Japanese Voyeurs have never received a great review
from Alternative Vision; one of them being from
me so when I heard they were supporting I was
dreading it, tonight however the band have surprised
me. For the first couple of songs the nerves of
every member were on display; they were playing
sloppy, there were microphone issues and every
member was looking at each other with fear on
their faces. After the first few songs though
I think they adapted to the large audience and
everything started to come together; the vocals
seem to improve tremendous amounts, the microphone
problems disappeared, the sound becomes a lot
tighter and the band have a lot more energy on
stage thanks to this new found confidence. I do
have one criticism from this performance; it’s
a huge opportunity, a sold out show with the possibility
of gaining 4000 new fans, you’d think this
would be the time to try and build a relationship
with them which is far from the case. There is
minimal crowd interaction and when there is, Romily
sounds like a hamster on speed so you never quite
catch what she’s saying although she looks
extremely happy, she’s a very pretty young
lady. They play a set compromising of songs from
their debut album “Yolk” and a cover
of Nine Inch Nail’s song “Hurt”
which fit their style beautifully without them
even needing to adapt it much. So tonight I have
finally succumb to Japanese Voyeurs and have become
a fan.
Slash is in the building! Out on a tour of the
UK with his buddies; Myles Kennedy (Vocals), Brent
Finz (Drums), Todd Kerns (Bass & Vocals) and
Bobby Schneck (Rhythm Guitar & Vocals). The
excitement has been building in me all day to
the point where I almost wet myself multiple times
throughout the day. The moment arrives and there
he is; top hat and everything, Slash himself.
They kick off with a song from the new album “Ghost”
as the audience lost their minds and would not
stop screaming. Myles Kennedy proves tonight that
he’s earned the right to be included in
this tour not just by absolutely obliterating
all the Guns N’ Roses covers (“Civil
War”, “Rocket Queen”, “Nightrain”,
“Patience” and “Sweet Child
O’Mine”), dancing all over the Velvet
Revolver covers (“Sucker Train Blues”
and “Slither”), flawlessly performing
the Slash’s Snakepit covers (“Mean
Bone”, “Just Like Anything”
& “Speed Parade”) and making tackling
songs by other singers from Slash’s album
with ease, but by making it all his own. The lighting
was terrific, added a surreal ambiance to the
already legendary atmosphere, the standard gig
lights were still in play but with a few stacks
in the back projecting over the audience and laser
beams jetting upward over the room. Over all these
years, all the different music this man has produced
and he still hits every note with machine precision
on every single song. All of the musicians are
note for not spot on. There is interaction between
Todd and the audience when he takes up lead vocals
on the track “We’re All Gonna Die”,
Myles keeps it going all night and from time to
time Slash himself gets in on all the bonding
and talking which is incredible. Tremendous 18
song set and then a terrific 3 song encore consisting
of “Promise”, “My Michelle”
and “Paradise City” which at the end
had a cannon go off either side of the stage shooting
confetti all over the place and smoke jets to
keep them airborne for as long as possible to
keep the finale going for as long as they can.
Japanese Voyeurs – 4/5
Slash – 5/5
Review By James Webb |
