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The Guitar is an extension of his infinite being

Now WIRB sanctioned myself to review this gig as the other reviewer “simple simon the pieman” was busy tossing up whether to have a wank over Leonard Cohen or Wilco or jump on the treadmill and shed that dead weight he’s been carrying around for so long. His work speaks for itself anyhow.

I arrived in middle earth (Taranaki) Saturday afternoon amid posse’s of flannelet wearing hard rockers preparing to see the rock god Slash. I will spare the details of the warm up acts, They were pretty impressive to say the least but this is not a Jean Batten review nor is it a Uli Jon Roth review either. The man i came to see one Saul “Slash” Hudson, I’d be the first to admit my bias towards him. First ever album I owned 1987′s Guns An Roses debut “Appetite for Destruction” and the last i bought his self titled album “Slash”. With every iconic band there is a great piercing guitar riffing and soloing. There was Jimmy Page with Led Zeppelin, Joe Perry with Aerosmith and then there is Slash with G ‘n’ R. The way he makes the guitar wail and squeal is amazing and very recognizable to all. He’s worked with some of the biggest artists in the world Michael Jackson, Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, Ray Charles to name but a few. He holds his axe low and plays to the “flash” method where the guitar is slung slow and use’s his body to bend and hold the notes (a blues inspired method).

The crowd started to amp up for Slash as soon as the warm-ups had finished. Chanting filled the 3 and a half thousand strong crowd. I was standing but a mere few meters from the stage. As soon as he hit the stage rocking into “Ghost” I’d never witnessed such an impressive stack of Marshall speakers. The step up in volume intensity was deafening yet all the more enthralling. I can still feel my ears ringing. Jumping from Slash’s Snakepit “Mean Bone” to Velvet Revolver’s “Suckertrain Blues” it was clear to me my research on a possible set list hadn’t been quite accurate. But all the songs were hard rocking numbers with killer solo’s, At times Slash missed notes but that’s always been a hallmark of his Loose, Sloppy type of playing style but can you blame him with the amount of sweat that poured out over his axe its a wonder he didn’t electrocute himself.

Slash and the band then moved into some classic GnR playing “Civil War”, “Sweet Child ‘o Mine”, “Rocket Queen” and “Night-train”. To hear these classics live was immense, He has stated that he hasn’t played songs like SCOM since the early 90′s. Myles Kennedy (formerly of Alterbridge) had a powerful rock voice and these songs were very successful he even pulled out his own guitar to join in on occasion. The two songs he contributes to on the album “Starlight” and “Going back to Cali” very hard rocking bluesy numbers and he handled all the GnR, VR and SS material with ease.

Was hard to pull out favorites of the night, But I’d say the improvised “Slither” was a real crowd pleaser with extended solo’s layering Kennedy’s vocals nicely.“By the Sword” with those hard riffs echoing amongst the arena. Then the encore performance of “Paradise City” brought the house down, Slash dancing around soloing at ease. The hearty fans that turned up would be well pleased with the concert from the rock god, I don’t use the term lightly but if you can survive a band like GnR, 2 strokes, Heroin addiction and still putting out music that people of all ages tune into that’s saying something.

The concert was the best I’d ever been to, A Hard blood and guts rock and roll show. I can now die a happy man with a hard-on that only possibly viagra could give you!

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