Velvet Revolver Tickets

Velvet Revolver (abbreviated to VR) is a hard rock super group with three former members of Guns N' Roses including Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum and Scott Weiland, the lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots, and Dave Kushner of the 80s punk band Wasted Youth.Velvet Revolver was formed when three former members of Guns N' Roses, Slash (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass), and Matt Sorum (drums) joined to play a benefit concert for fellow musician Randy Castillo in 2002. They subsequently decided to form a new band that would bring the spirit of rock back to the mainstream. Izzy Stradlin was initially invited to be the band's rhythm guitarist, but both Stradlin and the band decided against this due to his aversion to lead singers and life on the road. The band recruited guitarist Dave Kushner, who had previously played with Wasted Youth and Dave Navarro. Kushner had attended school with Slash and had worked with McKagan in Loaded, the band in which he played before joining Velvet Revolver. The quartet was referred to under the temporary name The Pro for a short period pending the selection of a permanent title for this emerging super group.

The band played its first live gig at the El Rey in Los Angeles in June 2003. It recorded its first album, Contraband; in the latter part of 2003 with recording complicated by Weiland's court appearances for drug charges and his subsequent sentencing to undertake rehabilitation. Velvet Revolver recorded its first track Set Me Free for the Hulk soundtrack in 2003. The band also recorded a cover of Pink Floyd's Money which is featured in the movie The Italian Job.

Velvet Revolver live in 2005 Contraband was released in June 2004, debuting at #1 on the Billboard album charts selling 256,000 in its first week of release. The album also appeared at #11 on the British album charts, and #2 on the Australian charts. The first single, Slither, topped a composite world modern rock chart in June, reached #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and #5 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Slither, which is also the band's first music video, reached #56 on the Billboard Hot 100, gone top 20 in Finland and Top 40 on a European composite chart, in Canada, and in Australia.

During 2005, the second album was announced. Scott Weiland proclaimed at the 2005 Radio Music Awards that it will be a concept album, and will be less single-driven than its previous effort, but later in 2006, Matt Sorum claimed that it will be a concept album. In December 2005, the band set Libertad (Spanish for liberty) as the working title of the album.In September 2006, Matt Sorum confirmed via Camp Freddy Radio on Indie 103.1 that the band had recently signed a deal with Rick Rubin to produce the new album. However, on his website, Sorum later claimed that producer Brendan O'Brien would be producing the album.

In October 2006, Scott Weiland announced that Libertad would most likely be released in the later spring 2007, while a few months later Slash gave May 2007 as the expected release date. The group recorded in Los Angeles with producer Brendan O'Brien, who stepped in for the band's original choice, Rick Rubin, after that arrangement did not work out, frontman Scott Weiland told Billboard.com. All of our hopes have even been elevated over the past three weeks, he said. We were really excited about six months ago, when we first began writing. Then we really kind of flat-lined for a while.

On March 12, 2007, Velvet Revolver stood in for Van Halen for their induction ceremony into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Of Van Halen, only former bassist Michael Anthony and former singer Sammy Hagar attended. Eddie Van Halen was reportedly in alcohol rehabilitation and David Lee Roth reportedly did not attend because he could not agree on which song to sing on stage with Velvet Revolver. The band played a medley of Ain't Talkin 'Bout Love and Runaround. Sammy Hagar introduced Velvet Revolver as the best rock and roll band left on the planet. Anthony and Hagar joined Paul Shaffer and the house band on stage to perform Why Can't This Be Love.

On May 13th, 2007, Duff McKagan announced that possibly 2 songs from Libertad (She Builds Quick Machines and either Let It Roll or Get Out The Door) will be playable on the upcoming videogame Guitar Hero III.After scrapping the original May 29 release date, Velvet Revolver settled on July 3 to unveil its second RCA album, Libertad. It was announced on May 11, 2007 that as a precursor to Libertad, the band will release an EP in June titled Melody and the Tyranny.