Slash
July 28, 2024
Budweiser Stage, Toronto, ON
Canadian Beats Passport
Blowing the roof off of the Budweiser Stage in Toronto Sunday night, Slash and his band did The Blues justice! Reunited with two of his former Blues Ball band mates, bassist Johnny Griparic and keyboardist Teddy Andreadis, as well as drummer Michael Jerome and singer/guitarist Tash Neal.
From start to finish, Slash and his bandmates took us on a journey through Blues, Rock, and Gospel. I completely lost track of the fact that most songs had no lyrics, and when there were, it was with a great depth of the soul. Both Teddy and Tash added vocal tones and textures to Slash’s Guitar work. Each playing off of the other and leaning into the rhythm. Both with their own grit, gravel, and persona, they projected the feeling in each lyric. Michael was like a well-oiled machine filling in the percussion, and keeping time, providing the backdrop of thumping and palpating the skins and symbols.
With effort and ease, Slash fretted and strummed his way up and down the neck of a handful of guitars. Making playing second-to-second notes seem effortless. I remember thinking ‘His fingers must be made of stone’, to just keep going, and not show any discomfort at all. Only showing a quiver in his lower lip, which is a trait, most guitarists display. Lost in the land of ALL the combination of notes, you could ever hear on a guitar, only adding occasional vocals on a couple of songs, Slash was truly showcasing his pure talent as a guitarist, every once in a while leaning back and forward to bend and bow with the rise and fall of each song. I felt like I was taken back to the early days as blues was being played out as work songs, the gospel hymns, and right at church in the south. We couldn’t stay in our seats for long, as the toe-tapping wasn’t sufficient enough to truly enjoy the projection of sound emanating from downtown Toronto.
One of the best seats I’ve stood in front of, not too far and not too close, I felt like I was in each song, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be dreaming of Guitar Solos for many nights to come.
