Nestled within the historic Chastain Park in northern Atlanta, the Cadence Bank Amphitheatre played host to the latest S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival stop (an anagram that stands for Solidarity, Engagement, Restore, Peace, Equality, N’ Tolerance) on a humid Thursday night in the South. Headlined by iconic guitarist Slash (of Guns N’ Roses fame), this traveling “celebration of the blues” highlights varying artist lineups per date and location, and welcomes Robert Randolph and the Family Band, ZZ Ward, and Larkin Poe as featured acts for Atlanta. With a posted capacity of nearly 7,000, this summer-months-only outdoor facility was opened back in 1944 and has since been decreed as “Atlanta’s Oldest Outdoor Music Venue.”
Taking his seat behind his Jackson pedal steel guitar in front of a shamefully sparse early audience at 6:30 pm was Grammy Award-nominated Robert Randolph. Fronting The Family Band, Randolph started the night off with a cover of “I’m So Glad,” a Delta blues-style song originally recorded by Skip Jones back in 1931. With a setlist highlighted by a funky Jimi Hendrix cover of “Foxy Lady,” Randolph mesmerized on the pedal steel guitar, setting the musical tone for the exploration of the blues that was to come for the next few hours. Thursday also marked Randolph’s 47th birthday, an announcement that brought celebratory cheers from the crowd.
Robert Randolph and the Family Band
Robert Randolph – Guitar, vocals
Ray Ray Randolph – Bass
Lenesha Randolph – Vocals
Brett Haas – Guitar
Next up on the evening’s bill was singer-songwriter Zsuzsanna Eva Ward, professionally known as ZZ Ward. Appearing with her band on stage as the clock closed in on 7:30pm, Ward delivered a unique and enjoyable blend of country-style blues behind her soulful and alluring voice. From the first note of “My Baby Left Me” (an Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup cover) to the last note of “Cadillac Man” (The Jesters cover), Ward captivated the crowd with her 8-song performance. The highlight for me was the touching original, “Mother,” which was a personal reflection of hers, having been on the road for this summer tour with two young children in tow (now 3 years and 6 months old).
Setlist:
1.) My Baby Left Me (Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup cover)
2.) Dust My Broom (Elmore James cover)
3.) Mother
4.) Cannonball
5.) Ride
6.) Grinning in Your Face (Son House cover)
7.) Put the Gun Down
8.) Cadillac Man (The Jesters cover)
Anchored by Georgia-raised sisters Rebecca (vocals, guitar) and Megan Lovell (vocals, lap steel), Larkin Poe kicked off their Thursday night with “Summertime Sunset,” a track off their most recent release, Blood Harmony (2022). I last caught Larkin Poe back in November when they opened for locally-loved Blackberry Smoke, and since that time they impressively collected the 2024 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album (Blood Harmony).
With an infectious stage presence and an upbeat tone rooted in classic 1970s Southern rock and blues influences, Larkin Poe delivered a lively and soulful 8-song set, which included their latest single, “Bluephoria.” Larkin Poe may be based in Nashville now, but Georgians will always consider them one of our own, and they were the perfect penultimate band to help amp up the crowd for Slash.
Larkin Poe
Megan Lovell – Vocals, lap steel
Rebecca Lovell – Vocals, guitar
Brent “Tarka” Layman – Bass
Ben Satterlee – Drums
Setlist:
1.) Summertime Sunset / Jessica
2.) Preachin’ Blues (Son House cover)
3.) Blue Ridge Mountains
4.) Bluephoria
5.) Two Step
6.) Bad Spell
7.) Wanted Woman AC/DC
8.) Bolt Cutters & The Family Name
Following the final backline turn of the night, Gibson guitar-slinging, top hat-wearing guitar hero Slash and his Blues Ball Band commandeered the stage in front of a sweaty audience at 9:15pm. With the temperatures still hovering in the low 90s, Slash, dressed in a sleeveless white t-shirt, lead the band into their first cover tune of the night in Bukka White’s “Parchman Farm Blues.”
Out on the road celebrating his blues-focused recent studio release Orgy of the Damned (May 2024), Slash was surrounded by a magnificent set of musicians in Johnny Griparic (bass), Teddy “Zigzag” Andreadis (keyboards, vocals), Michael Jerome (drums), and Tash Neal (vocals, guitar). For those with a keen eye, Jerome was a familiar face behind a drum kit, as he also supports Better Than Ezra. In fact, fans of Slash’s other work with Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators may have recognized Neal, whose own New York-based band opened for Slash and Kennedy back in 2022.
Staying true to the expected blues repertoire script, Slash did not tease out any music from his other more mainstream endeavors (Guns N’ Roses, Slash’s Snakepit, Velvet Revolver, etc.) and instead offered up an enjoyable journey through musical history as heard through his own distinct interpretations. Unique renditions of classics like “Oh Well” (Fleetwood Mac), “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” (The Temptations), and “Stone Free” (Jimi Hendrix), kept the appreciative audience captivated throughout the night. And for those guitar aficionados looking to be awed by Slash, he honored their desire with the punchy new original instrumental “Metal Chestnut” off Orgy of the Damned as well.
While I really enjoyed Slash’s performance on the Hoyt Axton cover of “The Pusher,” the highlight of the night for me was pulled from the band’s encore when they delivered an emphatic, get-up-out-of-your-seat cover arrangement of the Elmore James tune “Shake Your Money Maker.” Following a few bows from the entire band, Slash then walked the entire length of the stage to hand out guitar picks to his adoring fans before disappearing behind the curtain for the night.
Slashs’ S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival continues on for a few more dates, wrapping up on Saturday, August 17th, at the Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Praire, Texas.
Slash’s Blues Ball Band
Slash – Guitar
Johnny Griparic – Bass
Teddy “Zigzag” Andreadis – Keyboards
Michael Jerome – Drums
Tash Neal – Vocals, guitar
Setlist:
1.) Parchman Farm Blues (Bukka White cover)
2.) Killing Floor (Howlin’ Wolf cover)
3.) Born Under a Bad Sign (Booker T. & the MG’s cover)
4.) Oh Well (Fleetwood Mac cover)
5.) Built for Comfort (Howlin’ Wolf cover)
6.) Awful Dream (Lightnin’ Hopkins cover)
7.) Papa Was a Rolling Stone (The Temptations cover)
8.) Love Theme from The Godfather / Stormy Monday (Aaron Walker cover)
9.) The Pusher (Hoyt Axton cover)
10.) Metal Chestnut
11.) Cross Road Blues (Robert Johnson cover)
12.) Stone Free (The Jimi Hendrix Experience cover)
Encore
13.) It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry (Bob Dylan cover)
14.) Shake Your Money Maker (Elmore James cover)
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Elliott is a music photographer covering shows in Atlanta, Georgia, and the surrounding area. The highlight of his photography career was back in the early ’90s, when he sold Neil Diamond the rights to his negatives from a show and then purchased a set of tires for his 1979 280ZX during college with the money.