Live Review: Slash Feat Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators

Devilskin welcome us to Margaret Court Arena, which is sadly less than half-full for the majority of their set. Those who have shown up early seem to enjoy it nonetheless, cheering when frontwoman Jennie Skulander tells us they’ll be back for Download Festival in March. Start A Revolution gets the crowd moving and suitably impressed with the vocals (and also Skulander’s cartwheeling skills as she bounds across the stage). 

Devilskin

While the crowd does skew older in its demographic, there are plenty of dads that have brought their kids along for the show - including one little girl who comes dressed as Slash in her top hat and black wig, her costume completed only once she pulls the sunnies off her dad’s head and poses proudly with her arms crossed.

The lights are still up as the intro music starts up, warning everyone to get to their seats for Slash Feat Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators. Bass guitarist Todd Kerns gets everyone clapping and Slash stands to the back while Kennedy opens the show with his signature powerhouse vocals, starting the set with The Call Of The Wild. 

Back From Cali gets the crowd happily singing along and one girl up on someone’s shoulders, only to promptly be told to get back down. Of course, it’s solos aplenty throughout the evening, with Kennedy taking his mic stand in front of the drum kit, watching the man of the hour, Slash, in unison with the crowd. It might be 32 years since Appetite For Destruction was released but the guitarist certainly has lost of none of his ferocity, or technical skill, in that time.

“Beautiful people, beautiful city, we couldn’t happier tonight,” Kennedy tells the crowd before taking a break. Kerns takes over for two songs and given his extremely high energy on stage throughout the night, he seems more than happy to be centre stage for a bit. Kerns gets the crowd dancing to We’re All Gonna Die, before telling the crowd to, “Make all the noise you can so Lemmy can hear you,” ahead of Doctor Alibi, the track originally recorded with the Motorhead legend.

Kennedy returns to the stage for The One You Loved Is Gone, which is one of the set’s highlights. Wicked Stone sees the night’s longest solo yet, Slash wowing the audience with his easily ten-minute-long shred. Recent single Driving Rain has even those in the seats dancing and it’s not long until the night’s first, and only, Guns N’ Roses cover comes out, in the form of Nightrain.

“This is a fucking tune,” says one punter loudly to his mate while they walk up the stairs during Starlight, which to be fair, it is. Notoriously a man of very few words on stage, Slash shares a couple of sentences, his adoring crowd hanging off each word - "You guys are fucking awesome."