Slash brought his band to Upstate New York for the first time in about 12 years as they played the CMAC in Canandaigua this past Wednesday night. They are wrapping up their “Apocalyptic Love” tour but had enough left in the tank to deliver a kick as performance for the 7,000 strong crowd of fans.
Opening up with “Halo” off of “Apocalyptic Love,” the band was ready to tear the roof off. Myles Kennedy could be the most under-appreciated or underrated voices in rock. With an hour set, the band played 14 songs including a very surprising “Welcome to the Jungle,” on which bassist Todd Kerns handled vocal duties. My personal favorite was watching the band do “Starlight,” one of the finest songs Slash has ever recorded with his new band (in my opinion, of course).
What is there to say about Slash? He may be known more for his iconic look rather than his playing, but I’m here to say, his playing is also iconic! He is this generation’s Jeff Beck. He can play so many styles with ease and fluidity. He showed that during this show as many fans walked away in awe of not only Slash’s playing, but Myles as a singer and the band in general.
Former Theory of a Deadman and Union drummer Brent Fitz is a perfect complement, along with Kerns, to hold the rhythm down and let Kennedy and Slash do their thing. It should also be mentioned that during the last song of the evening, “Paradise City,” a load of confetti shot out from cannons and into the crowd. This was maybe the only complaint I had as former band mate Axl Rose has been doing that for a number of years with his current version of GnR.
Yes, a Guns N’ Roses reunion would be nice but I’m more than happy with this outfit Slash has put together for our listening pleasure.
Set List:
Halo
Nightrain (Guns N’ Roses song)
Ghost
Standing in the Sun
Civil War (Guns N’ Roses song)
Starlight
Welcome to the Jungle (Guns N’ Roses song)
Anastasia
You’re a Lie
Sweet Child O’ Mine (Guns N’ Roses song)
Slither (Velvet Revolver song)
Paradise City (Guns N’ Roses song)
We would like to thank Bari Lieberman from MSOPR for the photo pass and Lynn Frieda from Dixon Schwabel for the reviewer ticket.
