It is two hours before the start of the Slash concert and drummer Brent Fitz and new guitar player Frank Sidoris are walking around the Hard Rock Casino, eventually stopping to get coffee in Starbucks. There is a young man who is timidly inching closer to the musicians, who have their backs to him and are unaware of his presence. He stands behind them, waiting patiently for the opportunity to say something. When he finally makes his move, he is visibly shaking, excitement and nerves getting the better of his attempted coolness at meeting someone in his favorite band and this moment will be a part of his long-term memory. Every music fan who has had this very situation happen to them, remembers just how this young man was feeling. And for the two men who will be rocking out on the stage in only a matter of hours, to take a few minutes to acknowledge the young man, take some photos with him and make him feel important, only proves that Slash has surrounded himself with not only top notch musical talent but good guys as well.
The bad ass in the top hat is back. He has a new album and he is rolling across the US on a month long mini-jaunt to get their touring legs back before hitting the European summer festivals; although for bass player Todd Kerns, it feels like they never stopped from the last tour. “The weirdest thing about it is there was this moment where we were about to go on the road and I thought to myself, ‘I probably should have done something, like gone on vacation’” Kerns confessed with a laugh. “In a lot of ways it felt like, although the album was months of working on it, it doesn’t really feel like we‘ve been off the road all that long, but it has.”
Apocalyptic Love features the band he has traveled with for the past several years, with the exception of rhythm guitar player Bobby Schneck who has left the group and is currently playing with the Brian Howe Band.
Having covered numerous shows during that last “traveling circus”, as Kerns playfully called it, I had the opportunity to talk with many fans in different cities and they all relayed the same sentiment: they wanted to see THIS band record an album together because the chemistry was so kinetic. Slash’s previous solo record had featured such vocalists as Chris Cornell, Lemmy, Fergie and Iggy Pop but when he was all cranked up and ready to take it out for the masses, he had to put together a solid team that could play not only his signature GNR songs, but material from his Snakepit and Velvet Revolver incarnations as well. Enter former Theory Of A Deadman/Alice Cooper drummer Brent Fitz who brought in bass player Todd Kerns, who himself had popularity in Canada with his bands Age Of Electric and Static In Stereo, and currently fronts the Vegas based Sin City Sinners. Add in Schneck and Alter Bridge vocalist Myles Kennedy and you had an undeniable chemistry.
Slash being Slash, it was hard to get the man off the road. As Kerns told Glide last year during an interview following their show in Jacksonville, “If it was up to me and if it was up to Slash, honestly, we’d just stay on the road till the end of time and never go home.” But after many months touring, following eye surgery for Kerns and a near miss with the tsunami that hit Japan right as the band was about to play there, the men did indeed put on the brakes and head for home … kind of. Kerns immediately returned to playing shows with the Sinners, Kennedy hooked back up with his home band Alter Bridge to tour in support of their CD AB III, Fitz went up to Canada to play some shows while Schneck sat in with bands in his home base of St Louis. And Slash? He never stopped, not for a minute.
At the tail end of 2011, “We started demoing, just playing around with songs and things, riffs that Slash had brought in,” Kerns told us earlier this year while recording what would become Apocalyptic Love. “We had started playing with those on the road last year at sound-checks and rehearsals, so those kind of started to morph and metamorphosize into songs”. The first single, “You’re A Lie”, ended up being the song that Kerns had talked about giving him chills because it sounded so good. “The funny thing is, the main riff that Slash was playing on that song is no longer a part of the song, which is totally bizarre cause it was the kind of riff that made you go, damn that’s great,” Kerns had explained at the time. “But that particular song was written and rewritten so many times … Just before we started recording, we were still kind of dealing with that song, to the point that it was almost abandoned. Then it sort of ended up being possibly the strongest song on the record in a lot of ways.”
Sitting down in an empty dressing room following an electrifying show in Biloxi, Kerns was happily amazed by the crowd’s reaction to this particular song – “That song fucking rips. I don’t know what it is but there’s definitely an energy to it” – and by his own mixed-emotions at being able to play some of the new songs for their fans. “There’s a part of me that’s like excited about going out to play again and getting to play ‘Rocket Queen’ or ‘Nightrain’ or ‘Slither’; it’s always fun but there was kind of a little bit of, oh, we can’t really play any of the new songs because the album is not even out yet.”
Added new guitar player Frank Sidoris, “I learned some of the new stuff and I got so excited about it. I can’t wait to play it.” Although he is not on the latest album, as he joined after recording was completed, “I honestly think this record is just unstoppable. Every song is just so well thought out. A lot of people may think, well, it’s Slash so it might have this classic sort of feel but I think it’s totally a rock & roll record for today that everybody can enjoy.”
