Slash Proves You Can Go Home Again With New Live Set
Last July 24th, Slash performed at the Victoria Hall in Stoke-on-Trent (England) marking his return to the town he grew up in until he was six. The show came near the finale of his 2010-11 world tour in support of his self-titled debut solo album. Lead vocals on the tour were handled by Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge and the set list featured solo album cuts, songs from both Slash's Snakepit and Velvet Revolver plus classic songs that he co-wrote for Guns N' Roses.
The triumphant homecoming was recorded and filmed and was recently released as 'Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy: Made in Stoke: 24/7/11,' a double-CD and a special two CD/DVD package featuring five bonus tracks on the DVD, as well an interview with the former Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver guitarist.
Slash recently spoke with Noisecreep about the package.
The band on 'Made in Stoke' feels very tight, as if you'd played with them for years.
Don't they? I got so lucky. I didn't expect it to gel the way it did, but I knew after our first show at the Roxy in L.A. that the stars had aligned without me even really looking for that to happen. And I know it's real because right now we're knee deep in the next record.
When you were growing up, were live records important to you?
Absolutely. What happened was, I was brought up on tons and tons of rock 'n' roll as a kid. So by the time I became a teenager, I was ready to hear all of my favorite bands live. I knew the studio records inside out. But as I learned, the best way to enjoy a band was live and fortunately, all my favorite bands had killer live albums - Cheap Trick, Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin - and it blew me away to hear sometimes radically differently live version than the popular studio versions - not just repackaged versions of the studio tracks. I learned a lot listening to my favorite live albums.
When you know a show is being recorded and videotaped, do you think it alters your performance in any way?
That's a good question. Normally I think I'm professional enough to handle it - but that show - I think we made more mistakes than any other night! In Leeds the next night, it was a flawless show but you know, sometimes it's the flaws that makes something more real and honest. So I love what we captured on this night.
You always seem to bring a lot of interesting people on to your albums to play. Do some of the younger guys, like M. Shadows, remind you of the influence you've had on younger bands?
For me it's just nice to work with good people - from all walks of life and different ages. Younger, older - i jam so much with so many players that I always get a lot of out if it. It's always a learning experience for me and very humbling. That said, I was blown away to hear from M. Shadows, who's just great, that he and his band were hardcore Guns N' Roses fans. That was very cool to hear.
'Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy: Made in Stoke: 24/7/11' is available now.
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