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- Smoking Guns
- Rep: 330
Re: Slash in NYC (PC and My Michelle) and Review
Legendary axeman Slash kicked off a new chapter in his storied career Tuesday night, as the original guitarist for Guns n’ Roses and Velvet Revolver wowed a sold-out crowd with his solo band in New York City.
Easily one of the world’s most recognizable rock musicians, Slash first rose to fame with the mighty Guns n’ Roses, followed by a wide variety of side projects after the demise of that band’s original line-up. Usually seen wearing his trademark top hat, Slash’s musical discography boasts a solid 25 years of almost nonstop recording, including his recent first-ever solo album, and Tuesday night’s show was a tribute to all that the artist legally known as Saul Hudson has accomplished since 1987’s Appetite for Destruction.
Despite a slow start in sales months ago, the Terminal 5 venue was completely sold out by showtime, ensuring that once again, the multi-level former nightclub was crammed almost to the point of immobility, and hotter than hell on the floor. Fans of all ages crowded the floor and railings of the upper levels, and some chose to take advantage of the open air roof deck as well as the couches by the back walls.
Slash and his new band hit the stage right at 9:30, and proceeded to blast through two straight hours of rock n’ roll. The night’s opening songs neatly summed up Slash’s current status, starting with new song Ghost, then Mean Bone from Slash’s Snakepit days, Guns n’ Roses classic Nightrain, and Velvet Revolver hit Sucker Train Blues paying homage to all four of his best known projects.
Slash’s solo band was a handpicked group of hired talent, with vocalist Myles Kennedy proving to be a flamboyant and intense frontman who had no problem hitting the difficult ranges favored by Axl Rose and Scott Weiland, as well as mimicking their prima donna stage presences. The band was tight and well-polished, and hit the night’s first peak on an epic rendition of Civil War followed by Rocket Queen, with the crowd singing heartily along on the choruses. Watch my video of Civil War, including a brief tribute to Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze, at the bottom of this review.
Slash was on top of his game throughout the night, letting his fingers doing the talking as he strummed, riffed, and blazed up and down the fretboard of his Les Paul. While Kennedy danced and strutted and clearly gave his all, Slash’s playing seemed almost effortless in comparison, the guitarist casually ripping through solos with maybe as much visible effort that most people put into brushing their teeth. From the front row to the back, fans cheered wildly for one of the original guitar heroes as he did what he does best.
The night’s setlist was carefully chosen, with a cover of Iggy Pop’s We’re All Gonna Die mixed in with several new solo songs and Snakepit and Velvet Revolver singles. Slash took an extended solo break as well, wailing through a bluesy jam, tapping through stand-alone squeals, and reviving his well-known homage to the theme from The Godfather. The next peak of the night came during Sweet Child O’ Mine, which saw Kennedy embarrassingly mix up verses to the classic song, but it barely even mattered as Slash ripped through the iconic solo and fans sang along to the song’s classic breakdown ending.
The night ended on a monstrous, pure rock n’ roll note as Slash and his band encored with catchy new single By The Sword, and then ripped into a surprise performance of My Michelle, for the first time on this tour according to Kennedy. The hard-rocking track from Appetite For Destruction saw full-fledged mosh pits open up for the first time of the night, fans bashing about to the vitriolic lyrics and sizzling riffs. The energy continued into show closer Paradise City, as the 5,000 strong venue sang together as a whole on the anthemic chorus, and then watched in awe as Slash blisteringly blazed through the seemingly endless outro solo.
Fans exiting the venue were hot, sweaty, and possibly suffering from temporary hearing damage, but only smiling faces filled 56th Street, other than a lone girl watching over her passed out friend on the sidewalk. With Axl and his hired Guns absent since 2006, Slash and original G n’ R drummer Steven Adler are the only Gunners still playing the raucous music that defined a generation, and while Adler offered a fantastic homage to that music on his tour back in July, Slash’s performance went a full step beyond. From his four different projects-worth of music to an incomparable stage presence, the guitar virtuoso that is Slash was clearly born to rock, and New York fans were given what was likely the best show yet on this tour. With the singer-less Velvet Revolver still in limbo and Slash’s solo record selling well, one can only hope that this current lineup continues to perform and record new songs, finally free of the drama and able to focus on simply playing great rock shows like they did last night.
Thanks to Cotis at HTGTH
- Mikkamakka
- Rep: 217
Re: Slash in NYC (PC and My Michelle) and Review
With Axl and his hired Guns absent since 2006,
Anyway, good review, thanks for it! I'm really happy that they added My Michelle, too. Now it's time here to go to bed, but tomorrow I'll start my day with that song. 
- Smoking Guns
- Rep: 330
Re: Slash in NYC (PC and My Michelle) and Review
Not going to nitpick the review, but My Michelle was awesome, as was PC, but Michelle was really cool. The tone with that amp is dead on. Very nice.
- metallex78
- Rep: 194
Re: Slash in NYC (PC and My Michelle) and Review
How awesome is this!!!
[youtube]yj4I_oF9YKc&feature=related[/youtube]
- Smoking Guns
- Rep: 330
Re: Slash in NYC (PC and My Michelle) and Review
How awesome is this!!!
[youtube]yj4I_oF9YKc&feature=related[/youtube]
That was beyond fucking awesome!!
- Smoking Guns
- Rep: 330
Re: Slash in NYC (PC and My Michelle) and Review
The video of all of Slash's solos just makes it soooo hard to fully accept guys not named Slash in GNR. He is fucking amazing. How he commands the stage and owns that Les Paul, its a rare gift.
Re: Slash in NYC (PC and My Michelle) and Review
Not a knock on the reviewer but that goes to show how the US media, for the most part, pays no attention to anything going on in the entertainment industry outside of the country.
No they just don't pay attention to fake GN'R.
Re: Slash in NYC (PC and My Michelle) and Review
faldor wrote:Not a knock on the reviewer but that goes to show how the US media, for the most part, pays no attention to anything going on in the entertainment industry outside of the country.
No they just don't pay attention to fake GN'R.
That may be true ALSO, but the US media doesn't care when any big band is touring outside of the US. And I guess that's to be expected.