The current mini-tour through the states is giving fans an opportunity to see and hear Sidoris for the first time. Born and bred in Las Vegas, Sidoris was playing with The Cab when an opportunity knocked: “Me and Brent had been friends for a while, going to coffee shops and whatnot and he was like, ‘Well, if you can make it on this day then you can get an audition with Slash.’” “We knew Frankie already. I didn’t like him at all, to be honest,” deadpanned Kerns. “But I had my eye on the prize so I wasn’t going to let Todd get in the way,” Sidoris quickly snapped back, trying not to smile. “So he got the gig now and I’m miserable about it,” quipped Kerns before both men burst out laughing.
.jpg)
That is something that you notice right from the get-go: the comfortable repartee that seems to come easily between the five men offstage and on. Playing for the first time in Biloxi, “I’ve got to say that this was one of the best audiences so far,” said Kerns happily. Although they have several festivals on their agenda before crossing the pond, Kerns in a way prefers them playing on their own: “It’s a whole other animal playing outside in the daytime. It’s awesome but in a lot of ways, I kind of prefer doing the full set where you get the full ninety minute arc of the catalog and getting to do it in front of an audience that came to see us; where at festivals, it’s kind of like they’re there to see all kinds of acts.”
Opening for Slash on this particular night was Hillbilly Herald, a raucous band out of LA that features one of the most appealing smart asses in music today: Jimmy Herald. With many in attendance not knowing who they were, the band snatched your attention with the first song as Jimmy got in your face PDQ with some choice words and snappy hard rock foot stompers. They were a good fit to rouse up an already excited crowd.
Running out to the playground friskiness of “Mean Bone”, Slash and his Conspirators hooked the audience in immediately, following up with the one/two punch of “Dirty Lil Thing” and “Nightrain”, a fan favorite from the old days of the newly Hall Of Fame inducted LA band Slash helped create. “Rocket Queen”, with it’s adrenaline-soaked guitar solo featuring moments of a mean slithering slide, the new “You’re A Lie”, “Slither”, “Back From Cali”, “Ghost” and “Starlight”, which Kennedy acknowledged was “the first song we ever put together” all kept the fans on their feet. A wicked “Watch This” was a dark and nasty montage of supernova orgasmatron notes, exposing the talent of every band member’s fingers, including Kennedy and drummer Fitz, who shone like a beacon of just how a rhythm section is supposed to be led. The man is a beast of a drummer. Kerns was also in true Damminator form, owning the stage with his spunk and crunchy bass lines.
And how was the young man with the long brown curls who won the role of second guitar? As Fitz mentioned before the show, Sidoris was bringing to the band a youthfully sinful new energy. “It’s been pretty easy adapting,” Sidoris confessed post-show about gelling with his new bandmates. “I feel like our onstage performance and kind of jumping in with these guys has been pretty smooth I’d have to say.” But there was always that adjustment period where lots of songs needed to be learned and perfected. “You know, going into it,” continued Sidoris, “I’d say the hardest part was kind of gathering all the material, getting all that set up.”
“It’s the same as when I joined,” offered Kerns. “I had to play Duff’s parts, I had to play Mike Inez’s parts, I had to play Chris Chaney’s parts. So he is in a similar situation where he’s basically learning Izzy Stradlin and Dave Kushner and the dudes from Snakepit.”
“I’d been around a little bit, getting to see everybody,” Sidoris added. “So far it’s been pretty cool. It’s been a comfortable experience but then also an uncomfortable experience in a good way as far as like the challenging aspect of it. I’ve never played with musicians of this caliber … I know I’m capable of it but it’s great because I’m getting my limits pushed.”
“In a lot of ways, it’s the best way to do things,” affirmed Kerns, discussing the virtues of playing with so-called experienced veterans. “You’re having to play catch up, swimming in the deep end and next thing you know, you’re swimming very comfortably through it.”
Another new song that was added to the set list was “Standing In The Sun”, which started with a Zeppelin-like rumble thanks to Fitz and Kennedy’s almost low-growl cougar vocals. And as a special treat, the band ran through a rocking rendition of “Mississippi Queen”. Slowing down only slightly with “Fall To Pieces” the band kept the a-train going with loud, good old-fashioned guitar and drum driven rock & roll. Slash was looking trim and fit, his fret work in stellar form. When he walked up to the mike and the crowd suddenly went deathly quiet awaiting for him to speak, he instead noodled a few notes. “What? You think I’m going to sing or something,” he joked before bursting into “Sweet Child”.
Following a few more solo dates and a couple big festivals, Slash will take his band to Europe and Canada, this time hitting our North American neighbor more thoroughly than last time, and also a few more exotic countries are on the agenda. “Slash has never played India or Beirut so it’s pretty exciting,” said Kerns about the band’s upcoming plans. In the fall, they plan on making another run through the states and from what some fans have told me, they are letting the Hard Rock in Biloxi know that they want Slash back again ASAP.
