It was the final show of the Australia & New Zealand tour for Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators in Perth on Sunday night. Never have these guys been a let down and tonight may have been one of the best performances yet.
Opening up for the night as the main support band for the tour was New Zealand’s favorite rising heavy rockers Devilskin who rocked the crowd at RAC Arena. Singer Jennie Skulander was easily the highlight of this band, her massive vocals reaching god-like heights with soaring melodies and occasionally dropping in some unexpected growls which in this form of heavy but melodic rock, was something different. But it works and that’s all that matters as the band, who make their debut in Perth, won some new fans which was shown by the scores of Devilskin shirts seen afterwards.
Slash and the A-team of hard rock – Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, rolled on stage next and after a short intro, it was all systems go! The interesting thing about tonight and about the entire tour really was the choice of venues for the shows. The last time we saw Slash on a headline show was at the Forum Theatre in Melbourne and a few years before that, at Metro City in Perth. This time they went for arenas, a massive step up in terms of crowd numbers and stage sizes etc and I can’t speak for the other shows (assuming they did well as the east coast usually does), but Perth Arena didn’t quite make the cut. But that didn’t stop the band putting on one hell of a show.
On point and on focus, the rhythm section of Todd Kerns on bass and Brent Fitz on drums proved once again why they really are the glue behind this band. While the spotlight may be given to Slash and Myles Kennedy, and rightly so, there’s no denying how solid the backing band really are and that has to be noted. Of course Slash was on fire from the start and tonight saw numerous opportunities taken to really solo it up in terms of just pure guitar shredding. “Wicked Stone” alone featured 10 minutes of Slash going full pelt on the guitar as he extended what looked to be an all improvised guitar attack that was met with the biggest applause of the night. Definitely the highlight of the night.
Myles Kennedy is also on par with Slash in terms of delivering a consistent vocal performance that keeps his reputation as one of the best in the business when it comes to pure melodic rock vocals. With his solo work and tenure with Alter Bridge, one has to wonder what he does to maintain such a magnificent set of pipes so whatever it is, it’s working wonders.
The setlist was the best of the 3 albums that the team have collectively worked on and released over the years with the occasional solo track and the addition of GNR classic “Nightrain” added to appease the Gunners fans. From opening newbie “The Call Of The Wild” off their latest album “Living The Dream” to the massive “World On Fire” and the encore classic “Anastasia”, the band nailed the show in all aspects and delivered one of the top shows we have seen from this band over the years. If you want consistent quality in a live show, there’s no getting past these veteran musicians and it’s truly a collective entity too. The chemistry is what makes this band work, it shows on stage and into the crowd. Catch them on tour, any tour, you will not be disappointed.
