Man, I played this one smart. I thankfully had a pair of earplugs in my car and decided early on to take them. Boy, am I thankful that I did. That was one loud freakin’ concert.

We made it there just in time. The reason we ran late was because the Lakers were playing the 2nd game of the NBA finals and it was the last quarter. Because the Pistons came back to tie and eventually outscore the Lakers with five minutes to go, there was no way we were going to leave before the end of regulation. One minute left. The whole restaurant was sitting on edge waiting for the Lakers to catch up. Down 5 points. There was no way. Then they made a basket. Down 3 points… With less than 10 seconds to go, Kobe takes the ball from way outside and just sinks it in the basket to lead the Lakers into OT. Holy cow, and everyone stood up and screamed. It was one of those moments.

And so we left.

It took me FOREVER to find a parking space. Finally, five blocks away and minutes behind the others, I found a little space on the street behind a truck right beneath this lonely little light. The neighborhood wasn’t too shady looking (though I couldn’t really tell to well at night) but enough for me to feel somewhat uncomfortable. After I walked back up to Wilshire, I noticed a lot of asian insignia. Well, it wasn’t all that bad, just a tad outside my comfort zone.

By the time I got up to the Wiltern theater, the others had already entered and staked their places. With such a high noise to signal ratio, it was nearly impossible to hear where they were located when I called them. So, I stood near the back of Aisle 4, still close enough to see the faces of Scott Weiland, Slash and the rest of the band.

Velvet Revolver came out just in time to start jamming really loudly and quickly after I made a tardy entrance. There really was no let down in volume or speed throughout the whole concert. Scott is insane on the stage. He shakes his body like it’s a piece of taffy that someone is chewing. He seems to have a fun time singing to everyone. Many times, he grabbed a megaphone and used it to talk into his microphone. Partly for effect, partly for volume. Then there’s Slash. It was great to see Slash for the first time, much of my rememberance of him being from his Guns and Roses days. He rocks exactly like you see him rocking on MTV or his music videos. And he wore his tophat!!

They played about 3 sets, the first one being the longest. And by the second set, all the front men had their shirts off. Rock and roll, baby! Their show was about and hour and a half or two long. With all the lighting, effects and heavy, adrenaline pumping music, it was a pretty memorable concert all in all.

So now I’m back home, about to fly out in a few hours, my ears are feeling great, and it’s time to hit the sack.