Last evening SLASH denied that the
decision to postpone the South American tour has been made. He said that
Snakepit will either go to South America or Australia in January. So
hold your tickets till a decision is made by SLASH. SLASH and his girlfriend
are planning a New Year's Eve at home, but then they plan to leave tomorrow
for a one week vacation getaway. Have fun, SLASH!
We're going to save the regular reviews and news till January. In keeping
with what many publications do on New Year's Eve, we've gone over the SLASH
news of the past 12 months and pulled the 10 most interesting SLASH news
items for your review. In order of importance:
1. SLASH's Snakepit releases the new album, Ain't Life Grand
2. SLASH signs with Koch Records.
3. SLASH's Snakepit Opens for AC/DC in the US/Canada tour and headlines
their own European club tour.
4. Ryan Roxie leaves Snakepit and is replaced by Keri Kelli.
5. Rumors of GNR reuniting fade as Snakepit tours and Axl Rose brings his
new lineup onstage. Reunion gig and short tour dreams with the original band
are of some interest to the original band although Rose did not comment.
6. SLASH gets a fifth tattoo on the right side of his abdomen. This one's
a smoking cat with a big wink.
7. SLASH and Duff McKagan are sued by BFD Management (GNR managers) for
failure to pay BFD for promotion on Live Era among other matters.
8. SLASH records 2 tracks on a forthcoming Rod Stewart album.
9. SLASH guests on Doro Pesch's Calling the Wild on the "Now or
Never" track.
10. SLASH sells his mansion (including the sadly missed Snakepit studio)
to Billy Bob Thornton/Angelina Jolie.
SLASH's Snakepit was to lead off
the New Year with a tour of South America. That tour has been shifted
and will happen possibly this summer. The three confirmed shows in
Argentina are cancelled. It's possible that January will see the band
in Australia doing that makeup tour. Some fans are speculating on
the 'pit opening for AC/DC there as AC/DC will do extensive Australian
touring in January. We have no word on what kind of tour it would be -
opening act or headlining clubs. We'll keep you posted as January is just
a few days away.
Today there are several SLASH mentions and one review from Italy. In
magazines, Vicki said to be sure to check the February 2001 Guitar
World if you've missed the full page Dragonfly ad featuring SLASH.
Offspring's on the cover and it's about 15 pages in. Vicki also found
that the February 2001 issue of Guitar Player with Lenny Kravitz
on the cover has a nice mention of SLASH in the "Feedback" column. A
reader writes in thanking the magazine for bringing its audience up to
date on SLASH's current works and for the closeups of his ax. The reader
noted that both pictures show his Les Paul with high E dangling off the
fretboard! The reader comments that he knew SLASH was a fabulous player,
but he never realized SLASH did it with just one E! Thanks, Vicki!
Here's more on that Classic Rock article we've been hearing about.
Nasar said the interview was done by Mick Wall who once wrote an
unauthorized bio of GNR. About three pages are devoted to GNR and Axl,
then SLASH gets into Snakepit and other things. SLASH said there is no
chance of GNR getting back together. Even when they played together after
Appetite..., it was a miracle. SLASH talked about Steven Adler and
said it was Steven who showed SLASH how to play his first guitar chords.
They were very good friends until drugs got hold of Steven and wouldn't
let go. Nasar says that a few pages later there is an interview with UFO
which opens with a SLASH mention. SLASH told the bass player that he
was the reason SLASH started getting "f*cked up onstage". SLASH said that
when he was really f*cked up on one occasion, he nearly joined Megadeth.
Nasar found a SLASH appearance in a Metallica video, "A Year And A Half
In The Life of Metallica". SLASH is shown after a shower hanging out with
Dave Mustaine and Lars Ulrich. Then, there's a scene where James Hettfield
and company come in to a bar, and SLASH is there with an almost empty
bottle of whisky. SLASH gets up to shake Hettfield's hand and knocks over
his drink. SLASH says it was somewhere in the Metallica tour in 1992 that
he lost Axl. Thanks, Nasar!
