In music there are few things as recognizable the tongue and lips logo of the Rolling Stones, or The Symbol for Minnesota funkster Prince or the ‘Glove’ as made famous by the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Well, none are more synonymous than the single top hat with the buckle band that identifies one of rocks greatest guitarists – Slash. As he, Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators rocked & rolled their way into Dallas last week the packed house at the South Side Ballroom was moving, shaking and begging for more.
I still remember the first time I heard Slash, it was in 1987 when I was driving to school and the local radio station played a brand new song called “Welcome to the Jungle.” As soon as school let out Darren, Frank and myself headed to the nearest record store and picked up Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite For Destruction. Man, the riffs on that album were infectious. I missed that tour but I got to catch them 3 times on the Use Your Illusions tours. Songs like “Civil War,” “Back Off Bitch,” & “Double Talkin’ Jive” showed Slash was in top form.
As he split from G N’ R and moved on to form Slash’s Snakepit he continued to prove that he was the driving force to the band’s sound for all of those years and there was still a lot left in the tank. Shortly after the band dissolved I was fortunate enough to see him in April of 1997 when he did a covers tour under Slash’s Blues Ball. It was killer show and I just remember how much fun Slash was having as he tore through songs, my favorite that night being “Night Prowler” from AD/DC. The performance of that one will stick in my mind for quite some time. Just the soul & emotion he put into that song.