Page 42 - Black Velvet Rock Magazine Issue 110

BV110 pg 42-45 Slash.qxp_BV110 pg 42 19/05/2024 23:06 Page 1

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SLASH FT. MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS / MAMMOTH WVH – BIRMINGHAM RESORTS WORLD
ARENA, 30.03.24
It’s no surprise that 2024 is shaping up to be a busy year for Slash. Even though Guns N’ Roses are not currently on tour, Slash’s schedule is
packed. With a blues solo album, ‘Orgy Of The Damned’, set for release on May 17th, his time preceding that sees him hitting the road with Myles
Kennedy and The Conspirators for ‘The River Is Rising – Rest Of The World Tour ‘24’. Mexico, Brazil, and Japan were just a couple of countries the
band visited before arriving in the UK and Ireland at the end of March.
The opening
band for the Euro-
pean tour is Mam-
moth WVH, featuring
the multi-talented
Wolfgang Van Halen,
the son of late, leg-
endary guitar god
Eddie Van Halen. On
his two albums re-
leased so far, Wolf
plays every single in-
strument himself, so
has to have four very
accomplished band
members backing him
up – these are gui-
tarists Frank Sidoris
and Jon Jourdan,
bassist Ronnie Fi-
carro and drummer
Garrett Whitlock.
Opening with the fast
and furious 'Another
Celebration At The
End Of The World',
the band immediately
show that they are a
force to be reckoned
with and an ideal fit
for the tour, with Wolf
showing off his im-
pressive guitar solo-
ing skills during the
instrumental part of
the song. Their songs
also have a strong
sense of melody as
well as heavy riffing,
as shown in 'You're To
Blame' and 'I'm Al-
right'. The short 30-
minute set concludes
all too quickly with the
awesome, dark and
heavy 'Don't Back
Down' from the first
album. Thanking
Slash for the opportu-
nity to showcase their
band twice during the
show, you can tell that
Wolf is genuinely
grateful to be out
there playing to thou-
sands of real rock
fans, and his father
would definitely be
proud of what his son
has accomplished so
far, with hopefully much more yet to come.
If one song stands out in Slash’s setlist above all others
tonight it would be ‘Wicked Stone’. Slash’s solo in it is like
none other. It is quick to see why he has become a living leg-
end. As he takes over the spotlight midway through the song,
his bandmates step back, standing near the drum riser, as
Slash mesmerises the crowd. The extended solo becomes
more and more intense as it progresses. It is its own entity.
The audience is fixated on the guitarist, who is standing at
the corner of the stage.

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