By: Robert Cavuoto
Slash
Slash and the Conspirators blazed through a metal melt down on Terminal 5 in New York City, when they brought their World on Fire Tour to the Big Apple.
The venue was reminiscent of a post-apocalyptic coliseum straight out of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, where sweat-drenched fans packed the floor, two upper balconies surrounding the stage and the arena floor below.
Air conditioning was nowhere to be found. I can only assume it was not included in the price of admission.
Vocalist, Myles Kennedy, shouted from the stage; “This is my favorite venue in New York to play!”
The crowd roared…
The Conspirators include: Myles on lead vocals, Todd Kerns on bass / vocals, Brent Fitz on drums, and touring guitarist, Frank Sidoris – together they are a force not to be reckoned with!
The band opened the two-hour set with “You’re a Lie” off their 2012 CD, Apocalyptic Love and then assaulted the crowd with “Nightrain,” the first of many Guns ‘N Roses tunes that fans came to hear.
Two songs in and the band raised the temperature in Terminal 5 to “inferno.” It was so hot that you could see a steady stream of sweat pouring off of Slash forearms, as he tore through each song.
Clad in black with his trademark top hat, Slash led the band on a rock and roll mission to provide enough blues inspired riffs and leads for all guitar enthusiasts to last until the next tour.
Myles Kennedy and Slash
Throughout the show Slash flung all his Les Pauls like they were cheap toys and struck signature poses as he crouched down and tore into the leads.
The mad hatter guitarist has his own undeniable and identifiable style of playing and songwriting that marries melodic riffs with catchy choruses. Combine that with some tasteful vibrato during his lead work and the songs launch into a realm well beyond expectation. In most instances his leads are like mini symphonies, or moments in time unto themselves, as vivid and as memorable as the songs.
What always impressed me about Slash is his uncanny ability to develop songs that offer a wide variety of styles or feels different from anything else he’s written in the past – only a true innovator can master that art, then tie the collection together with a ribbon, so they all sound like a cohesive unit whether written 25 years ago or from his most recent album.
Tonight he assembled the perfect combination of songs in the set list that mirrored just that. To witness all these elements come together in a live setting was pure nirvana.
There’s a fusion of soul and chemistry among the members of the band, and it’s self-evident why Slash pulled together the group to form a working union of rockers.
Myles is an outstanding frontman and great addition to the band. He sounded great across all songs including the Gun’s tunes and has some cool stage moves. Brent and Todd laid down a solid driving beat like a runaway train giving Slash plenty of room to fill the gaps with soulful and soaring leads.
All in all there were six Guns ‘N Roses songs where Myles and bassist, Todd Kerns, traded off vocals duties. Todd did a spectacular version of “Welcome to the Jungle” while Myles killed it on “Double Talkin Jive,” “You Could be Mine,” and “Paradise City.”
Myles Kennedy
The band’s set included many of my favorite Slash solo works like “Doctor Alibi’” “Ghost” and “Back to Cali.” To my surprise “Starlight” was not included in the set.
Three quarters into it, Slash exploded into “Rocket Queen” with a 20 minute extended solo and by now the crowd was so hot steam was literally coming off them. I tend to find insane levels of heat and heavy drinking is a lethal combination for some fans. A fight broke out in the crowd and the next to me puked his guts out, while continuing to pump his fist to the music that filled the arena. Now, that’s authentic rock ‘n’ roll…..
Slash and the Conspirators provided an evening filled with tremendous flashbacks from the ’80s and new hits, all strung together with some amazing trick guitar, lethal vocals and performance flare to quench the thirst of their unquenchable fans.
GALLERY
