Velvet Revolver - Live in Houston

A rushed out the door DVD that tries to capitalize on what little cred VR still hasThe term supergroup, unfortunately get loosely thrown around, especially these days.  I remember back in the day when the term meant something, but unfortunately today, its just considered cheap hype.  There are a couple of bands, from recent memory, that did not deserve this designation, but the hype machine drilled it into our heads until we were almost convinced.  One of those bands that fell into that category was Velvet Revolver.   VR was hyped because it contained a big chunk of Guns and Roses, along with the voice of Stone Temple Pilots.  On paper, not a bad match, but when it came to delivering the goods, to me, they fell way short.  Due to reckless behaviors and instability, the band called it quits a few years ago, but now we have a video document of one of their performances.

Eagle Rock Entertainment has recently just released VR's first and probably last DVD Live in Houston.  The show was shot in 2005 on the band's inaugural tour, for their debut Contraband.  The DVD contains an 11 track set, which covers the new record as well as a couple of tracks from the guys former bands.  The show is a little hard to watch due to all of the erratic camera work.  The shot angles change about every 2 seconds, which can cause retinal whiplash.  The sound is okay, but not that strong either.  Too bad this one wasn't stronger, because I was open to it changing my mind about the band, but after watching this one, it just solidified my previous perception.

Bottom Line:  Velvet Revolver in the short-lived heyday.  It seems like this was put out fairly quick and could have used a bit more editing.  Not sure what spawned this release, but it was probably to try to capitalize on the success of Slash's new solo group - or to further hype the rumors of Velvet Revolver reforming with a new vocalist...

- Ragman is still pissed Maiden was kicked off Ozzfest a few years back, and he had to see VR instead