That's magazines, videos, and now TV. Florian says that SLASH was
interviewed in Cologne recently for a show called "Kamikaze" on
German TV station VIVA 2. Florian wants to apologize for all fans
who have any respect at all for SLASH. (uh oh) The VJ took an old
lady along who had a video camera. She spoke to SLASH only in German.
SLASH obviously could not understand her. And she kept trying to grab
SLASH's hair! The inevitable GNR question was asked with SLASH replying,
"Axl is different". And he was asked if his hair was real or a wig!
Florian says he is really sorry about this interview. He says SLASH
was very professional in trying to pick out a word or two he could
understand and then talk about that. He talked about cooking and his
guitars, and the interview limped to a close. SLASH requested a Garbage
video. Florian says he thinks SLASH wanted "Stupid Girl", but of course
they played some newer one. Oh, SLASH!
Now a great net mention. This is on the guitar.com site, and there are
interviews with both SLASH and Adam Day. Eesifreek sent this along to
us, and although the interview with SLASH does not touch any new ground,
the guitar players will be very interested in the equipment lineup. You
can also see Snakepit live in a video or listen to some album tracks.
There are related links given as well. Visit this one when you have some
time. It's great!
Lisa sent us a message about the prize she won from Hard!
magazine in Italy. She and two others were to spend the day with
SLASH! Instead of a full day with SLASH, they actually only had
a few minutes. SLASH shook everyone's hand, and they got to attend
soundcheck. They gave him gifts, and he was very polite about
thanking them. SLASH was asked if he would do an instructional guitar
video, something many fans have asked for, and he said he couldn't
because he plays as he feels and doesn't think about it enough to
explain it. He said tabs and riffs are available in magazines. He
also said that he would be back in Europe this summer. Lisa asked
if "99 Times" would be on the second album, and SLASH said it wasn't
finished but would be completed and appear on the next album. She
also asked about "What Kindda Life", and she wasn't sure of his
answer. His expression was as though he didn't like the song very
much! SLASH was nice and easy to talk to. They got picks and got
everything signed they took in. Someone came in and said they were
late, so SLASH had to go. SLASH was perfect on and off the stage.
That morning Lisa met Keri and Johnny where they were waiting for a
cab. It was very cold outside that day, and the guys were off to do
some sightseeing. When they returned, Keri gave them passes to take
photos under the stage with the professional photographers. Someone
threw a bottle during the show and hit SLASH! (this is really too
much). All the band members were very nice, and the show was just
great. Lisa drove back the 9 1/2 hours home, but she had some wonderful
memories to take with her. Thanks, Lisa!
SLASH checked in on Christmas Eve to say that he made it home safely
with the airlines losing his only bag. However, even the suitcase got
there Christmas Eve, so his homecoming was complete. Christmas carols
were playing, and he said they had a beautiful tree and a good dinner
cooking. We hope SLASH and you got all the things you wanted for
the holidays. If you're making New Year's Eve plans, Snakepit won't
be playing a show according to SLASH. The band has to have some time
off before they launch into the next touring leg. Right now that is
scheduled to be South America, but South America could be pushed back
in order to do some makeup shows. SLASH said he would let us know soon.
While reading the December 2000 issue of the UK publication, Mojo,
we found a small but really nice mention of SLASH. The article was a review
of The Cult's new album. They talk about how some of the best tracks plot
the last stage of the band's metamorphosis; the part where Duffy's
John McGeoghesque-stylings were replaced by taut, Les Paul riffs a la
Page and SLASH! The album's worst tracks were judged to be ones where they
had not made this change to a more SLASH and Page-like styling. SLASH
does have a compact style where every note seems to have a purpose; long,
self-indulgent treatments are not in his repetoire. In fact, most fans
write here begging for LONGER SLASH solos!
There are many, many areas that need to be updated on the page. One that
is completed for the moment is the discography. Several new versions of
Ain't Life Grand are listed along with the two promo singles.
