‘Slash was seemingly oblivious
to the crazy man throwing
stuff at him’
the cast of characters or conspirators or whatever the f**k we are this
week.” He then introduced Frank Sidoris, Todd ‘Dammit Kerns and
Brent Fitz. There was only one member left to go: “Leeds? Will you
please, make some f*****g noise for the one...the only...Slash!” There
was a deafening roar as Slash strode up to the microphone: “Hey
f****rs! Do you know who this is?” He exclaimed, pulling Kennedy to
his side. The audience cheered and the lead singer joked that no-one
knew who he was. “Myles motherf*****g Kennedy!” Slash shouted
before adding matter-of-factly: “He sings.”
The fans got their white Christmas early
It was then time for the penultimate song: ‘Slither’. As the band thundered into the first verse the crowd needed no encouragement and
jumped frantically whilst shouting ‘Hey!’ on cue. Wisely, the bouncers didn’t move back: instead they stood ready and alert in case of
any drama. The audience definitely had a blast and many tried to scramble to the front of the crowd to get more involved, this only
caused lots of shoving as the people at the front definitely didn’t want to give up their good view. One man got a bit carried away and
crowd surfed his way into the powerful grasp of the bouncers who quickly dragged him away. The song ended dramatically and as Kennedy thanked the crowd, Slash did his classic jump off the drum kit. A few picks were thrown and were immediately devoured by the
hungry crowd. “Hey!” Screamed Slash as he grabbed the mic, “You guys never f*****g disappoint...thank you so much! Hope we kicked
ass and see you at Download!” With that he and the rest of the band left the stage and the lights went down.
‘One man got a bit carried away and crowd surfed his
way into the powerful grasp of the bouncers’
The crowd whistled and cheered for more, longing to see Slash once again. Blue lights shone down on the strangely empty stage and the
audience continued to urge the band to come back for an encore. After what seemed like ages, Slash strode back on stage and played a
few teasing notes before breaking into the Gun’s N’ Roses classic: ‘Paradise City’. The whole band joined in to get the crowd clapping
along in time to the thumping drum beat before the verse. “Oh won’t you please take me home!” The crowd had no trouble in filling in
the gaps when the lead singer handed it over to them. Kennedy then sprinted across the stage and jumped off the drum kit - he certainly, as did the crowd, had a new lease of life for the final song. As the whistle signalled the aggressive verse riffs Slash, who was energized by the music, started hopping around and kicking out his left leg.
Once again, Kennedy’s able voice coped with the challenging chorus and each time Slash ran over to play facing Kerns. The crowd were
also having a great time and sang most of the bridge without the frontman's help. As Kennedy held a sustained note confetti burst out
of the sides of the stage like fountains, smothering the crowd beneath in a blanket of white. Barely visible behind the sinking confetti,
Slash then chased Kennedy around the stage in circles for a bit, whilst (miraculously) playing his guitar. The whole band then came to
the front of the stage for the end of the song, the confetti still falling like snow in front of them. “Oh won’t you please take me....home!”
The crowd sang in unison with the lead singer as the final song drew closer to the end. “Leeds, thank you so much..we’ll see you next
year, at Download!” Slash, who was showing off his guitar skills, then flipped his Les Paul over and played it behind his back as the song
came to a close.
A final chord signalled the end and the adoring crowd cheered as the band joined together at the back of the stage. They bowed and
Kerns, Sidoris and Slash then began to throw picks which were swallowed up by the desperate fans, all trying in vain to catch one. Kennedy also grabbed the set list and gave it to a bouncer to pass on to a lucky chosen fan and Fitz came down to throw his drumsticks into
the crowd. “Leeds you’re f*****g beautiful, thank you so much
man, goodnight!” Slash said goodbye to his friends-for-life: the
fans and also gave some life advice: “Take good care of yourselves...don’t get into any trouble you hear?” With a wave and
a grin matching the audience’s he left the stage and the concert
was over.
As the crowds ebbed away, many fans lingered behind, hoping
to find picks that had been overlooked: a task that was nearly
impossible due to the large amount of confetti covering the
floor. T-shirts were bought and fans made their way home
happy and content. The show was enjoyed by the band as much
as the audience and showed that even at his ripe old age of
49...Slash has still got it.
The band say their goodbyes
Photo Credits: band and confetti photos: www.myleskennedyworld.com,
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