Fender Jazz Specials and a Fender Aerodyne Jazz (late 2000's). His amp set up was the same as always, (4) GK 4x10 cabinets to the left of the drums with the RB2001A Heads. Dave was the big surprise on gear. The last tour he played through full stacks (Mesa's I believe) and mainly played his Fernandes Ravelles. This time he played older vintage looking Mesa 2x12 combos. 2 of them side by side each stacked on top of 2 1x12 external cabinets. He played primarily Gibson semi-hollow body guitars throughout the night looked like at least 4-5.

That's all folks. For those of you that missed it....it kicked MUCH ass. For those of you who have a chance to go in your town....DO IT! Long live real rock!

Thanks to luvnduff: They played a lot of new stuff. As for a set list...I'm really bad with song titles. I know they did Do It for the Kids, Big Machine, they did an STP song Vasoline? I think the name is...not big into STP....and from GnR they did I Used To Love Her. They did their cover of "Wish You Were Here" and of course they played the singles from the first album, Slither, Set me Free, Fall to Pieces. And they played the song they used to always open with, the one that's start with just Duff on the bass. Sorry, I have the album and all, I just never really pay attention to song titles.

One of the new songs they sang, Scott said it was going to be their first single. And one of the other new songs, was like a ballad type song. I could see some of the set list from where I was....I think the first song was called Let it Fall? All the new stuff sounds pretty cool. I'm excited about the album!

Thanks to Shaggyvideo: It was a kick ass show. I was on the balcony, dead center. They were on fire and I had a blast...except this drunk biker chick Rhonda kept dancing and bumping into me. She was pissed me, my gf, and my brother didn't let her move in on the rail before the Actual came on (we wanted some elbow room for the whole show). She kept bitchin about how it was general admission and all I could think was that general admission means first come, first serve..not that people should have to let you squeeze in between them if you want them to.. fuck her. They ripped the fuck out of the songs. Last Fight is amazing live.

Thanks to Tbone: Great show!! It was so awesome to be so close to you in the 9:30 club. You guys sound great and rocked the house!!! Great crowd too.

Thanks to Zucc: It's the next day after Velvet Revolver and my ears are still ringing! All in all a great show! I actually saw them back in 04' at the 9:30 club. Rest assured, they did not dissapoint 3 years later! The setlist was exactly the same as the last show. They played six new songs off Libertad and a handful of songs off Contraband. Starting with 'Let it Roll' and ending with 'Slither'. I really enjoyed their cover of Vasoline. It reminded me of the old days of STP. Back to the show, I was actually front row right in front of Duff and Dave. Since I was stage left, I really couldn't hear Slash all that well. He pretty much stayed all the way to the right and did not move all that much. It was hard to make out his solos due to the left speaker blaring Duff's base lines. Scott wiggled and writhed around as usuall making his way to both sides of the stage. I have to admit that he still has plenty of moves and probably picked up some new ones across the way. If any of you are planning to see VR, definitely come early and try to get right in the middle about 4 rows back. That's where you can get the best sound from all the players. Standing up front is cool, Scott gave me the fist punch, Duff handed me a guitar pic and Matt gave me his drum stick, but looking back I would have rather been farther back so I could have enjoyed the show more as a whole. Thank you VR for coming back to the 9:30. Hope you'll use some of the footage caputured for a Video/DVD. Rock on!