That was an epic concert, definite contender for gig of the year! Slash put on a great show and clearly has great taste in other bands too.
Twenty Two Hundred
I hadn’t heard Twenty Two Hundred before the gig, I meant to check them out but never got round to it so I wasn’t sure what to expect. My initial thoughts were pretty good, nice heavy guitar sound and rumbling bass and then these massive vocals come in and really rocked the place! Wembley is a huge place to fill with sound but Twenty Two Hundred did a great job and I really enjoyed them. I like that the guitarist and bassist swapped instruments and when they did, their playing styles were significantly different so the dynamic of the band changed, that’s a very cool trick. In places the vocals, provided by Tony Cardenas-Montana (now that’s a Rockstar name!), reminded me of Bruce Dickinson, really powerful and a great range. I look forward to hearing more from this band. Check out this video and try and tell me you didn’t enjoy it!
Give them a like too! – https://www.facebook.com/twentytwohundred
California Breed
I’ve been a fan of Glenn Hughes for many years and California Breed is his latest project. I wasn’t sure what to make of them when they first appeared on the scene as I was such a fan of and disappointed by the break up of Black Country Communion that I didn’t know what could come next. Having listened to the album I felt Andrew Watt (on guitar) was a bit of a comedown from Joe Bonamassa. The more I thought about it and listened the more I decided I had to think of this in a completely separate light. It is not remotely similar to Black Country Communion so there shouldn’t really be any comparisons drawn. I thought that Glenn Hughes was absolutely on fire at the gig! His voice is insane, at times hitting incredibly high notes like some wailing banshee and absolutely blowing the audience away. I couldn’t help but smile every time he opened his mouth, he is an absolute legend and his bass playing is just as cool, strutting around the stage with a “chicken-head” bobbing motion that only he could get away with making cool. What a fantastic showman. I like the California Breed album. It’s not the most amazing album I’ve ever heard, but it’s a nice contrast to a lot of the heavier stuff that tends to be in my playlists. As for the rest of the band, I thought Andrew Watt was fairly uninspiring sadly. He’s by no means a bad guitarist, and he has energy but he just lacks something. I felt myself barely noticing him or Joey Castillo on drums. It was more like they were there solely to support the legend himself, and while that made for the set being really good, I would have liked more personality from them too which would have definitely made this even better. On a high note, they finished their set with Deep Purple’s “Burn”, harking back to Glenn’s roots, and he absolutely nailed it. That’s one of my favourite Deep Purple songs and they totally nailed it. Overall, for me, they are a good band with one great member. It’ll be interesting to see what comes next from them and despite my negativity I would go to see them again as I do like the songs and Glenn is a true pleasure to watch.
Go like them for more – https://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaBreed
Slash feat. Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators
As should be pretty obvious to anyone here, I’m a pretty big Slash fan. He’s definitely in my top ten guitar influences of all time and I love listening to everything he’s done over the years from Guns N Roses to Slash’s Snakepit, Velvet Revolver and now his solo material.
What should also probably be pretty obvious is that I class Myles Kennedy as my biggest vocal influence bar none. There’s lots of other names I could drop as influences but Myles is definitely the single most important for me. It is listening to him that inspired me to make an effort to start singing and get over the fear of doing it in front of people and for that I am truly grateful.
So it should come as no surprise that I was pretty excited about this show. I’ve seen Slash and Myles perform together on every tour they’ve done so far, usually more than once. It’s fascinating to see the progression in the sound from the first record, where there were many singers involved and Slash wrote all the music himself, to now where it’s clear that a strong writing partnership has formed and influences from both artists are shaping the sound of the new material.
The selection of songs was great. Double Talkin’ Jive, Out Ta Get Me, and Mr. Brownstone were awesome additions to the set as I wouldn’t have expected any of them but they were great less-commonly spoken of GNR songs. Todd Kerns not only proves his bass skills but also what a fantastic vocalist he is! Having him in the band as well as Myles means they can accomplish anything from Slash’s extensive back catalogue and that’s a great thing. I would have really liked a couple of Snakepit songs in the set, Been There Lately or Beggars and Hangers On for example, but other than that a really great choice of set for this gig. Slash brought out a Guild Crossroads, a guitar I’ve always wanted, for Anastasia so he could add the acoustic parts. That was pretty epic! During the intro to the Velvet Revolver anthem “Slither”, they pulled everything back and broke into a rendition of Bad Company’s “Feel Like Makin Love”. That was new and unexpected and I think quite a few people had no idea what it was but it made me happy. Go look it up! 🙂
Of course they performed Sweet Child O Mine. The crowd-pleaser has never quite done it for me as it does for others and I think on previous occasions it hasn’t suited Myles but this time I think they’ve really found a way of doing it that works and I actually really enjoyed it. Paradise City was an encore to what can only be described as a phenomenal gig and I’m so glad I managed to get a ticket after all! Slash was immensely cool as always and I knew I was going to love Myles but stand-out highlight for me was the fact that Myles, Todd (Kerns), Glenn Hughes (California Breed) and Tony Cardenas-Montana (Twenty Two Hundred) all pulled out stellar performances, putting so much vocal talent under one roof in one night.
I’ve attached a video below from the gig during Rocket Queen, in which the solo went on so long the person videoing couldn’t capture the whole thing in one shoot! It was truly epic and after he finished soloing on this track I found it hard to focus my mind for a while, it went on so long and was pretty crazy, but awesome obviously! Enjoy! I recommend looking around on YouTube for more videos of this gig as there’s plenty and it really was superb!
Just in case you don’t already like them – https://www.facebook.com/Slash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRZmrEMvAXg