SLASH announces another one-off appearance! The first is the
show tonight with Spinal Tap at the Greek Theater in L.A. Fans in Los
Angeles luck out again! The second show is at the House of Blues on
Sunset Strip and is entitled "Les Paul & Friends". Fans who attended this
show before say it's magnificent. If you love guitar music and want to
see SLASH solo...this is your chance if you can get to L.A. Tickets are
on sale right now and are $40. It's a 21+ show with doors opening at 8 pm,
and the show starting at 9pm.
Make some quick plans and be there tomorrow night! Let us know if you were
at either or both shows and how SLASH was doing. We'd like to post your
reviews right here.
If you haven't had a chance to see
Snakepit yet or wanted a chance to see them again, it won't be soon.
After the final show in Pittsburgh, PA on June 29, SLASH will be
returning to L.A. to work on a new album. While a lot of fans will be
disappointed that the Snakepit shows aren't coming, SLASH promises
the new album will be out soon. The band recorded about 20 songs that
are just about ready to go. SLASH and the boys will want to get these
into their final shape before the mixing and publishing begins. Sad to
see the end of the support for Ain't Life Grand, but we hope
the new album will be that same bluesy rock SLASH is famous for and that
the new album receives more support from the label and distributors than
this one has gotten. If you were at the pre-album shows or picked up
on a bootleg from them, there are lots of songs that could be included.
Of course, any songs recorded back then will be re-recorded with Keri
Kelli! SLASH says..be patient a little longer, and Snakepit will be
back with a new album for you.
The Aid for AIDS charity
auction ended on ebay with the lucky high bidder paying $575 for
SLASH's silk pajamas. SLASH's contribution was a leader throughout
the auction with the next highest item several hundred behind. Thanks
to everyone who put in a bid! SLASH was surprised! If you'd like to
hear what SLASH had to say about the auction, we have a link for you
to eYada courtesy of Linda. She said that the audio interview also
has to do with SLASH's Snakepit and the forthcoming tour. When you get
to the site, you'll have to do a search on SLASH. It's the May 25
interview.
Speaking of the tour, there have been some updates on the schedule. All
the dates/venues remain the same, but there is new information on ticket
onsale dates and the age requirements. Not all venues have this information
as yet, but what's here is what we've managed to ferret out. You'll
notice that Billy Idol coheadlines with Snakepit on the last three shows
only: Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh. Snakepit goes on first as far as we
know. SLASH says it's possible that he will join Billy Idol onstage or
that Billy will join the 'pit during their show. SLASH is old friends with
Billy and is looking forward to their three shows together. Where tickets are not available on Ticketmaster, there is a link
right on the schedule to send you to the right online place. Randy sent
in information on the Buffalo show - this is the 4 day festival called the
Great Guitar Gig with Snakepit playing the last day. There's a nice writeup
on SLASH on their site as well as a description of how that wrapup day
at this free gig will run:
Thanks, Randy!
And here's a link to the Tour Schedule on this site. It can also be reached
by clicking Tour Schedule off the Main Menu.
We're waiting for SLASH to send the answers to some more questions. The
ones he has are the last for awhile. Here's one SLASH has already sent
back. This one comes from Antti in Finland who asks, "I just wanted to
know, what is your favorite species of snakes? Keep on rockin, SLASH!"
Vicki tells us that in the July 2001 issue of Spin there's an
article on "10 Tours That Changed the World". GNR didn't make the top
10 if you can believe that. Changed a lot of lives around here! GNR
did come in #16 with the GNR/Metallica tour. Vicki also saw a rerun
of the VH-1 Viewer's Choice Awards this week which has SLASH in a cameo
appearance talking about the woman who wrote explicit song lyrics.
VH-1 also ran that Rock of Ages again recently, and Vicki saw
them showing SLASH's "dangerous" picture to people on the street. Thanks,
Vicki!
When SLASH's Snakepit gets active, people start remembering Snakepit
'95, especially the album It's Five O'Clock Somewhere and the
lead vocalist, Eric Dover. We had an update on Eric from Tommy who
keeps track of what Eric is doing these days. Eric is in the band
called Glamnation which you may remember as the band that played
at the NAMM show along with Snakepit this year. Tommy sent a direct
link for tour dates with a photo:
Several online places are carrying information on the Snakepit
tour. MTV.com and VH-1.com should put up the tour schedule tonight.
Allstar.com and Spin.com have short articles, reprinted here:
VH-1 finally announced
the date for "Behind the Music: 1987". This is a new one in their
series of "Behind the Music" shows, and it features SLASH! Here are
the dates as of today:
**All Times Eastern and Pacific**
Sunday, June 10 11am
Sunday, June 10 9pm
Sunday, June 10 11pm
Monday, June 11 12am
Tuesday, June 12 9pm
Saturday, June 16 12am
Sunday, June 17 7pm
Friday, June 22 10am
Set your vcrs and catch SLASH on TV!
Only two days till the month ends, and it will also mark the end of
the great charity Pajama Game auction. Just to bring you up to speed,
SLASH donated a pair of light green silk pajamas and an autographed
photo. His item is the highest bid item at the auction, currently
at $560. We asked one of the bidders why someone would bid so high
on a pair of PJs! This SLASH fan replied that she has many SLASH
items in her collection, but it is rare to come across something
actually owned by SLASH and to find an item of clothing that he
has worn is rarer still. In this case the item is certified authentic
which also pushes the value. She added that there is a great sentimental
value to these which goes beyond the monetary value. When asked if she
would wear them, she said she'd be glad to wear the top if SLASH would
wear the bottoms! And here's another press release on these killer PJs:
Q magazine is a reliable source. This month they had a report on
the GNR breakup and the new GNR's album. Some interesting items:
Randy tipped us off on the VH-1 schedule above. He also said that he
has posted an interview with SLASH that appeared in the UK Record
Collector magazine. The interview is from February 2000, but it's
a good one. Thanks, Randy!
