Words by Tam Schilling
Photography by Tam Schilling | @tamcamimages_
On a humid and rainy Sunday evening in Brisbane what else is there to do other than go and see some live music? Brisbane had quite a few options last night with Queens Of The Stone Age playing at The Fortitude Music Hall and Red Hot Summer Festival featuring Suzi Quatro and Cheap Trick playing down the highway at the Gold Coast along with Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators playing here at Riverstage. This was a tough choice for many, but my concert choice was always going to be the man in the top hat, the one, the only, Slash. There will always only be one!
Entering Riverstage nice and early there are plenty of eager Slash fans sporting classic 80’s glam rock outfits such as wigs with big hair, lycra, fishnets, leather and of course a few top hats getting around. Straight away, I knew I had picked the right Brisbane crowd to be around tonight. Slash has brought along the best in the business for his tour with Australian rock royalty Rose Tattoo alongside the British rock band The Struts.
Opening up the night was Rose Tattoo with the iconic Angry Anderson emerging onto the stage with your typical Angry attitude “What are we at a fucking Wiggles concert? It’s still fucking daylight!” before telling the roadies to turn off the smoke on stage before they make them look silly. Kicking off the night with Rock N Roll Is King smoothly followed by One of The Boys before finishing with Aussie classics such as Bad Boy For Love and Nice Boys. In your true Aussie style, Rose Tattoo have sure warmed up the crowd ready for a banging night of pure rock’n’roll.
Next to hit the stage is British rock sensation, The Struts. Now, for many of this crowd this would be a lot of people’s first time witnessing The Struts. I was lucky enough to have witnessed this magical band on their headline tour back in 2019. I personally didn’t know a lot about The Struts at the time, however I went along to witness what all the fuss was about and I walked away from that night a massive fan. The Struts have got it all, the stage presence, the looks, the moves and of course the musicianship. Dazzling the stage right from the start, The Struts kick off with Primadonna Like Me, Body Talks and Falling With Me. Singer Luke Spiller in his gorgeous British accent addresses the crowd with “It’s sweaty as fuck here. If you ain’t sweaty you ain’t doin in right!” before getting the crowd to join in on a singalong for Put Your Money On Me. As stated by Luke, “It’s our job to warm you up for the one and only mighty Slash, so get on your feet and have one last dance with us” before finishing off their set with Could Have Been Me”. The Struts are such a high energy band who really bought that warm up energy with them tonight. I did feel a little disappointed with the short set they had, just 40 minutes! I know they aren’t the headliners, however I feel like the crowd only just got to know who The Struts were and potentially they’ve could have played a little longer. However, I can only hope they do their own headline tour back to Australia sooner, rather than later!
Now, the time has come when the man of the night is about to bless us with his presence. It’s Slash time. Now, Slash is obviously the main attraction however his band Myles Kennedy (singer), Todd Kerns (bass guitar), Brent Fritz (drums) and Frank Sidoris (rhythm guitar) all are deserving of their spots on the stage tonight. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators hit the stage with a moody, yet energetic vibe kicking off the night with The River Is Rising. Straight away I noticed that Kennedy was sporting a black shirt with white cats on it. I gotta say, I love his choice of shirt tonight! Aside from his shirt, Myles Kennedy‘s voice is like no other. Kicking into Driving Rain before rocking into Halo which is where the onslaught of Slash guitar solos first kicked off. I was literally less than a metre away from Slash and I am still so amazed at how this man can run, jump and spin around all whilst playing wicked guitar solos! This man is truly one of a kind. The audience are treated to a Lenny Kravitz cover tonight of Always On The Run with Myles Kennedy stepping off stage whilst Bassist Todd Kerns takes over the microphone, bringing his own vibe of gritty Rock n Roll to the stage. By this point the crowd is well and truly set in for the night of true rock’n’roll.
Kennedy comes back out on stage and acknowledges how much of a great Aussie rock band Rose Tattoo are along with the ever-groovy British rockers The Struts and thanks them for opening up for them. I personally love when artists thank other bands on the bill. Someone has
to warm up the crowd, right? Then we go through some absolute rock tunes of Bad Apples and one of my personal favorites Starlight before rocking into Wicked Stone which seen Slash do the longest guitar solo of the night, I reckon it was about fifteen – twenty minutes long, however it never felt like that long. I mean, watching Slash doing Slash things and absolutely shredding that guitar is a damn magical sight to see, I could watch that forever!
Brisbane was in for a treat tonight as Myles invited a friend out on stage, that friend being Australian singer Andrew Stockdale from Wolfmother who took over vocals for By The Sword which was the first official single off the self-titled album ‘SLASH’ from 2010. This song was
recorded with Andrew on vocals, so to see this live tonight, really was a special treat for any long-time Slash fan. Finishing off the night with Kennedy back on stage was World On Fire, where Myles completely engaged the whole audience in a sing off even getting the crowd to do the high notes”. Of course, the finish is never actually the finish.
Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators enter back onto the stage with Slash on a Pedal Steel playing a cover of Rocket Man by Elton John. This is the first time I have ever witnessed Slash playing a steel and oh man, this was honestly the highlight of my night. Getting
to see Slash in a different zone to his electrifying guitar solos really was magical. Closing the night with Anastacia. Slash reuniting with his beloved Les Paul, the guitar he is most known for. And of course, belting out another electrifying unique Slash solo to finish off the night.
Man, I sure know I chose the right concert to be at tonight. Pure rock’n’roll at its very finest! They still have a couple of shows left in Australia before jetting off away from us again. If you are on the fence about going to this, this is one hell of a night not to be missed! This whole line up is rock’n’roll at its very finest from the opening band right through to the very end! This is a show not to be missed!
Thanks to Dallas Does PR