Thus far, "Been There Lately" has not been placed on the market by Koch
as a released single in or outside the UK. "Mean Bone" information is
now listed as the second promo single. Some new versions of the guest
appearances are listed there...primarily cassettes. And a new version
of "Obsession/Confession" was added to the soundtrack section. In the
near future, there will be guitar tabs added, show and album reviews
added, links to Slash-related sites will be added, and some new drawings
and tats for the Fan Section. If you have sent us something, it is safe
waiting to be added. And as always, we will email you when we have your
material up on the site. Thank you for all your contributions in 2000.
Speaking of contributions, there are some really interesting show reviews.
Let's start with the final show, Milan. Mauroguns was onhand before the
show with about 20 other fans. SLASH and Johnny did an interview on
Italian radio called Rock FM. They are in a hurry, but they stop to have
photos taken with fans. The show was very hot. Every song in Ain't
Life Grand was played except "The Truth". Rod's voice was great. Keri
did great backing vocals, and Johnny sang the first verse of "Beggars and
Hangers-On"! Keri threw a lot of picks, and Mauroguns caught one! At the
end of the show, Matt filmed the audience. Snakepit wished everyone a
Merry Christmas! According to Mauroguns, that day was the coldest day of
the year in Italy, but Snakepit music was the best place to get warm.
Thank you! Simone was also at the Milan show and says it was really great.
Rod sang really well. Keri Kelli was singled out for special praise. Simone
has promised to send some photos along. Thank you! Kostas came from Greece
to see the show; he travelled more than 1500 MILES to see Snakepit! Now
that has to be the farthest ever, and the trip was just for the one day to
see Our Guys. Kostas says every meter was f*cking worth it! The show was
not quite 2 hours long, and some people may think that is a bit short but
a powerful band could cause serious health problems if they played
longer! Kostas says Snakepit is like a drug, and you can't take large
amounts and survive! They played their usual set minus "Rusted Heroes", but
they did play "The Alien". SLASH wore a South Park tshirt with "Oh My God,
They Killed Kenny!" on it. SLASH is the best guitarist in the world, and
he played even better than in GNR days. Rod was shirtless from the beginning, and a banner
was thrown saying "Snakepit Get In the Ring" and "Snakepit You're Our
Bad Obsession". Keri is awesome and much more energetic than Izzy and
combines better with SLASH. Matt and Johnny were great. Rod said Johnny
is really dangerous and advised everyone to get home and stay there as
it was the last night of the tour, and Johnny would be out during the
night! Kostas says it was the best show of his life. SLASH is the best
and has found great musicians to work with. Kostas pays a big compliment
to the band...."but really, who needs GNR songs when he has Snakepit
playing in front of him". Overall: amazing concert, amazing band, amazing
SLASH. Thank you, Kostas, and we hope you are safely at home now. The final
Milan review for today is from Meghe who is from Modena, Italy. Meghe has
been a GNR and SLASH fan for 7 years. This is the best f*ckin' show he
has been to! Meghe and two friends arrived at noon, and SLASH got there
at 6:30pm. The doors opened at 7:30, and Snakepit went on at 9:30. They
played great, sounded great, moved great! Keri Kelli is really good with
so much energy. Matt is a great drummer, and Johnny kicks ass. SLASH is
simply incredible. Very strange to have SLASH 2 feet in front of you in
his top hat, curly hair, black tshirt, Les Paul, black leather pants and
boots. He played incredible solos and in the intro to "Mr. Brownstone",
SLASH wished everyone a "Merry f*ckin' Christmas" and a f*ckin' Happy New
Year. After the show Meghe and friends waited and followed the band to
their hotel. There they got to meet everyone and get some autographs sign.
SLASH took a lot of time signing Meghe's guitar. Someone traded their bottle
of Jack for SLASH's bottle. Meghe promises pictures and thanks the band and
SLASH for the great show. Thanks, Meghe!
Stepping back in time to the German Munich show, we've picked up a couple
more reviews. This one is from Mel who says the show lasted 90 minutes and
had great sound. The live music was even better than the album. SLASH and
the guys were in a great mood. Everyone had a great time, and it was great
to see SLASH after such a long time (7 years). Mel wanted to buy the black
hooded shirt but they were sold out. As far as we know those shirts are
only available at the venues. If anyone can help out by buying one, please
let us know and we will put you in touch with Mel. We are tryng to get
SLASH to open a little web shop! Carolin is one of our best net friends.