Justin sent in a note that both MTV and VH-1 had quite a bit of SLASH
on yesterday. VH-1 had their countdown of the 20 greatest albums on,
and SLASH gave some commentary. MTV re-ran the 20 year anniversary
show. SLASH talks a lot about the bands on this show. When the GNR
section came up, artists such as Tom Petty, Ozzy, Rob Thomas, Lars
Ulrich and the Foo Fighters talked about Guns. Two good programs that
are still in re-runs. Don't miss them! Thanks, Justin!
One of SLASH's great friends is Izzy Stradlin. Izzy is out promoting
his new album, River. He's doing a lot of interviews in the UK
where the album is released, and he is answering all those tough GNR
questions that interviewers like to put to the former band members.
Groyou translated two interviews with Izzy for us from French magazines.
We invite you to see how Izzy stands up to these GNR questions. Izzy
is one of the coolest musicians alive, and he pulls no punches here.
There are some small SLASH mentions, but the main point here is why
did GNR fall apart:
In case you missed the other announcements, the Snakepit tour begins
June 15 and this leg ends June 29. The only change today has been
that the tickets for the Wetlands in NYC have gone on sale ($20) and
the club is listed as 18+. The gig lists "and special guests" which
implies an opening band. For those whose band would like to open at
any of the Snakepit shows, be advised that SLASH leaves the opening
band choice up to the promoter and/or venue manager. So check with
them!
If you're looking for a listserv (messages go to the group via email)
where there are lots of friendly people discussing SLASH and Snakepit,
you're invited to join the Snakepit listserv. The group is a positive
discussion about SLASH and anything to do with him and his bands and
music. The list is moderated meaning all posts are read by a moderator
before they go out to everyone. Flame wars are not tolerated. If you'd
like to check out the group, go to groups.yahoo.com. You have to register
and select a group. This group is Snakepit. There's another listserv
service offered. When you join this one, slashnews, you get a week's
worth of this Current Events column minus the graphics. Sign up for this
one at the same place...just register for slashnews (all lower case).
See you there.
Finally, here's a great Q and A from Claire and SLASH. Claire writes, "How
does SLASH feel about doing covers? Will any appear on the new Snakepit
album, and if so, what"?
TOUR SCHEDULE IS OUT! The
detailed schedule of this northeastern US tour is below (May 25 News)
or at Tour Schedule. The Tour Schedule section
is always updated first. This tour is June 15 - 29. Below that under
Completed Shows are shows that are over. They are listed just to keep
track of the show. Check the headings so you don't plan for a tour that
was last year. We're still missing a lot of information on when the
tickets go on sale and the age level for the venues. We should see more
sales announced after Memorial Day and the end of May. SLASH says they
are rehearsing steadily even on Memorial Day. He says the band sounds
great! Remember when you go, we really would like to print your
reviews and show off your pictures!
Another reminder: the charity auction for SLASH's silk pajamas ends
May 31. If you want to bid now, you have to beat $560. SLASH is still
holding the record for highest bid item there. There is over $250
difference between his and the next highest. Wear these pajamas and
if you don't have fantastic dreams and play better guitar, then you'd
better give them to us!
Ever wonder what SLASH does with all his money? Skbenn sent us the news
that SLASH was interviewed on Bankrate.com's web site this past week. Thanks!
SLASH talks about the problems he has keeping watch on his finances when
he really isn't that interested. His needs are simple, but people around
him sometimes fall into the beggars and hangers-on category, and money
is the big attraction for these people. Have a quick read on:
Janne is from Sweden and saw a documentary about the Spice Girls
yesterday. This was recorded in 1994 before they became famous, and there
is a good SLASH mention here. In one segment, two of the girls were
headbanging and said this is how SLASH usually does it! Janne says the
program may have been called "Raw Spice". Hmm. That could be SLASH's
spice name, too!
Recently we asked about that Mastercard commercial that SLASH filmed
for the Grammy Awards show. If you recall, SLASH's role was just playing
himself. He played guitar through the commercial. The story line was a
young boy dragging his father to the guitar store where for some reason
the boy ended up smashing a guitar. As you may know, the commercial did
not air at the Grammy Awards. The ad company didn't get it completed, and
they have been just sitting on it for awhile. The Mastercard people didn't
much like it, so the ad company is pitching it to other customers. The
guitar smashing may have been a bit much. Try smashing things in your
local guitar store!
Here are a couple notes on SLASH's former bandmates. The elusive Izzy
showed up in the UK's Mojo this month. Izzy said that Axl
apparently wanted him "demoted for not running around the stage enough".
Izzy said, "F*ck this" and left. Axl then called him begging him to at
least write with the band, but when Izzy went to Axl's to see him,
Axl screamed at Izzy to get off his goddamned property. Izzy's opinion:
Axl is an as*hole. The more we read, the more we think it is no wonder
GNR fell apart. By the way, Izzy's new album River is out in the
UK. There is no US distributor as yet, but you can order tha album from
one of the UK CD dealers on the net. Izzy's band has Duff McKagan on
bass. We LOVE Snakepit, but what we wouldn't give to see the tophatted
one in that lineup even for a few shows!
Speaking of the tophatted one, here's a question for him. Paulo Jose
asks, "How do I know if I'm better suited to be a lead or a rhythm
guitar player"?
