My near perfect show last time I saw VR was the only thing that saved me from a mental meltdown caused by my latest VR show.

I had to work late, and I knew this, but I took the risk anyway. I read the reviews and message boards to determine that VR was going on at 9:30 or 9:45 everywhere else, and I thought I could make it there by 9:45. I knew there wasn’t an opener, but I had calculated my risk. And I lost. They went on at 8:45, and played a shorter set then normal. I got to hear 4 songs. Set Me Free, Mr. Brownstone, Sex Type Thing, and Slither.

But, in those four songs, I knew something was amuck with Weiland. Lo and behold, a couple of days later we hear he’s back in rehab. Apparently he had been smoking like crazy, and his voice sounded much more hollow than last time. He was doing some nonsensical spoken word stuff between songs. The rest of the band, while always being somewhat separate from him, seemed even more distant.

Slash was wearing a Stubbs shirt, adding to my already growing homesickness. He must have been bitten by the bug when he played their a few days before.

You can read some real reviews here. With the announcement of an STP reunion, the rehab stint, etc., it may have been the last 4 songs I’ll ever hear live from them.

OVERALL: 5/10
VR performance: 6.5/10 (compared to last show)
venue (The Warfield): 8.5/10
crowd/scene: 6/10
value ($60/ticket): 3/10
memorable: 4/10