She saw SLASH appear with Michael Jackson at the big charity concert in
Munich a year or so back. She had really looked forward to seeing him in
a more intimate setting. She got her wish at the Munich show in the first
row. It was wonderful seeing SLASH so close. At first he seemed shy hidden
behind his hair. He played wonderfully! He took off his shirt, and there
was the new tat! Carolin was very happy that they played her favorite,
"Serial Killer". It was the best day of her life, and she got a second
chance to be thrilled when she waited outside in the cold, and SLASH
appeared again. He was nice and kind and signed Carolin's ticket. All
Carolin's problems and worries seemed to vanish in these moments. She
stayed till SLASH got on the bus to leave. She wants to be sure that SLASH
knows that she thanks him for everything, and the memories will make
living throught some of life's bad moments a little easier to bear. SLASH,
thanks for coming to Munich, and please come again soon. Thanks, Carolin!
Florian was also at Munich for Snakepit's show. While the show did not
sell out, all the fans there had one of the best times of their lives.
The band was full of energy. Rod was always talking to the audience and
throwing towels. Johnny and Keri smiled, and the whole band just seems to
love to get out and play. Rod sang "Time After Time" as the intro to
"Back to the Moment". If you are going to a show, SLASH mainly stands
on the right with Keri on the left. They played really loudly, and Florian
thinks they should turn it down a bit as the beauty of SLASH's solos are
sometimes lost in the volume. It's magic to see your childhood hero on
stage in person. Florian thanks the boys for coming to town. Thanks, Florian!
Remember the great Sheffield show on Dec. 3? Lesley and John were there
and said the guys really rocked. They came in from Manchester for the
show. They were about 10 feet from SLASH. Photos were not permitted in
this venue, but they did get a tour program which has terrific pictures
in it. This was the first time seeing SLASH's eyes! Very sexy eyes, SLASH!
The only letdown was waiting outside and SLASH not appearing. It was too
cold to wait longer than 2 hours. They could hear Thin Lizzy's "The Boys
Are Back In Town" being played inside. Rod was so sexy, and they apologize
for the bottles that were thrown. Brilliant band! Snakepit, come back soon!
Slash, love you! You are the ultimate rock god. Thanks!
MERRY CHRISTMAS, SLASH!
Due to illness, the webmaster has
been unavailable. SLASH called in yesterday to say the band all have
colds, but Rod is hanging in there so he should still be rocking Milan
tonight. When that show ends, they will be done with what SLASH called
a really great tour! Great audiences and a lot of great music and fun.
SLASH was glad to meet so many of you before and after the shows. He
says European audiences are super in that they are very accepting of
new bands. He definitely wants to come back there next year. We told
him many of you wrote and said you'd be there anytime, anyplace! We are
anxious to hear about that last show, so if you were at Milan, let us
hear from you. It looks like we haven't yet heard from
Nurenburg fans yet. We plan to be here over the holidays, and we hope
you will be too. We should be getting word from SLASH on where they will
be next. The schedule says Argentina, but there may be some shifting
around. Stay tuned.
Due to illness, we could not get this out to you in time. We
hope there will be a rebroadcast. Maz sent us a note that
there was a one hour special on SLASH including interviews and album
tracks on Totalrock.com 6-9pm UK time Thursday and repeated 12 hours
later. Total Rock is also available in the UK and Europe via satellite on
Sky Digital 950. Maybe Maz can send us a summary of what sounded like
a great program. Our apologies.
Becky sent us information on another UK broadcast. On this net station,
they broadcast
internet rock radio, and one of the DJs interviewed Slash last month. The
show is
archived but you need to have Windows Media 7 to view it with - scroll down
to the bottom where it says ARCHIVE, and then click on SLASH.
