VELVET REVOLVER Added To U.S. VIRGIN FESTIVAL
April 8, 2007VELVET REVOLVER has been confirmed for the U.S. Virgin Festival, scheduled for August 4-5 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. Also slated to appear are THE POLICE, SMASHING PUMPKINS and the BEASTIE BOYS. More lineup announcements and information about ticket sales are expected over the coming weeks.
VELVET REVOLVER will launch live assault with a six-date swing through South America beginning April 10 at the Pista Atletica in Santiago, Chile and wrapping up April 20 at Parque Metropolitano Simon Bolivar in Bogota, Columbia.
Next up is the 11-city U.S. leg of the tour, which kicks off May 4 at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, CA, and will make stops at a number of hot clubs and theatres around the country including San Francisco's Warfield Theatre, Chicago's Riviera Theatre and the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., before finishing off May 22 at the Nokia Theatre Times Square in New York.
In June, the band will head to Europe for 17 dates with heavy emphasis on festival appearances including Rock Im Park and Rock Am Ring in Germany, Sweden's Hultsfred Festival, Fields Of Rock in the Netherlands and Monsters Of Rock in Spain.
VELVET REVOLVER's sophomore album, "Libertad", scheduled for release in June, is the follow-up to VR's Grammy-winning 2004 debut "Contraband". The band originally planned to record the CD with producer Rick Rubin, but when that fell through, frontman Scott Weiland tapped Brendan O'Brien and the band began working on the album last December.
Lyrically, "Libertad" is said to be a major departure from "Contraband", which largely dealt with Weiland's ongoing battle with heroin. Though he's clean now, the effects of drugs still cast a shadow over the album — Weiland's brother Michael died of an overdose during its production, and one song, "Pills, Demons, Etc.", deals with the subject explicitly. "Michael's death played a big part in the writing of this record," the singer told Q magazine. "But the way I see it, he's finally free from pain. He's achieved final liberty."
The album was mixed over a two-week period at O'Brien's Atlanta studio under the watchful eye of Weiland and guitarist Slash.
"The album is head and shoulders above 'Contraband'," Weiland told Q. "It has more texture. And it still rocks like a motherfucker."
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