TOUR SCHEDULE IS OUT! The
next leg of the tour will be in the northeastern US. It starts June 15
in Clifton Park, NY and ends June 29 in Pittsburgh, PA. These are all
shows with SLASH's Snakepit headlining. Here we go
(taken from the Tour Schedule section off Main Menu):
Internet Sale
One-Off Show Scheduled for SLASH Only Ticketmaster Ages
Jun. 1, Los Angeles, CA The Greek Theater On Sale ??
Jun. 15, Clifton Park, NY Northern Lights ?? ?? Jun. 16, Syracuse, NY Lost Horizons ?? ?? Jun. 17, Buffalo, NY Erie Basin Marina** FREE** ALL AGES** Jun. 19, Hyannis, MA Pufferbellies ?? ?? Jun. 21, Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory ?? ALL AGES Jun. 22, New York, NY Wetlands ?? ?? Jun. 23, Old Bridge, NJ Birch Hill Niteclub On Sale 18+ Jun. 25, Cleveland, OH Peabody's ?? ?? Jun. 26, Chicago, IL Riviera Theatre ?? ?? Jun. 27, Detroit, MI Royal Oak Theatre 6/2 8AM ALL AGES Jun. 29, Pittsburgh, PA I.C. Light Amphitheatre ?? ?? **The Buffalo show is the Buffalo Niagara Guitar Festival, June 14 - 17. Snakepit appears June 17 at a FREE show called The Great Guitar Gig & Fireworks Display. Starts at 1 pm. See website for more information!
Cleveland and Pittsburgh got their makeup shows! A word on the show with
Spinal Tap..that will be a Tap show with SLASH playing one song. SLASH says
right now it is iffy for him, not Tap. At least the last three shows will
be coheadlining with Billy Idol. Billy is promoting his new Greatest Hits
album. Reading some reviews, Billy's show sounds great. Snakepit will play
first on those nights, so get there for the beginning! Now's the time to
put those fan mail addresses to use. If you want to go to a show and your
buddies don't, contact someone in that city to see if you can hook up with
them. Got a question on hotels, ask! The 'pit is rehearsing right now and
every day they can before they leave. They're going to "Shine"!
SLASH's pajamas are the highest bid item in The Pajama Game charity auction.
SLASH is at $546 the last we looked, and the closest item is about $200.
We asked SLASH to comment on that, and he said he was surprised! He said
he doesn't have many pajamas as he usually doesn't wear them. If he has to
have pajamas for some reason, he wears shorts. But he does have these, and
they are beautiful. He said to thank everyone that bid on them. If you
haven't had a chance to look at them, they are at left, and you go to
the link below to check them out and bid.
Are you an AOL member? Do you use Instant Messenger? LuAnn found an
icon for you to use, and it's SLASH. A great reminder to check in with
your SLASH friends! Here it is:
Here's a question for SLASH from Greg, "Greg from NY here! SLASH, do you
use just an EQ boost for live solos? Also, do you ever use your delay
effect on any live solos? Do you strictly use the Les Paul's volume knob
for increasing/decreasing gain? Or do you have another amp setup for clean
tones and use an A/B switch?
Groyou is French but is living in the UK. He told us that Kerrang!
has its own TV channel now. The station broadcasts 24/7 on sky digital
channel 457 (UK). Every week they have the Top 20 Videos as selected by
viewers. The number one requested video this week was "November Rain".
The song and video are really classics! Thank you, Groyou!
Brian saw a new book called The Mammoth Book of Sex, Drugs & Rock N'Roll.
Over 600 pages of wild rock tales, and the first page has an intro with
rocker quotes. SLASH has the very first quote in the book! He says,
'Drugs and sex go hand in hand when you are a rock n' roll musician.
Whereas if I were a violinist, it might be a little different". Well,
maybe! Axl was on the very last page with a writeup on the St. Louis
riot, his arrest at JFK Airport and his run-in with Kurt Cobain. 600
pages between them? That's about right.
It's our pleasure to announce that Slash's
Official Site on the web has opened!!! This is www.slashssnakepit.com.
What is there right now is a great Welcome screen, and then a second
page where you can sign up to receive information and listen to some
music - surprise! there's a Snakepit 95 song, "Dime Store Rock" with
Eric Dover on vocals. You can also give
your opinions as they are getting the final site together. We understand
it will have merchandise for sale, a chat area for official chats with
SLASH and the Snakepit gang and others on the SLASH team. They really
want to know what you want as they are writing the site right now! There's
a fan club that will be available soon with lots of special fan club-only
items. This site will remain, as always, Slash's Official Fan Site, and
we're happy to have Our Leader's Official Site up and running.
The Fan Address Section is still getting quite a few signups. Today's
will be put up later this evening. Right now, you just need to send
your first name or handle, your email address, the country you live
in (state, too, if US). We'd also be glad to list your city if you'd
like to have that shown, and a picture can be sent in if you'd like.
the city and picture are optional. Please send additions and corrections
to webmaster@snakepit.org. Feel
free to write anyone anytime just to chat or to ask a question about
SLASH's Snakepit. These lists will be very helpful for all of us when the
tour starts up. Having had to give train numbers for the UK's show last
tour, we are extremely happy to have you all on the list.
How sad. SLASH lost to David Lee Roth in the finals on Metal Sludge. We
feel that SLASH had insufficient training time due to his recent bout
with pneumonia. We tried hard, but all those Roth fans poured out of
the stands and got his total up to 54%. SLASH wants a rematch! He'd
like to take on another lead guitarist next time. Maybe Buckethead!
