Review by Dale Jr.
Photos by Micah Gummel
Show Photos HERE
It was a hot night in the ol’ Ballroom, both on the floor and on stage as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member with the trademark top hat hit the Casino Ballroom’s stage. The man was not alone though, with him was the on-again, off again Alter Bridge front man, Myles Kennedy, and the band known as the Conspirators.
I was very interested to hear what Slash and the band would be playing, as there are so many different eras to the man’s career. Obviously some Guns N’ Roses material would be played, as that’s the work that he’s most famous for, but how much of that would he play and would he play anything from Velvet Revolver. What we got, regardless of what portion of his career it came for was absolutely awesome.
The band opened with a track from the debut Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators album “Apocalyptic Love”, appropriately titled “Hard & Fast”. It didn’t take long for Slash to bring us back to the GNR days, specifically the “Appetite For Destruction” album when they played “Night Train”. The crowd became alive hearing the well known tune. Slash and the boys then took it back to “Apocalyptic Love” with “Standing in the Sun”, which was then followed up by a song, “Back To Cali”, that wasn’t originally going to be on the self-titled “Slash” album, but was added at the last minute, making Myles the only guest artist to appear twice on that album. The group then went into the title track of “Apocalyptic Love” before they played a track off their yet to be released new album called “World On Fire” with “Stone Blind”. Myles said it was the first time they’ve ever performed the song in front of an audience, and it wouldn’t be the last time we would be exposed to new material that the band had never played in fron of an audience before.
The next song brought me back to riding on the back of dirt bike, down the Los Angeles streets in 1991 with John Connor, as it was “You Could Be Mine”; the song that was from Terminator 2: Judgment Day and then later on Guns N’ Roses’ album “Use Your Illusion II”. The band would continue to play some songs off of Slash’s solo album and the two albums with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators; with “Doctor Alibi”; a song that was originally sung by Lemmy, “Not For Me’, and the currently unreleased song “30 Years To Life”.
What the Ballroom crowd got next was something truly sweet, and it was a rendition of “Rocket Queen” that must of extended to at least 10, if not 13, minutes, including a sweet breakdown by Slash that last for about five minutes, leaving Slash to do his thing on stage. It really was a sight to behold and pretty damn cool to listen to as well.
The band pulled out “No More Heroes” and “Starlight” before going to the last new track of the night; the title track from “World On Fire”. Next the band would go into the two big singles from “Apocalyptic Love” with “Anastasia” and “You’re A Lie”.
It was then time for the Slash and the fellas to bring it home. When Slash started playing those iconic first notes of “Sweet Child O’ Mine”, the crowd went absolutely ballistic and they sang with Myles the whole way. It was then followed up the only Velvet Revolver song of the night; “Slither”. Slash and Myles thanked everyone for coming out, but everyone in the building knew they weren’t done.
The band came back out and played on of my personal favorites as their first encore, and that’s “By The Sword”; a song that was sung by Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother, and was the first single off of Slash’s solo album. I am a big fan of Wolfmother and that song, so I was pleased to hear the song being played live.
To close the night, Slash, Myles and the boys took the packed Ballroom down to “Paradise City”. The crowd was rocking; hearing one of the most popular GNR songs to close out the night.
Prior to the show, there wasn’t a lot of the material that I was familiar with, outside of the GNR stuff. I will say that the material that was new to me and even new to the rest of the world was pretty sweet too. I now will actively track down the last two albums and anxiously await “World On Fire” until it comes out in September.
Slash was his usual amazing self, playing sweet leads and licks all night long. He proved why he is a “Guitar Hero” and a rock and roll icon. The guy who really blew me away was Myles Kennedy. I will admit that I’ve never really heard of his Alter Bridge stuff, so his collaborations with Slash were my first exposures to him. Myles Kennedy is the real deal folks. He’s one of the last of a dying breed of great rock and roll singers. If you haven’t heard any of Myles, you need to do so. All of the hype about the man that I had heard in the tv and radio media was not hype. It’s real. That fella can sing. It was an amazing show all around and Slash, Myles and the Conspirators are deserving of opening for Aerosmith on tour, starting next week.
Set List
Hard & Fast
Nightrain
(Guns N’ Roses cover)
Standing in the Sun
Back from Cali
(Slash cover)
Apocalyptic Love
Stone Blind
(World premiere)
You Could Be Mine
(Guns N’ Roses cover) (Live premiere)
Doctor Alibi
(Slash cover) (Todd Kerns on vocals)
Not for Me
30 Years to Life
(World premiere)
Rocket Queen
(Guns N’ Roses cover)
No More Heroes
Starlight
(Slash cover)
World on Fire
(Live premiere)
Anastasia
You’re a Lie
Sweet Child O’ Mine
(Guns N’ Roses cover)
Slither
(Velvet Revolver cover)
Encore:
By the Sword
(Slash cover)
Paradise City