Slash - Made In Stoke 24/7/11
Performance
Production
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Slash - Made In Stoke 24/7/11
Performance
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When Slash hit the road on his debut solo tour last year he decided to make a special stop at the place he called home until the age of five, Stoke-on-Trent, England. We all know that the young Saul Hudson eventually made it across the pond to the United States, where he took on the name Slash and formed one of the greatest rock and roll bands in the world, Guns N' Roses. Neither Slash nor the Gunners ever made it over to Stoke to play a gig until now, so Slash wanted to give his old hometown a very special treat by recording his first ever performance there for a live concert video and CD. Made in Stoke 24/7/11 was recorded at the Victoria Hall in Stoke-on-Trent on July 24th, 2011 towards the end of Slash's world tour in support of his debut solo album, Slash. The album featured an assortment of guest vocalists of such varying styles as Fergie, Ozzy, Lemmy and Iggy - last names not required here. One of the other vocalists was Alter Bridge's Myles Kennedy, who sang on two of the best tracks, and Slash was so impressed with his amazing set of pipes, and personality, that he not only invited him to handle all of the lead vocals on the ensuing tour, but also all of the lead vocals on his forthcoming new solo album. The 21-song setlist features eight songs from Slash, a few Slash's Snakepit tracks, a Velvet Revolver hit, and, of course, plenty of GNR classics. The only time I had seen Slash play live was on the Guns N' Roses and Metallica co-headlining stadium tour of 1992, where I was about 2 miles from the stage, up in the rafters of the New Orleans Superdome, so it was a real treat to see this genuine guitar hero strut his stuff up close and personal on this new, expertly filmed, hi-definition, Blu-ray concert video. Having one of my favorite new(er) singers, Myles Kennedy, fronting the band made this one extra special too. Check out Alter Bridge's excellent Live From Amsterdam DVD to see more of this guy in action. The band hits the stage running with the up-tempo boogie-rocker, "Been There Lately," from the second Slash's Snakepit album, Ain't Life Grand, and this leads right into the propulsive GNR rocker, "Night Train," which sends the ecstatic capacity crowd into an early frenzy. The look, sound, and energy of the performance was amazing right from the start, so I knew I was in for a real treat for the next couple of hours. Other early highlights were "Back To Cali," one of the Slash tracks that Kennedy originally sang on, and a GNR song that I would have least expected them to perform, "Civil War," from Use Your Illusion II. When I hear of the term guitar-hero thrown around, the iconic image of Slash, with his ever present top hat covering a mane of long, curly, black hair that always hangs in his face, the giant nose ring, the mirrored sunglasses, the black leather pants, and enough silver jewelry to choke a small dinosaur, he is one of the first guys that always comes to mind. Slash has the chops to back it up too, and he has written and performed many of the most musical and fluid rock guitar solos ever laid down to tape. Slash was in a particularly great mood this night, addressing the crowd several times between songs, and I think that all of the excitement leading up to the event may have enticed him to pound a few extra shots of Jack Daniels this night, because he definitely sounded pretty hammered every time he opened his mouth. Certainly didn't come across in his performance though, as he played brilliantly as always. Things just kept getting better as the show progressed. Slash performed the GNR acoustic ballad "Patience" electrically this night, as they led the entire crowd in a rapturous sing-a-long. Slash's Godfather-themed guitar solo was as fun to watch as any of the songs he performs, and it eventually drifts into the iconic opening riff to "Sweet Child O' Mine," which has never sounded sweeter than it does here. They close out the set with a show-stopping performance of the Velvet Revolver track, "Slither," that blows away the studio version. The three song encore featured the killer Snakepit track "By The Sword," and the two GNR monsters "Mr. Brownstone" and "Paradise City." It would be interesting to compare the Axl Rose-led GNR performances of these songs to Slash's side-by-side, should Axl ever decide to put out a concert DVD of his current tour. At his pace, we should expect one in about 10 years, right after the next GNR album. The production quality of this Blu-ray disk is aces all around. Three audio mixes are provided, DTS Master Audio 5.1 Surround, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, and LPCM Stereo, and they all sound fantastic - the DTS one in particular. The high-def picture is nearly flawless and the camera work was superb. Lots of great camera angles that did not change shots every second like most other concert videos do these days, and plenty of great close-ups during Slash's epic guitar solos. Bonus material includes interviews with Slash, Myles Kennedy, and Slash's Uncle Ian from Stoke, who shows you around town and Slash's childhood home. I had always just assumed that Slash's father (Tony)was black and his mother white, but as his uncle describes; "Tony came back from London with a beautiful colored lady...and Saul." Not exactly the most P.C. of descriptions from the old timer. An 11-page color booklet is also included that features a great essay from Malcolm Dome. With Made in Stoke 24/7/11, you could not ask for a better debut concert video from Slash. I was a bit surprised, though, that he did not get a few of the guest singers to show up for this one show since it was being filmed, but Kennedy does an amazing job with all of the varied styles. The concert was impeccably filmed and the band (and crowd's) energy were both tremendous. I was always a big fan of Slash from the Guns 'N' Roses days - now I am just a big fan of Slash. Note: As of this writing, the Made in Stoke 24/7/11 Blu-ray and DVD are only available at Amazon.co.uk and not Amazon.com, where they only have the CD/bonus DVD that does not include the whole concert. Fortunately, the Amazon.co.uk version is region free and plays perfectly on my Blu-ray player here in the U.S. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - January 2012 |
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Running Time: 125 Minutes |
Blu-ray Release Date - November 2011 |