Coors Amphitheater

Velvet Revolver 9/16/07

I did not hear about this show until about a month after tickets had gone on sale but somehow was still able to score general admission floor tickets directly through Ticketmaster. Being a fan of Guns N’ Roses and Stone Temple Pilots obviously made Velvet Revolver exciting on paper but this excitement was cemented the first time I heard Contraband. For some reason unbeknownst to me I missed out on seeing Velvet Revolver when they came to San Diego to support that album so I was not about to miss out again when they came back to support their new album Libertad that had been released just a couple months before this show. This was about as close as I was ever going to get to seeing Guns N’ Roses since I had never seen them and as a bonus a reunited Alice In Chains opened.

William DuVall had gotten even better in his lead singer role in the year that had passed since I last saw Alice In Chains. We were still two years away from Black Gives Way to Blue so we were treated to a very Dirt heavy setlist. Apparently I was not the only one ecstatic to hear these songs again live as evidenced by the entire crowd singing along to every word.

ALICE IN CHAINS SETLIST: Again, Grind, We Die Young, Them Bones, Dam That River, Rain When I Die, Down in a Hole, No Excuses, Angry Chair, Man in the Box, Would?, Rooster

Velvet Revolver was absolutely fantastic. There was a moment when Slash came about 10 feet in front of me and just ripped off the most effortless badass minute and a half solo I may have ever seen. The Velvet Revolver songs were amazing but seeing them perform three of my favorite GNR songs and three STP songs was equally amazing. A full on sitting on stools performance of “Patience” was goosebump inducing.

VELVET REVOLVER SETLIST: Let It Roll, She Mine, Sucker Train Blues, Do It For the Kids, Superhuman, Big Machine, Pills, Demons, Etc., Vaseline, The Last Fight, Interstate Love Song, Patience, Gravedancer, It’s So Easy, Get Out the Door, Fall to Pieces, She Builds Quick Machines, Set Me Free, Mr. Brownstone, Sex Type Thing, Slither

Ozzfest 7/9/06

Full disclosure: This show definitely falls into the “fuzzy” category of memories. Not because I was blacked out or anything, just because this was my fifth time seeing Disturbed and my fifth time seeing SOAD and this show does not stick out in my mind for any particular reason. I did not really care about or maybe even watch the other bands on the bill (no Ozzy did not play this date). Here’s what I do know: I was there, I had not been to Ozzfest since 2003 and both the bands that I came to see rocked. I had not seen Disturbed for about three years and they were touring for the album Ten Thousand Fists that was released the prior September. For some reason I did not buy/get acquainted with this album until sometime after this show. I had just seen System of a Down a little less than a year before but they had since released Hypnotize, the second half of the amazing Mesmerize/Hypnotize double album. I found a decently shitty video clip of Disturbed from this show on YouTube but all the clips of SOAD are from other dates of Ozzfest 2006…

Green Day 10/2/05

Green Day was still touring for the album American Idiot that was released almost exactly a year before this show. Me and a girl I was dating at the time randomly happened to be in a parking lot where the radio station ROCK 105.3 had set up a tent and were giving stuff away. Turns out they were giving away tickets to this show and we won! Somehow I never saw Green Day before this but it was not from a lack of liking them. I remember “Hitchin’ a Ride” being absolutely amazing, I remember Tre singing “All By Myself” and I remember being impressed with how thick the sound was with a second guitar player. At the end of the show fireworks were shot upwards from the very outer top of the stage. I walked away excited that Green Day had reached the height of those fireworks and I was there to see it.

SETLIST: American Idiot, Jesus of Suburbia, Are We the Waiting, St. Jimmy, Longview, All By Myself, Hitchin’ a Ride, Brain Stew, Jaded, 2000 Light Years Away, Knowledge (Operation Ivy), Basket Case, She, King for a Day, Shout (Isley Brothers)/Stand By Me (Ben E. King), Wake Me Up When September Ends, Minority, Maria, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, We Are the Champions (Queen), Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)

Tom Petty 8/20/05

What can I say? Tom Petty is a legend. I’m pretty sure a lot of “older” music I like is because of my exposure to it through my dad. He always had music playing so I think I absorbed it subconsciously and in some cases really got to liking and appreciating it. In the case of Tom Petty I really started getting into it with his Greatest Hits album released in 1993. There is not one bad song on that album. I’m sure there are plenty more gems hiding on his full-length albums but at the time of this writing I am saving the exploration “for a rainy day.” It’s like having new music on tap from an older artist whenever I decide for it to be.

I went to this show with a girl I was seeing at the time, her friend and her friend’s boyfriend. We had lawn “seats” which lack in view but make up for in vibe. There seems to be more of a “community” type of feel to the lawn. All I remember of the Black Crowes is “She Talks to Angels” but I’ve never really been a fan of their music. While Tom Petty is not the most energetic person I have ever seen perform, the music was on point. You could tell the band were actually enjoying themselves playing all the hits, which made a huge difference. I was disappointed they did not play “You Got Lucky,” but “Breakdown” and “Runnin’ Down a Dream” were huge for me.

SETLIST: Listen to Her Heart, You Don’t Know How It Feels, Breakdown, Don’t Do Me Like That, Free Fallin’, I Won’t Back Down, Mary Jane’s Last Dance, I’m Crying (The Animals cover), Handle With Care (Traveling Wilburys cover), Honey Bee, Melinda, Learning to Fly, Don’t Come Around Here No More, Refugee, Runnin’ Down a Dream, You Wreck Me, Gloria, American Girl

Motley Crue 3/22/05

Motley Crue was touring for the anthology album Red, White & Crue that had just come out in February. This tour also marked the return of Tommy Lee who had left the band in 1999. I had no idea that they were coming to town until I was listening to the radio at work one day and it was announced that they were giving away tickets to caller number whatever. I was feeling lucky so I called in and I ended up getting through to win! The caveat was that I only won a single ticket because the radio station was organizing some sort of blind date, which was fine since I happened to be single at the time.

I was left under the impression that the contest winners would be served food and alcohol in our “special area” so I did not bring any money or beer to pregame in the parking lot like I normally would. It turns out the contest winners got to purchase beers for $8 instead of the usual price of $9. We were not off to a good start but I hung around to see what this blind date was all about. They had some silly little game to match everyone up and I got matched up with a gal that was probably blowing Motley Crue when I was still riding my bike around with training wheels. I am not opposed to older women in general but she looked like your average worn-out-older-rocker chick that was probably never that cute to start with. That set aside we did not hit it off too well either so I found my way to my seat. Not only was my free seat almost as far away from the stage as possible in the corner but the weather also turned from sunny to cold and rainy within a matter of only a few hours. I put the swag t-shirt I received from the radio station over my existing t-shirt and waited in misery for Motley Crue to come out. They ended up starting the show a full hour after they were supposed to so by then I was sober, alone, sopping wet and cold. They opened with “Shout At the Devil” which was awesome, but I will never know how good the rest of the show was because by then I was so over it that I decided to get the fuck out of there.

Rock N Roll Recollections

Fuzzy recollections of bands that rocked my world