Got a few hundred bucks for a good cause? Ebay is holding an auction
called The Pajama Game for the Aid for AIDS (AFA) charity. Celebrities
donate sleepwear and items relating to sleeping, and these are auctioned
off on the Ebay site. SLASH donated something! Here's the item's
description:
There are some SLASH mentions that have come in. Jeff got a copy of
Playboy (the one with Playmate of the Year), and Charlie Sheen
was interviewed. Charlie said he and SLASH were hanging out, and they
had been partying for four days straight! SLASH told Charlie he needed
to clean up his act. Charlie said SLASH is a good friend of his, but he
still said "SLASH from Guns N'Roses" not Snakepit! Get with it, Charlie!
Thanks, Jeff. Vicki was looking at the June 2001 issue of Cosmopolitan
and found an Angelina Jolie article. It talks about how Angelina and
spouse, Billy Bob Thornton, bought "a Beverly Hills Spanish-style
villa from Guns N'Roses guitarist SLASH for just under 3.8 million dollars".
Every time we read about this we regret the loss of the historical Snakepit
studio. Thanks, Vicki! We've mentioned before that this month's Guitar One
magazine has an article on GNR's Greatest Riffs. Justin pointed out that
there is more of interest to SLASH fans. One of the tabs in the same issue
is Queen's "Tie Your Mother Down". SLASH played this with Brian May on
the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and the song appears on May's
"Resurrection" single (live version). Thanks, Justin!
The Fan Addresses section
is up on the page and includes everyone's information received through early afternoon
today. Please check your listing sometime to be sure it is correct. You
are listed under the country you live in. The section is cleverly titled
You've Got Mail! And we hope you do. This could be some fun for you and
helpful here. Many times when SLASH is on tour, we need information from
a certain country. This involves long searches on the web, and it will
be great to just send off mail to get a venue's street address or
something like that. If you'd like to get in on this, just send your
name, country, email address to webmaster@snakepit.org.
You can include a photo of yourself, but that is optional. Amazing how many
countries are represented. We faxed the entire section to Slash so he
could see, too. If you want to check out the listings now, there's a link
below. If you want to do it later, it's at www.snakepit.org, scroll down
to Main Menu, click Fan Addresses.
SLASH's Publicist is terrific about sharing news on SLASH. We got
a note from her that SLASH is in Steppin' Out, an entertainment
magazine for the New York and New Jersey area. The complete interview is
printed on their site. If this seems familiar, this is the one that
the eyada radio station did live on the net. Cool pictures, and
you might catch some things you missed online.
There's a brief SLASH mention in US from Charlie Sheen. A few days
ago we reported that Charlie said something similar on the Conan
O'Brien show. Here's what Charlie said this time, "You know you've
gone too far when [rock guitarist] SLASH is saying 'Look, you've got to
get into rehab. You're going to die.' " (Charlie Sheen on hitting
bottom). Soon SLASH will have his friends cleaned up and will start on
the fans!
In Q magazine there was a mention of that incident on UK television
where SLASH said "f*ck" and "blowjob" and caused a minor uproar. The
article was an interview with the hosts of the show, so you knew it was
coming. One man said that SLASH let loose a "torrent of abusive language".
Clearly this man has not heard the SLASHer at full throttle. SLASH thought
his language would be beeped out, but it wasn't, and the audience was
fairly young. Why he was booked on this show, we have no idea.
Here's another Q and A. We wish we could show you how organized SLASH
is with these questions and answers. We provide unnumbered, unlabeled
copy, and he makes up a separate numbered answered sheet with names.
He then goes back and fixes the original copy to have numbers. Makes
it very easy here, but we never expected SLASH to be so organized!
Thanks, SLASH. This question is from Janet who asks, "When you are
creating your fabulous music, which comes first - the lyrics, the
melody or the instrumentals?"
SLASH called in the other
night with some updates. First, on his health, he had been to the doctor;
and his doctor said he is in excellent condition. SLASH wants to go out
on an extended tour, and he wants to start back in great shape. He says
he feels wonderful, too. He does not have a tour schedule yet, but from
little things that were mentioned, we are GUESSING that the tour will begin
in the US! That is all we know right now, and SLASH wouldn't confirm our
guess. Since they will be going out in June, he believes, he agreed to
do one last set of questions.
We chose them from those already submitted
and faxed them to SLASH. Please don't submit anymore till we tell you!
SLASH is going out with Snakepit, so there are
no plans on his side or anyone else's side for him to replace the guitar
player in the new GNR. Ravi wrote in and asked about the press release
that SLASH was in attendance when the Black Crowes were honored with a
place in the Rockwalk. SLASH was not out there; he was inside doing
press interviews. He was at the show but got there too late to see Oasis.
He only saw the Black Crowes which he said was an ok show.
Speaking of SLASH, this is a good time to have another Q and A. This
question comes from Matt in Australia. Matt asks, "I'm thinking about
a Les Paul Studio Gothic, but I am left handed. Would it be wise to
have one custom made at enormous cost? Or would I be better off having
it re-strung"?
A book by Tony Bacon called Electric Guitars: The Illustrated
Encyclopedia has some SLASH mentions. The book was published in
2000 and is a large, "coffeetable size" with plenty of color illustrations.
There's guitar history, and then there are sections for various types
of guitars, e.g. Gibson. In the Epiphone section, there is a mention of
SLASH's signature guitar "that comes with a suitable snake graphic".
There's a picture of the Gibson Custom Shop signature guitar made for
SLASH. It's a beauty. In the Travis Bean section, they talk about how
the company got started and was closed in 1979. However, "guitarists
such as Stanley Jordan and SLASH have since helped raise the brand's
profile...and in 1998, they were back in business". If you like
guitars of all makes and models, you'll like this book. By the way,
SLASH could have looked up Matt's Gothic in the Gibson section!
Recommended.
Lisa in Italy got a copy of Hard! magazine, and it has an
article in it that she wrote about SLASH! The article talked about
SLASH's illness and reassured fans that the news from L.A. is good.
