Watch Slash play ‘Paradise City’ at Glastonbury Festival 2010
From day one, Slash has always thrived on the dynamic of a band. Although it’s easy for him to contain an entire crowd with just a guitar and his chops, the legendary guitarist has always worked best with a live group behind him, feeding off the energy from the interaction between musicians and the audience. For the first time since his youth, though, Slash was back at zero when cutting his first true solo album.
Since departing Guns N’ Roses, Slash never wanted to leave the band mindset for a minute. Though he might not have been able to take the antics of Axl Rose any longer, the next few years saw him going down different musical rabbit holes, including the blues-infused band Slash’s Snakepit.
After the rest of the band decided to leave Rose behind, a new supergroup was born with Velvet Revolver, bringing Slash back to the top of the rock charts thanks to singles like ‘Fall to Pieces’ and ‘Slither’. Then again, fame begets the same problems, and Slash found himself out of step with the band before eventually folding the project after their second album Libertad.
Aside from his work in various groups, Slash also worked on various albums by fellow music legends, from contributing a couple of lead lines to Bob Dylan records to becoming the unofficial guitarist for Michael Jackson on songs like ‘Black or White’. By the time he hit 2010, Slash figured he might as well let the famous people come to him this time around.
His solo debut, simply titled Slash, featured various rock legends that Slash didn’t have the opportunity to work with yet, from Ian Asbury of the Cult to Chris Cornell from Soundgarden to pop starlets like Fergie. Although the collaborative effort was fun at the time, Slash was knocked out when working with Myles Kennedy.
Fresh out of working with Alter Bridge from the ashes of Creed, Kennedy’s soaring vocal made for a welcome change of pace from the rest of the singers, being much more in the rock mould on his songs, ‘Back From Cali’ and ‘Starlight’. For all of the great textures they got in the studio, Slash’s only way to test it was on the road.
In a baptism-by-fire scenario, Slash came out with his solo band to the Glastonbury stage in 2010, with Kennedy serving as the frontman. While Kennedy played various songs from the album, ‘Starlight’ remained the standout, making his voice soar above everything else in the mix.
Kennedy also left his mark on the Guns N’ Roses material, with a searing quality to his voice that seemed like a natural fit from Rose’s usual cadence. Though Kennedy may have earned his stripes as a sideman, this got the wheels turning in Slash’s brain for what lay ahead for his solo career.
For most of his solo career, Slash would use Kennedy as his unofficial frontman, dubbing his backing band’ Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators’ on his subsequent solo efforts. While Slash is set to return to Glastonbury this year as a member of Guns N’ Roses again, this performance shows him throwing caution to the wind and proving to everyone why he is one of the most revered guitarists of his generation.
