[Hollywood]

Long winded review to follow

Had to drive 2 hours to see them at UMass. What an awesome show though, I'm a big GnR fan as well as a big STP fan so I couldn't wait to see this concert. Weiland came out with some type of German SS outfit hat and all. His voice was on and you could tell they were all pretty wasted. I was worried that some of them had sobered up, but Slash was his usual drunk self. He would speak into the mic and mumble something about Massachusetts and then start wailing on the guitar.

I could tell Duff was much more composed than he used to be back in the good ole days of GnR. He would drink onstage and fall over, speaking into the mic with what seemed like some unknown dialect. I could actually understand him. What was great is they started out playing some of their own songs, then Duff came to the mike asking if this was "Ivory League country". Everyone was like "fuck no" and he laughed and started the bass line to "It's so easy". I went crazy because I didn't think they would play any GnR songs.

Scott did a good impression of Axl, in fact he sounded better in concert. Axl's voice was always fucked up in concert.

They were loud and energetic as hell, during the middle of the show Scott walked out into the crowd, saying something like "What this is, this is a true test of fan trust". I was hoping he was going to crowd surf down the rows of the seats and into the floor, but he probably changed his mind.

Their set was pretty cool, a few different backdrops and nice lighting. Matt Sorum on drums can still kick ass. He was really into it.

After the first set was over, Slash came out with a double-necked guitar. He started an acoustic solo with Duff following him up on Bass, and then Scott came out and Slash led into Wish you were Hear by Pink Floyd. That was pretty cool, the whole crowd was into it. Following that song Slash started another solo and then transitioned into their song Superhuman.

They left the stage, but the show wasn't over yet. The lights of the Velvet Revolver sign started flashing again and Matt came running out and dove into his drum set, immediately starting a drum solo. This was the start of their second encore, with Duff, Dave, Slash, and Scott arriving in the middle of Matt’s solo. He started to kick out the "You could be Mine" GnR tune, I got all excited but he changed the beat to the "Mr. Brownstone" beat. Slash had his signature guitar and he started playing the opening riff to Brownstone. Then came the rest of the band, playing along. It sounded really similar to the old Guns, so I was happy. Finally they ended their show with their hit single "slither", which lasted a good ten minutes or so.

As per usual, I am half deaf now. Hopefully the ringing in my ears will subside in a couple of days. I had very close seats, which is both a blessing and a curse. But hell, I'd go deaf for that experience any day.