Lisa also said that in the magazine Psycho there is also an
article about SLASH's Snakepit. They say that Snakepit is the
real new Guns N'Roses! Thanks, Lisa!
The final round is going on in that Metal Sludge battle. SLASH and
David Lee Roth are battling for the grand prize. Right now SLASH is
losing! Let's get over there and help him out. Roth's fans must be
out in force. We swear this is the final round!
About the fan email addresses...thanks to everyone that sent theirs in. The
volume is a little higher than expected, so it is not quite ready tonight
but it will done very soon. If anyone would like to be included now,
just send your email address and the country you live in and your first
name or handle if you'd like to:
webmaster@snakepit.org. If you
want to include a photo, that's fine, but it is optional. Please send
the photo as an attachment to your message.
Thanks to everyone who
sent in their email address. In case you missed it, anyone who wants
to can send in their email address and country, and we'll post these
on a new section of this site. If you're looking for someone near you
to meet up with at a show, you might find them here. At least you know
they're a big SLASH fan!
Chris sent this in...a SLASH mention! Chris was watching Late Night With
Conan O'Brien last night, and Charlie Sheen was a guest. Charlie and
SLASH are very good friends. Chris said Charlie had some nice comments
for SLASH. Charlie was asked how life's going, and he said he quit his
hectic life style. He said his good buddy SLASH convinced him to sober
up! Charlie said...if SLASH sees you like that in his eyes, you KNOW
you have to straighten up! SLASH has sobered up himself since his
illness. He didn't drink then and just continued on. Not sure if SLASH
is a teetotaler now or just has seriously cut back, but he is certainly
different about alcohol now. Good work, SLASH! We want you around for a
long time.
LuAnn sent us another one of her SLASH finds on the web. We're grateful
for these! This one is from the Live Daily site. They have news on
tickets and tours and music. This interview with SLASH was published
December 5, 2000. It's an old one, but SLASH talks about his musical
obsession, the songs from Ain't Life Grand that he likes to
play live (and why) and the use of the computer in making the new
album. You can see why email from SLASH doesn't happen!
Ray is in Paris on business, and he went to the Hard Rock there. He went
there specifically to see the SLASH memorabilia inside. He said the Hard
Rock was small but had the typical Paris-style outdoor cafe seating. The
Guns exhibit is upstairs. If you go up and all the way to the back, you'll
find it on the left wall. Ray sent us these three pictures, the one at right
of the Hard Rock, and these two:
Here's another SLASH Q and A. We're near the end, but we'll see if SLASH
can do more before he goes on tour. This question is from Daniel who
asks, "Hello SLASH! I've noticed that you have a cool fast riff that
you sometimes play in different solos. You played it in the guitar solo
in Paris 93 (in the beginning of the solo) and in the solo in "Double
Talkin' Jive" in Tokyo (the times I've heard it anyway). I have tried to
find out how you play it but no luck so far. You must have thousands of
riffs like this; but if you know which one I'm talking about, could you
give me a hint?
There was a confirmed sighting of SLASH last night! SLASH was spotted
at the Black Crowes concert at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles. Actually
we should say the Black Crowes/Oasis show of The Tour of Brotherly Love.
We think it's safe to say SLASH was mostly interested in Black Crowes, not
the Britpop band Oasis. We hear that SLASH enjoyed the show immensely and
got home at 4 am. Must have been some wicked traffic!
Brian and Alex sent in a magazine mention that the guitarists especially
will want to have a look at. In the latest issue of Guitar One
(Jerry Cantrell on the cover), there's an article called "Ten Riffs from
Guns N'Roses". Alex says there is a good picture of SLASH at the beginning
of the article, and it talks about how the famous songs were written. Some
band history is included. Brian reported that the ten riffs cover the
Appetite.. through ...Illusion albums. Some songs included
are "Paradise City", "Used to Love Her", "Civil War" and "Don't Cry".
The style of each song is commented on, but there are no quotes here.
Wonderful that those songs are still being studied and reported on in
2001!
Here we go again...Metal Sludge is in the final match on their web site.
This time SLASH is pitted against Diamond David Lee Roth. Right now, SLASH
has just 45% of the votes, so he needs help. Get over there and land a
punch or two, and maybe post a good SLASH comment. The Roth contingent
is out in force! Here's where you can vote (or land a punch):
Jizz sent us yet another poll! This one is exceptionally long and seems
to have every combination of musical style/instrument/artist gender you
can think of. A little much, but there is a place to vote for SLASH and
a place to vote for GNR. SLASH has 3% of the vote for favorite rock
guitarist; however there are so many candidates that even Jimmy Page
leads with just 17%. We should be able to move SLASH up! GNR is at 2% for
the all time greatest rock band (Beatles lead with 11%).
Jizz had an idea, and we thought it was a good one if there is enough
support for it out there. Jizz thought we could have a section where
we can post by country fans' email addresses. By posting your address,
you agree to receive email from other fans.
If you are interested, send your name and country to webmaster@snakepit.org.
When sending the email address, use that same address to mail it so that
we can be sure you yourself are sending it! If we get enough response, we'll
do it. Thanks, Jizz!
Jizz also sent us the url for a cool video interview with SLASH. The subject
is Rory Gallagher, a very talented rock guitarist who died at the age of
47 from complications following a liver transplant. If you haven't heard
him play, it's not too late to track down his online videos and buy a CD.
The man was a marvel. Here's what SLASH had to say in tribute to Rory
Gallagher (scroll way down to "Rory Live At The Roxy 1991):
Happy Mother's Day to
all the Moms out there! We know there are quite a few. We hope you
have a wonderful day with your children and family. And Happy Mother's
Day to a very special lady, SLASH's Mom! Without you, where would we
be?!
