LINKS:

myspace.com/pearl

velvetrevolver.com

myspace.com/velvetrevolver

Velvet Revolver are now on a European tour, and the first of the two shows they played in London this month turned into an all-around perfect night – starting with a great set from their support band Pearl and ending with the headliner’s own ball-breaking performance.

Pearl, fronted by Meatloaf’s daughter Pearl Aday, will most likely soon headline their own tour, if the conviction and the force they have put behind their 30-minute set on the night is anything to go by. Pearl’s fiancé, Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian, who also plays in the band, reinforces their straightforward old-school rock message with raucous onstage panache, now and then exchanging currents of electrifying energy with his paramour, the pair bouncing it off each other in a way that makes their simplistic tunes sound fresh and decidedly compelling. While his Dionysian beard and slap-bald head give him a distinct Bacchanalian look, she is very much a Nymph -- svelte and pretty, a genial singer with a stunning set of pipes and bags of confidence. Their no-frills, vocals-centred approach to rock standards takes it all back to the basics, spanning a range from heartfelt ballads to clear-cut punk, which on the night complimented the headliner’s raison d'etre perfectly.

Velvet Revolver left a space of 40 minutes between the two sets and came on stage at half nine to a ready-to-riot crowd. “Let it Roll” opened the show with a snappy big bounce, riding the wave of expertly modulated intensity, Slash finding time to strike his trademark poses for a mob of photographers in the photo pit, and Scott Weiland strutting the stage with aplomb of which only the most decadent of rock’n’roll dandies are capable. His voice at times sounded deliberately mannered, and at times punched squarely in a hard-hitting rock onslaught, but always remained poised, mixing in equal measures brazenness and a flawless sense of style.

Duff’s infallible cool, by contrast, bordered on aloofness, which balanced perfectly with Weiland’s brassy stage moves. Despite looking slightly detached on the night, the bassist never stopped churning out rock-solid chops, together with Matt Sorum building a clockwork foundation for the band’s space-filling wall of sound.

Standouts in this show were a-plenty, crowd-pleasers “She Mine” and “She Builds Quick Machines” getting a rowdy reception from the venue full of with die-hard fans, but old Guns’n’Roses numbers made for the most spectacular highlights of the show. Fists rose to the air and headbanging went rampant to “It’s So Easy”, the mood changing from elated to introspective towards the end of the song when Slash plunged into an emotive solo heavy with blues overtones. His leads have slightly less depth these days and his technique is now less nuanced, but he still retains the same sensibility and good taste which are at the core of his artistry, and his chops show no signs of abating.

Slash

While on record Velvet Revolver sound clear, controlled, and logical, live they are refreshingly free, bringing extra texture and depth to their sound, and introducing a diversity of themes that often move away form the familiar rock grooves, at times venturing into fluid and languid moments where Slash’s sense of melody remains matchless. “Patience” was exactly that kind of showstopper -- elegant and pure, the unaffected pristine harmony taking the band into a realm outside rock clichés and practiced formulas.

At the end of the show, an ovation of appreciation soon turned into thunderous demand for more tunes, before the band embarked on a 4-song encore, with “Mr. Brownstone” and “Sex Type Thing” drawing the loudest cheers. Both were the perfect anthems for the partying crowd (and the crowd that gathered at Brixton Academy that evening was no doubt of a partying kind), giving everyone a sense of continuity with the past, and defining this band as honest musicians who, amidst all the chaos that has now descended on the music business, manage not only to flourish, but to restore the original meaning of that which now threatens to become obscured and lost.

Duff