WORDS AND IMAGES RHYS GROVER
Slash has had the career most musicians dream of from the very first moment they hear the buzz of plugging a guitar into an amp as a kid. He’s had incredible success with one of the biggest bands in the world, his solo career has carried an incredible weight and seen him play some incredible gigs across the world, and he’s had the pleasure of playing alongside the best in the business. In recent years, alongside Guns’N’Roses’ recent comeback tours, Slash has taken to the road with Miles Kennedy and The Conspirators to deliver his incredible talents to the masses.
On this current tour, he’s brought along Wolfgang Van Halen ( The son of legendary guitar player Eddie Van Halen ) to warm up the crowd, Wolfgang has been blessed with as many guitar skills as his dad and i was blown away. He, along with his band mates put on an impressive set despite only being short, the crowd loved the night from the moment they took to the stage.
It was an early start for Slash, taking to the stage at 8:30 PM, but there was plenty to fit in for their ~2 hour show. The set spanned their most recent albums, a handful of covers, and some of Slash’s tracks from before he paired up with Miles Kennedy. It was clear this was a night to celebrate their work together, as there was only one G’n’R track featured, in the form of ‘Bad Apples’.
Throughout the night, there was an incredible feeling that you were in the presence of complete and utter greatness. There was no questioning Slash’s ability and the way he commands the crowd with what is effectively 6 strings and a bit of wood. His stamina to keep at that level for 2 hours was something special all on its own because it wasn’t just powered through the songs and hope of rate best. He was jumping around the stage, pulling out all the tricks, and the guitar solos were extensions upon extensions, lasting for longer than the songs on either side on more than one occasion.
The rest of the band was in equally excellent form. Miles took the occasional break, either donning a guitar or waiting in the wings whilst bassist Todd Kerns took the lead vocal. It was nice to get the variation in vocals, and some would argue that Todd would be an ideal frontman. Charismatic and a vocal range suited to a great variety of tracks.
Band:
Slash – Lead guitar, Talkbox
Myles Kennedy – Lead Vocals
Todd Kerns – Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
Brent Fitz – Drums, Percussion
Frank Sidoris – Rhythm Guitar
20 tracks filled the main bill, but it was the two-track encore that was the perfect icing on the cake. A cover of Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man’ was a fantastic surprise, especially seeing Slash take a seat behind a lap steel guitar, and then they sealed the deal with the track everyone had waited all night for. The usually acoustic opening riff for ‘Anastasia’ was this time played centre stage by Slash on his signature gold les Paul, and was met with huge applause and raucous before Slash did his thing and ripped into that incredible riff as the song is kicked up a gear. There wasn’t a member of the crowd not singing or out of their seat dancing as they tore through the song and bowed out for the night, or in Slash’s case, the signature handstand (how that hat stays on will always be a mystery).
SET LIST:
1/ The River Is Rising
2/ Driving Rain
3/ Halo
4/ Too Far Gone
5/ Back From Cali
(Slash song)
6/ Whatever Gets You By
7/ C’est la vie
8/ Actions Speak Louder Than Words
9/ Always on the Run
(Lenny Kravitz cover)
10/ Bent to Fly
11/ Avalon
12/ Spirit Love
13/ Bad Apples
(Guns N’ Roses cover)
14/ Starlight
(Slash song)
15/ Wicked Stone
16/ April Fool
17/ Fill My World
18/ Doctor Alibi
(Slash song)
19/ You’re a Lie
20/ World on Fire
Encore
21/ Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going to Be a Long, Long Time)
(Elton John cover)
22/ Anastasia
FOLLOW SLASH
FOLLOW WOLFGANG VAN HALEN
My life is a soundtrack, i track my life through music, photography is my passion, my escape, my expression. Without both i have pieces missing, thankfully i’m blessed and get to combine both.
Born in Manchester, lived in Australia for 22 years where i was heavily involved in the Australian Music Industry, firstly in bands (Singer) and then managing bands (all original), I moved back to the UK, Wales specifically 10 years ago