In March, we told you about a SLASH TV appearance in June. June's
getting close, so here's another reminder: The show is VH-1's
"Behind The Music", the 1987 segment. SLASH will be on this show!
It's still a little early for VH-1 to list it, but it should be
on the way. Speaking of SLASH TV appearances, many people have asked
about the SLASH appearance on "MTV Cribs". So far, the episode with
SLASH has not been aired although filming was done. SLASH was not as
free and easy with his privacy as MTV wanted, so they didn't get to
film places they filmed at other homes (bedroom, bathroom, etc.). They
filmed a couple rooms upstairs like the pinball room, and they spent
most of their time in the basement studio. SLASH says that is where he
spent most of his time! Also, SLASH has moved from this house, so the
current residents (Billy Bob Thornton) might not be thrilled with this,
or MTV just may feel it is out of date. However, we are still watching
for this episode and will let you know if it appears.
Bjorn tells us that the site guitar.com posted a list of the Top 100
Guitarists. SLASH isn't on the list! Bjorn says there is a discussion
place for this topic, so you can go over and read what others have to
say and post your opinion. We read part of the discussion and found
that people were puzzled over Slash's omission also. Sounds like the
site is not much of a friend to SLASH, but we'll give you the links
to the list and to the discussion in case you want to make your feelings
known:
Here's a question from Sam to SLASH: "SLASH, I know you use the Cry Baby
Wah Wah pedal, but during your live Use Your Illusion concert performances,
what did you use to get that distortion at the start of 'Sweet Child O'
Mine' and during the solo to 'Estranged' "?
If you haven't seen this yet, go over to the VH-1 site, and check out
the Top 100 Videos. There's a place to vote on the top video of all
time. Right now, GNR's "November Rain" (which VH-1 says has "the
daffiest story line") is in fifth place with 15% of the vote. There
are some video clips there, but none from GNR. VH-1 put out a list
of their selected 100 best videos ever. GNR's "November Rain" (described
as "bombastic") is ranked at number 5. "Welcome to the Jungle" (original
video) is at #58. Some of our personal favorites never made the list, but
we're glad to see the two obvious selections listed. Thanks to Robert for
sending that in!
If you haven't seen
VH-1's program, 100 Greatest Videos, it is on again this
evening, May 11 at 8 pm EDT. "Welcome to the Jungle" (original video)
comes in at #58. Both Director Nigel Dick and SLASH talk about the
video. SLASH talks about the video being a political statement and
says that he likes the video "with all the intensity and shit going
on at the time". Thanks, Brian and Justin for sending that in.
Janne sent a correction on the Tour Photos. The ones labeled Italy
showing Slash in his red tshirt (you know the one, we won't spell it
out here!) are from Sweden not Italy. We'll get that fixed up. Apologies
to Sweden! Showing there are no hard feelings, Janne also sent us an
interview from the February issue of the Swedish magazine Slitz.
Slitz is a men's magazine with features on women, cars, music, etc.
Janne says they do 2 "dirty" interviews, one male and one female, every
issue. Guess who they got for the interview? SLASH didn't get any
questions on GNR this time! The interview is about sex, so be advised
that it is somewhat graphic although funny! You can read it or skip the
link below. We have to say that almost all of this we have read before.
Thanks, Janne! 
FabAxl from Italy also had some magazine information. The April issue
of the Italian magazine Psycho has a CD compilation included.
The compilation is called Psychosonic and contains the videoclip
of "Mean Bone". Now that's definitely worth having! Thanks, FabAxl!
Lisa is also in Italy, and she has word of a guitar tabs book that
she bought in a store there. This is a new one on us, also. Thanks,
Lisa!
Start saving your money now! This could be the SLASH collector's item
of a life time. You don't find SLASH's old TShirts or leather jackets
for sale. How would you like to be the lucky high bidder on a pair of
pajamas actually worn by SLASH (not often, but at least once!)? Aid
for AIDS, in conjunction with ebay, is holding an onFF auction of
celebrity sleepwear, bed linens and other sleep related items to raise
funds in support of Aid for AIDS. Along with SLASH's jammies, you can
bid on a sleep mask from Jennifer Lopez, decorative pillows from
Jennifer Love Hewitt, slippers worn by Betty White, a tshirt from
John Travolta, p.j.s from Terry Bradshaw and much more. We don't have
the details yet on the auction date, but May 22 is given as a date
for the reception with the donors. We'll let you know when the auction
begins. As far as we know, these will be beautiful gold SLASH pajamas.
Got to have them!
Last question for SLASH was on the unreleased GNR song "Sentimental
Movie". Todd was thinking along those same lines, and here is his
question. "I found a song called "Crash Diet" which apparently is an
unreleased GNR tune. It sounds like Axl singing, but the guitar doesn't
sound like your style. I don't think it is the 'new' GNR, so could you
tell me what's the deal with this song? Thanks, man, you rock!"
Let's take a
couple quick questions to SLASH
first. This one is from Daniel who asks, "How does it feel being such
a large icon of rock"?
Here's a question everyone seems to wonder about. This is from Olivier in
Canada who writes, "Do you remember that demo song you did with GNR called
"Sentimental Movie"? Any chance of seeing SLASH's Snakepit playing that
song one day, live or in the studio? I think the solos on it were just
incredible.
Speaking of songs that are tough for some of us to find, some people are
not able to locate "Peach". "Peach" is the second song SLASH recorded with
Rod Stewart on Human. "Peach" is a Prince cover, and SLASH really
rocks it. It is on the UK version of the album, but not on the US. You'll
need to pick up an import single of "I Can't Deny It" by Rod Stewart to
get "Peach". The promos do NOT have "Peach". All the others are 2 and
3 tracks...this is what you want. You can get it through the Amazon
z-shops or auction in the UK. You can also go to one of the many import
cd shops (Yahoo search brings up a lot of these). An Australian, UK,
Italian and German single import will have it.
