Gig Review

Slash
Birmingham, Academy
20th July 2011
             
                            
Slash                              Japanese Voyeurs
      
Japanese Voyeurs have never received a great review from Alternative Vision; one of them being from me so when I heard they were supporting I was dreading it, tonight however the band have surprised me. For the first couple of songs the nerves of every member were on display; they were playing sloppy, there were microphone issues and every member was looking at each other with fear on their faces. After the first few songs though I think they adapted to the large audience and everything started to come together; the vocals seem to improve tremendous amounts, the microphone problems disappeared, the sound becomes a lot tighter and the band have a lot more energy on stage thanks to this new found confidence. I do have one criticism from this performance; it’s a huge opportunity, a sold out show with the possibility of gaining 4000 new fans, you’d think this would be the time to try and build a relationship with them which is far from the case. There is minimal crowd interaction and when there is, Romily sounds like a hamster on speed so you never quite catch what she’s saying although she looks extremely happy, she’s a very pretty young lady. They play a set compromising of songs from their debut album “Yolk” and a cover of Nine Inch Nail’s song “Hurt” which fit their style beautifully without them even needing to adapt it much. So tonight I have finally succumb to Japanese Voyeurs and have become a fan.

Slash is in the building! Out on a tour of the UK with his buddies; Myles Kennedy (Vocals), Brent Finz (Drums), Todd Kerns (Bass & Vocals) and Bobby Schneck (Rhythm Guitar & Vocals). The excitement has been building in me all day to the point where I almost wet myself multiple times throughout the day. The moment arrives and there he is; top hat and everything, Slash himself. They kick off with a song from the new album “Ghost” as the audience lost their minds and would not stop screaming. Myles Kennedy proves tonight that he’s earned the right to be included in this tour not just by absolutely obliterating all the Guns N’ Roses covers (“Civil War”, “Rocket Queen”, “Nightrain”, “Patience” and “Sweet Child O’Mine”), dancing all over the Velvet Revolver covers (“Sucker Train Blues” and “Slither”), flawlessly performing the Slash’s Snakepit covers (“Mean Bone”, “Just Like Anything” & “Speed Parade”) and making tackling songs by other singers from Slash’s album with ease, but by making it all his own. The lighting was terrific, added a surreal ambiance to the already legendary atmosphere, the standard gig lights were still in play but with a few stacks in the back projecting over the audience and laser beams jetting upward over the room. Over all these years, all the different music this man has produced and he still hits every note with machine precision on every single song. All of the musicians are note for not spot on. There is interaction between Todd and the audience when he takes up lead vocals on the track “We’re All Gonna Die”, Myles keeps it going all night and from time to time Slash himself gets in on all the bonding and talking which is incredible. Tremendous 18 song set and then a terrific 3 song encore consisting of “Promise”, “My Michelle” and “Paradise City” which at the end had a cannon go off either side of the stage shooting confetti all over the place and smoke jets to keep them airborne for as long as possible to keep the finale going for as long as they can.

Japanese Voyeurs – 4/5
Slash – 5/5

Review By James Webb

 Slash


Slash

 Japanese Voyeurs


Tom
Johnny
Romily
Steve
Rikki

 Band Related Links
Slash Myspace
Japanese Voyeurs Myspace
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?