Following the long awaited release of his fourth studio album "4", Slash brought over some friends to tour around Australia and Asia during his "The River is Rising" tour.
Supporting them on this tour is Aussie rock legends Rose Tattoo and Brit Rock group The Struts.
Opening for Slash was the nice boys of Rock N Roll, Rose Tattoo. The band played a short but sweet setlist with all their hits. Joining Rose Tattoo is guitarist and local Sydney music legend Ronnie Simmons. He had recently returned from the streets of LA to donate a guitar to the Rainbow Bar & Grill on Sunset Blvd on behalf of Rose Tattoo and now he joins the band on a string of shows around the country back home. While watching Ronnie performing with Angry Anderson, Mark Evans, Paul DeMarco and Mick Arnold, you see he feels right at home. Rose Tattoo and Slash have supported eachother since Guns N Roses toured Australia in 1993 for their Use Your Illusion Tour and again in 2017 for their reunion Not In This Lifetime Tour. So it's fair to say Slash and Rose Tattoo have a strong relationship and would seem fitting for Tatts to open for him on this tour.
Setlist:
Rock N Roll is King
One of the Boys
Scarred for Life
Rock N Roll Outlaw
We Can't Be Beaten
Bad Boy For Love
Nice Boys
Images by Jordan Newton
Next up was The Struts. The 4 piece glam rock band from Derby lifted up the energy of the crowd with their setlist:
Primadonna Like Me
Body Talks
Fallin With Me
Too Good at Raising Hell
Kiss This
Pretty Vicious
Put Your Money On Me
Could Have Been Me
Love child of Mick Jagger and Freddie Mercury, Luke Spiller, guitarist Adam Slack, bassist Jed Elliott, and drummer Gethin Davies have been coming to Sydney since 2019 supporting Greta Van Fleet and now have gone on to open for The Rolling Stones, Motley Crue, Foo Fighters and Guns N Roses. Apart from performing for Victoria Secret Fashion Shows, releasing 4 studio albums and winning Best New Band in 2016 at the Classic Rock Roll of Honour, the Struts are always great to see live. I urge you to them live before they start performing for stadiums and arenas.
"Ladies and gentlemen remember the name THE STRUTS” - Luke Spiller
Images by Jordan Newton
And now for the main event, SLASH. He last touched Sydney shores back in 2019. This time around the setlist focused more on his solo albums rather than his Guns N Roses hits. I guess now that Gunners have reformed, you can now go see them. Noticeably missing from the setlist was Ghost, Nightrain (Guns N Roses cover) and By The Sword.
Setlist:
The River Is Rising
Driving Rain
Halo
Too Far Gone
Back From Cali
Whatever Gets You By
C'est la vie
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Always on the Run
Bent to Fly
Mind Your Manners
Spirit Love
Bad Apples
Starlight
Wicked Stone
April Fool
Fill My World
Doctor Alibi
You're a Lie
World on Fire
Encore:
Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time) (Elton John Cover)
Anastasia
This tour felt more of a statement of the progression of Slash as a musician and as a solo artist without relying on his Guns N Roses catalogue. Slash together with Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators got his statement across the concert hall. Myles undoubtedly is one of the greatest frontman in modern rock with his effortless vocal arrangement and pitch which gives Axl Rose a run for his money. Sharing the love and lead was Todd Kerns while Frank Sidoris and Brent Fitz helped kept the rhythm and power to the people. It was definitely a week of entertainment and music for Sydney. If you weren't at Sydney Olympic Park seeing Taylor Swift or Blink-182, you were seeing one of the greatest guitar players and icons in the world at Moore Park.
Images by Jordan Newton
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