Lisa from Italy was lucky enough to get an autographed Ain't Life
Grand cd! When rocknrollstation.com interviewed SLASH, they had
Rod and SLASH sign a couple CDs. They said they would give them away
to the first two people who mentioned their site in a magazine, on TV
or the radio. Lisa mentioned it to the magazine that sent her and two
other fans to the Milan concert. Lisa let them know, and they sent her
the CD. She says the cover art is different than hers which is a multi-colored
snake while this one is all red. She is also tracking down Matt to complete
her set of SLASH's Snakepit autographs. Congratulations, Lisa!
Ferry went to the record store and found I Can't Deny It with
"Peach". While he was there, he was drawn to the Dutch version of
Penthouse. There was a picture of Ain't Life Grand's
cover and a short article which Ferry summarized as, "SLASH, another
legendary guitar hero (Jeff Beck's album was also reviewed there) brings
back rock as it's supposed to be, with BALLS". Ferry said it was a good
review with only positive things to say about Our Man. That's how he
likes it, and so do we. Thanks, Ferry!
Thanks to everyone who helped out SLASH in the battle at Metal Sludge.
SLASH is in the finals which will be in about a week. He'll take on
Diamond David Lee Roth. There will be a bonus round where Motley Mick
Mars battles The Grim Reaper. Good grief. If someone reminds us, we'll
remind you when to go over and take a swing at Diamond Dave. Way to
go, SLASH!
Martin Mozart is a professional photographer who was kind enough to
share five pictures of Rod and SLASH with us. They are great, and our
favorite is the closeup of SLASH. We put them somewhere where they could
be permanent, in the Tour Photos! The link below will take you there. This
is listed as the last (at this time) set of photos. There are the usual
thumbnails. Please note that the photos are copyrighted to Mr. Mozart
and cannot be copied. Thank you. And thanks again to Mr. Martin Mozart.
If you are wondering what SLASH did today, he was doing a photo shoot
for the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. The Museum is holding
an exhibit beginning June 14 and lasting through 2001. It's called "Cars and Guitars
of Rock 'n Roll",
and rockers will be loaning their amazing cars to Petersen's. SLASH is
loaning two of his classic cars, a 1936 black Ford coupe and that magical
1967 black Lincoln with suicide doors. We should be seeing some results
from the photo shoot very soon.
Here's some news on some ex-Gunners we all know and love. Izzy Stradlin's
new album, River has had its UK release date pushed back to
May 21. So far, the album will not be released in the US. Hopefully, that
will change. The Cult with Matt Sorum on drums will release a new album
in June called Beyond Good and Evil. We're wishing both guys the
best with their new albums. Thanks, Lewis, for letting us know.
SLASH is not one to be surfing and trying
out web site applications, but he uses the net to send information
to those of us who do. He's done something new this time! There's a site
called Uplister where you can search for artist and albums, make up
your own playlists, hear song clips, access celebrity playlists and so
on. A lot of things to try. You cannot hear the entire song here, just
a clip. If you want more, there's a link to Amazon where you can buy the
cd. 
This protects the artists, and it's bound to be thought of favorably
by them. SLASH did a 13 track playlist, and the coolest thing is that
his comments are there. There's some SLASH information we had never seen
before (he and his dad tossing their couch out the window as The Who
played). You'll want to go over and read what SLASH says while you listen
to the song clip. We liked every one of his choices. You can save Slash's
comments by emailing his list to yourself. We have a link to take you
there. Then click Celebrity Playlist ALL, and you should see SLASH listed.
Select his 13 track playlist, download Uplister and get ready to
rock! You need Real Audio, version 7 or later. Thanks to the Uplister
people who let us know they were there and ready for visitors!
Just a reminder that the Keri Kelli online chat will be held Tuesday,
May 8 in the Keri Kelli Online Chat Room. The time will be 4pm PT,
7pm ET, midnight GMT and so on. This is Keri's first online chat, so
let's show him some support! The organizers suggest you go over and
visit the Chat Room prior to this event. Here's where it is:
For those who keep track of these things (which we do in SLASH's
Discography), there is another single off Rod Stewart's album
Human that should be added to your list. F.A. Heykoop didn't
get the 3 track single we did when he went looking for "Peach" (SLASH
plays an amazing version of this). His has 2 tracks: "I Can't Deny It"
and bonus track "Peach". The single is made in Germany, catalog number
7567-85074-2. Thanks!
Robert is in Canada where he got a copy of Kerrang!. He says the
picture of Slash and his Lincoln is very small, and they call the car
a Cadillac Continental. It's a Lincoln. He says there is a cool article
in the April issue of Vintage Guitar. It's a huge SLASH interview article where
SLASH talks mostly about the equipment he uses. He goes into detail
about which guitars he used for different songs. He uses the '59
Les Paul copy for almost everything he records. He used his B.C.
Rich Mockingbird for the tremolo bar parts in "The Alien" and "The
Truth". A Travis Bean was used for the slide part on "Shine". He
did own two Les Paul Standards that he bought in '87, but one was
stolen when his house was robbed. Thanks, Robert!
Let's take an interesting question from Daniel. He asks, "If Snakepit
(God f*ckin' forbid) does not become a success, where would you go
from here, SLASH"?
Here's a brief question from the webmaster. "SLASH, Joey Ramone passed
away today. Did you know Joey? Would you comment on his contribution to
music"?
