If you’ve ever seen Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators live, then you know exactly what you’re going to get on the new DVD, Live At The Roxy 9.25.14. If you’ve ever seen Slash with Kennedy and this incarnation of his band live, then that’s exactly why you will want to add this to your collection.
Known for their energy and connectability with their audience, Slash and his bandmates – Alter Bridge frontman Kennedy, bass player Todd Kerns, drummer Brent Fitz and second guitarist Frank Sidoris – have done a good job capturing what it’s like to be in a notorious Sunset Strip club with one of this generation’s preeminent guitar players. Whether you’ve experienced them in a club, arena or at a festival in front of thousands, no one walks away from a show unhappy. Why? Because they give you what you want.
This group of guys has been together since 2012, with Sidoris taking over for departing guitar player Bobby Schneck. Since then, the magic has only grown, all members locking into a single living, breathing organism. With two studio albums under their belts, and with Slash’s catalog of material from Guns N Roses, Velvet Revolver and various other solo projects, they can easily play two hours plus and for the bulk of the DVD, they stampede through thirteen songs (four more are included as bonus tracks) and as Kennedy proclaims at one point, “Time just zips by.”
The footage from the show is crisp, visually and audibly; much better than trying to relive the moment watching the grainy footage you took on your cell phone. Opening with “Ghost” and flying through five GNR hits (with the thirteen minute solo in the middle of “Rocket Queen” intact), one from Velvet Revolver, three from the latest album, World On Fire, and two each from Slash’s 2010 eponymous album and Apocalyptic Love, this is the next best thing to actually being there.
Of course, what you will miss from watching the DVD and not a live performance, is Slash dripping sweat by the gallon onto the front row as he roars through a solo, the feel of Kennedy slapping your hand as he leans over to greet fans, the excitement of catching a guitar pick as it’s thrown directly to you and the sweaty exhilaration of being a part of a crowd of like-minded worshippers. But this sure is a close second.
