Caroline's Column

In the wider context, Caroline looks at whats going on around the globe.

Lay the guns to rest

In June 2003, Velvet Revolver stormed onto the LA music scene with a breathtaking performance at the intimate El Rey Theater. Some knew it had been only a matter of time before the amicable members of what was once Guns n’ Roses joined forces; some even branded Slash, Duff and Matt’s collaboration with ex-Wasted Youth/Dave Navarro guitarist Dave Kushner and ex-Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland a ‘super group’. The band themselves hated this label, making it clear that they had only one intention - to resurrect rock n’ f***in’ roll.

Their debut album, Contraband, offered a raunchy mix of gut-wrenching signature Slash riffs and killer lyrics inspired by Weiland’s on-going battle with heroin addiction, punctuated by softer tracks which seemed to be a result of his heartbreak over his wife Mary filing for divorce; heavy ballad Fall to pieces became not only the outlet for the majority of his pain, but also arguably the most popular track on the album. As first releases go, it was a rollercoaster ride which gave the fans the very best of the Guns n’ Roses legacy, along with a new twist in the form of Kushner and Weiland.

Retrospectively, that same Guns n’ Roses legacy hasn’t been one hundred percent beneficial; Velvet Revolver toured heavily to promote Contraband, as well as playing festivals like Ozzfest and Download. They had whipped up a media frenzy, loaded with rave reviews, all of which made estranged Guns n’ Roses singer W. Axl Rose (who continues to use the Guns n’ Roses name) with his empty promises of an album named Chinese Democracy spanning over ten years seem both sublime and ridiculous in one go. The Velvet Revolver fans continued to support their new-found rock n’ roll solace, along with divided opinions on whether or not Axl’s die-hards were waiting for a rock masterpiece or a complete shambles,

The Contraband tour came to a close late in 2005, and the overspill of the album’s hype where the fans were concerned carried on for some time. One fansite, http://vr.belowempty.com charted every detail of their rise to the top, listing everything from concert chronology and photo archive, to tabs, to links for Marc Vachon clothing - the same clothing the band members wear. As time went on, Below Empty became THE resource for all things Velvet Revolver, leaving the poor design and sporadic updates of the official site miles behind in its tracks. The webmaster, known only as Rik, is the brain behind the whole operation, and created the site as an off-shoot from his original Stone Temple Pilots site, http://stp.belowempty.com. Unfazed by all the glorification the site has attracted - even from the band itself - Rik just says ‘yeah, they've been very happy with it since they saw it… I just created what I would like to visit as a fan. I'll do my best, I try to keep a good perspective on things’ in his own modest way. But just how does he know exactly what fans need and want from a site like Below Empty? Maybe it’s down to experience. ‘I started the Below Empty site in 1997 and have seen a lot of crazy things… I am kinda in-between the press, the fans, the band and their management’, he says, on the subject of rumours. Though he often opts to stick to rumours about possible release dates or band activity, it’s hard to ignore the fact that lately the rumours flying about are starting to become more and more ridiculous, as well as intrusive to the lives of the band members. Axl seems to be one of the main roots of the supposed friction, accusing Slash of bad-mouthing his band mates, which then led to rumours of Slash leaving Velvet Revolver. Rik agrees that old Bill Bailey might be trying to cause a rift; ‘it's some of Axl's spin doctors creating a buzz so the tour and album can do well… I wonder would it be the same if Velvet Revolver was on tour’.

It’s true that the hiatus between albums has caused certain feelings among the fans. A lethal cocktail of eager anticipation for the new album, mixed with the niggling doubts that their ‘saving grace’ band might not stay together to produce it. Whoever started the rumours is monopolising those doubts enough to make fans uneasy, and Rik reckons that ‘they should lighten up. In all the fan battles there's way too much seriousness going on… everything is turned into a popularity contest’. He also employs tact when dealing with the more ‘Hollywood’ rumours surrounding the musicians’ private lives; general gossip sites recently reported that Slash had filed for divorce from his wife Perla Ferrar, claiming that she had been managing the band and that it had sabotaged their marriage.

The gossip was made worse by the divorce earlier in the year of Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora and wife Heather Locklear, plus the recent separation of Motley Crue’s bassist Nikki Sixx from Donna D’Errico. ‘It was my choice not to publish that’, he says, ‘to be honest with you, I do not know if he in fact really did file for divorce; the site is about celebrating the band and their music, so I don’t think it’s the place for that kind of news. Even if he did file for divorce I do not see how it's any of the fans' business why it happened… besides, that report also contained a lot of false information, Perla never managed Slash or VR’.

And so it seems that scare-mongers can’t be satisfied with the ‘no news is good news’ philosophy. Meanwhile, Rik continues to do everything he can to keep Below Empty rocking out, giving relevant news to the masses. ‘I trust Velvet Revolver enough’, he claims - and that’s good enough for me.

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