If you listened to SLASH's interview on eYada radio on the net, you
might have heard him saying he was going to play with Spinal Tap
soon. SLASH guested on their 1992 album, Break Like the Wind,
playing the title track. The movie, This Is Spinal Tap, is a
classic for rock bands and fans. Hilarious! SLASH said the longer you
are in the business, the truer the movie seems. So it should be an
evening of fun when SLASH teams up with Tap. The show is scheduled for
Friday, June 1 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. Tickets are on sale
right now through TicketMaster outlets and online as well as at the
box office. Should you need directions or more information, the Greek
Theater has some online information at:
Spinal Tap Show with SLASH.
If you live in or have visited Los Angeles, you know that this is one of
the great car cities of the world. At Fairfax and Wilshire in L.A., there
is a great tribute to the automobile, the Petersen Automotive Museum. The
Museum runs quite a few special exhibits, and there's one beginning
June 14 of special interest to SLASH fans! The exhibit is "Cars and Guitars
of Rock 'n Roll",
and rockers will be loaning their amazing cars to Petersen's. SLASH is
loaning two of his classic cars, a 1936 black Ford coupe and that magical
1967 black Lincoln with suicide doors. The gala opening will be June 14,
and the show will run till the end of the year. Tickets for the Gala
on June 14 run $200 each, but the regular admission charge will be $10.
Photographs are permitted (no tripods). We hope to hear from many of
you that you visited and saw Slash's cars. Other rockers lending cars
are Madonna, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Rod Stewart, Sammy Hagar, Coolio,
David Lee Roth, Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), Jeff Beck, Brian Setzer and
more.
We spoke to SLASH this evening, and he was out in his backyard watching
his cats goof around. First thing SLASH wanted to know was if we had
gotten his answers to some more of your questions. He said he hopes we
are all hanging in there - don't give up, the 'pit is coming. We told
him no one had given up, but we were all looking forward to a visit soon.
SLASH said they will make up those headline shows that were cancelled
when he got sick. The AC/DC shows will not of course. SLASH is anxious
to get to South America and Europe, too. And he confirmed he will be at
the Spinal Tap show on June 1. Speaking of SLASH, let's have him
answer a question here:
Billy Sweeney asked this question, "Which of your songs do you
consider to be the hardest to play?"
SLASH did an interview at the beginning of this week with NYC radio
station eYada talk radio network. The interview is still up there, so
you want to go over and hear this recent talk with SLASH. There's
about 20 minutes of SLASH, and he covers topics from leaving GNR
to starting Snakepit as well as this page, his internet fans,
his heroin addiction, his bout with
pneumonia that stopped the tour and Snakepit's plans for the future.
He also said he was going to be playing with Spinal Tap in June.
We aren't sure if he meant Snakepit or just himself. As you know,
SLASH played on Spinal Tap's first album, and he was chuckling about
them and their movie. Definitely worth a visit:
You can hear SLASH tonight but not Keri. Keri Kelli had to postpone his
chat when he was called out of town. He'll be back soon, so the chat
will be held on Tuesday, May 8, same place and time as was given the
other day.
Our fan fiction section has been slowly growing. There's a great new
entry in the form of a comic strip starring SLASH and Izzy. Alberto
Vargas sent this to us. Installment one is on the page now, and Alberto
will keep the story going. The story is good and the drawings are super.
When you get to the Fan Fiction section, scroll down looking for the
title "SLASH and Izzy: Adventure in the Future".
Alex and Annelaure say that SLASH needs some help over there on Metal Sludge.
Having won his first three rounds, SLASH is now pitted against Vince Neil
and is losing 49% to 51%. We need Izzy in here! Help SLASH stay in the
ring. Head over to Metal Sludge and cast your vote.
Mykaela's been out shopping for magazines, and she found a really cool
one. This is the UK magazine Kerrang!. They have a list of 101
cool things to do this summer, and one is to get some cool wheels. There
are different people pictured with their cars. And there's SLASH with
his very cool vintage Lincoln Continental! You'll have a chance to see
that car and another of SLASH's this summer if you can get to LA. More
on that as details come in.
Billy sent in a good question for SLASH. He asks, "Would you ever do an
album like Carlos Santana did with guest singers on each song and you
playing your Les Paul on each song?"
Here's another question for SLASH. This one is also from Nick
in Buffalo. He asks SLASH, "What's your practice schedule when
you're at home? Do you practice every day? How long do you play
for each day, and what do you usually do when you practice? (Do you work
on theoretical stuff such as scales and chords, or do you more or less
just write new stuff and work out songs?) Do you practice with a
metronome?
The online chat with Keri Kelli will be held in the chatroom
at www.kerikellionline.com this Thursday, May 3 at 4pm Pacific
Time. That's 7pm Eastern, midnight GMT, etc. They suggest that
if you haven't been there before, you scout out the chatroom
beforehand. It's a Java chatroom so PCs must be Java-enabled.
There are some guidelines set up - the most important being that
this is Keri's first chat and he will be typing his own replies
so go slowly with the questions or he may miss some. Try to take
turns - if you get one answered, sit back and wait awhile so
everyone has a chance. Only public questions will be answered.
Any disrespect for the guest or other attendees will result in
eviction. Sounds good! See you there!
This next item should definitely be of interest. Mykaela has the
latest issue of Classic Rock, and they have a preview of what
will be in the next issue. Guess who's consented to an interview?
Mr. Izzy Stradlin! Classic Rock says Izzy will be "dishing the
dirt" on Axl, SLASH and the rest and will also talk about his new
album River. Please, Izzy, just some nice things about SLASH!
After seeing the list of US radio stations to email so that "Mean Bone"
and "Shine" will get a push, Simrin sent in some UK contacts. He also
suggested we all write to all of them. Since the stations are online,
they are truly international stations. Sounds like a plan!