Slash; Sizzles In Seattle

Standing in line, beneath the ebony sky, the droves waited to enter Showbox Sodo. Slash with Myles Kennedy were headlining the night, with Bad City as an opener. The performance was a high velocity explosion of rock n roll. The audience was initially enthusiastic but faded half way through. Despite the humble hordes involvement, the bands both sizzled during their powerful sets.

Walking up to the venue, it was eerie at first. The location is in a rather rougher district of Seattle, and the building is an old warehouse. The types of social outcasts you would usually expect were roaming the streets looking for their proverbial scraps. Standing in line, the anticipation level was mediocre. The upside to the line was, the lack of ticket scalpers hawking their wares. It made for a much better wait, then the usual yelling you hear from their money grabbing lips.

The venue itself is extremely well thought out. The roof has huge steel girders running the length of the room, sitting about two feet below the actual roof itself. This makes the sound travel, but not reverb as you would normally see. The bar itself is separate from the building. It contains its own mini stage. This allows the Showbox people to host both large shows (1,500 or so) and small shows (less than 200) within the same location. The other bonus to the location, was just how clean everything was. Everything was fresh and painted, and was not saturated with the odors of most equivalent sized spots.

Bad City took the stage at around nine and rocked the place hard. Singer, Josh Caddy, has an inspirational style, that seemed lost to years past. His theatrical transitions and serpent styled swaying was hypnotically captivating. The entire group seems built on a foundation of glam metal, without the glam. The music is catchy and simple, but features intense moments of guitar euphoria. With a dual axe man approach, the fuel generated between the two, Max Perenchio and Tom Schleiter, is astounding. They play off one another with style and ease. The drummer, Kevin Kane, beats hard and precise, and works the songs into your soul. As the bassist, Jake Sherek, thumps a mean rhythmic darkness. Bad City are a force from which you don’t want to escape.

As the first band left, and the headliners started to setup, the bar built an enormous queue. The support staff for the main event, were busy as bees, as they darted to and fro. Within a few minutes, they had the platform swapped over for the main act. The swarming mass was getting eager, it was time.

Darkness engulfed the crowd, as the infamous Mr.Hudson and his group stormed the stage. Without too much of an introduction the quintet erupted into their first song, Ghost from the Slash album. It was welcomed by those in attendance with smiles and screams of excitement. Myles Kennedy owned the stage, and proved himself from the first moment. His vocals has one of the best ranges you can find in this day and age. A hint of 70s nostalgia creeps itself from his chords. Yet he was still humble and appreciative of all the applause and kudos.

Slash is a legend and one of the best representations of hard working rockers. Not only does he keep up with all the latest social media, and keep his fans close, he gives everything he can during a performance. Saturday night was no different, he left it all out on that stage. From his blistering solos, to his constant movement, he is a one man wrecking machine. Beads of sweat feel from his body like rain from the sky, drenching the stage in a thick proof of his efforts. Saul “Slash” Hudson was electric and captivated the audience with pure brute force. This man is a god, and that evening he confirmed why.

Overall everything was amazing, except the audience during the last half of the performance. At several points Mr.Kennedy asked if they [crowd] were still even awake. It wasn’t from lack of trying, sometimes their is a disconnect between reaction and effort. Regardless the groups participation the show was tight and well executed. Seeing Slash perform is a real treat and should be recommended to friends. He rocked the Showbox Sodo, proving he still has the piss and vinegar to tear audiences apart.

Tagged as: jamie taylor, myles kennedy, review, seattle, showbox sodo, slash

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Jamie Taylor – who has contributed 3308 posts for Concert Addicts.

"With a love for live music, way too much to say and inability to put down his camera , photojournalism was a logical step in his journey. Concert Addicts was born from a desire to express his opinion, share his photography, and share knowledge. Now the community is no longer his, it is ours."

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