Becky reports that
SLASH discusses how GNR first started out, working with people such as
Lenny
Kravitz, Doro and Michael Jackson, getting into parties with fake ID's and
so much more! This is at:
Alex sent us word that SLASH was on the German MTV show on Wednesday.
On Thursday SLASH was the guest on German Music Station VIVA in the
Series Kamikaze. SLASH said he was doing as many interviews as possible!
Thanks, Alex. Another TV show appearance was sent in by Evan. This was
a little different. It was a program called "Wired for Sound: A Guitar
Odyssey", a Gibson documentary. It featured many legendary guitarists and
one was SLASH. SLASH was seen doing an awesome solo in '92 at a GNR
show. Then SLASH talked from the top of a building about how he feels
like he is slacking if he doesn't play for 2 days. He also said that
he likes to go into clubs and just jam with whichever band is playing.
(SLASH told us again he sleeps with his guitar and twanged on it a little
so we'd know it was right there with him. He said it is a Les Paul, and
he just loves it...you could hear that in his voice. He wants everyone to
know that it only sleeps with him if his girlfriend is not around! That's
our SLASH!)
More reviews. This first one is from Lukas who was at the Munich show.
Lukas says they played mostly songs from the new album, the two GNR
covers and one from Snakepit 95. The sound and lighting were great.
The whole band was perfect. SLASH played great solos in his top hat,
black shirt and a blue version of Godzilla. Matt was very powerful on
drums, and Rod had a great voice. SLASH spoke to the crowd! The show
was about 2 hours without a break; they kicked ass! Lukas bought a
tourbook and shirt. It was the best show he's ever been to. On the
MTV Europe show, Lukas saw a show called "Unter Ulmen" which has a
SLASH interview from the Berlin show. SLASH was cool and talked about
Duff, Izzy and how he missed all the GNR guys. Thanks, Lukas!
Tibor came from Zagreb, Croatia to see the show at Stuttgart. The show
was 12 HOURS AWAY! That is definitely a record! Tibor has been a huge
GNR fan for 8 years, and this was his first time to see an ex-GNR member
like SLASH. Tibor said it was like dreaming when SLASH came onstage. He
couldn't speak or move. He says he never felt anything like that in his
life! Tibor says that he thought the sound and vocals were fine. Tibor
promises to send us photos of this major event. The only thing he hated
was someone threw beer at Johnny. Johnny was really angry, and so was
Tibor. Thanks so much, Tibor!
Going back to Amsterdam, we have a couple more reviews. Jeevan was there,
and he says that someone here didn't get to see Matt after the show, but
Jeevan did. He was there with his sister waiting while she tried to get
SLASH's autograph. After about 10 minutes a guy walked by speaking English.
That was MATT! They talked and Jeevan got Matt's picture. What Jeevan
really liked about Snakepit was that all of them are really nice people,
and when they are onstage, they have so much energy! Thanks, Jeevan! One
photo we never see: Matt. He is hardly visible behind those drums onstage.
But he's crucial to the band. Next review comes from Jizz who waited
outside the venue for the band to show up. They came around 4:30 in a
bus. SLASH was not there, but the other guys gave autographs and had their
pictures taken. SLASH came around 5:30. The police were there to get traffic
regulated so the bus could park and SLASH could get out. Impressive. SLASH
was giving an interview on the bus and drinking something. The bodyguard
made everyone move back so SLASH could get out. SLASH promised to sign
things after the show. When the show started, Snakepit was explosive and
within a minute, Jizz and his friends moved up front. It was great to see
the band so close. Rod is a really good singer, and SLASH is wonderful.
Jizz says they took about 55 (!!) pictures. If you were there and saw the
sign "KOBRA GREETZ SLASH" that was from Jizz and his band KOBRA. If anyone
saw it, let us know. After the show, they got autographs. The KOBRA drummer
gave his armband made of rings to Rod who really liked it and wanted one.
They hope to see that little bit of KOBRA in a Snakepit video some day.
Thanks, Jizz!
Tonight is the Snakepit show in
Munchen, Germany. One more German show left: Nurnberg. If you haven't
seen them with all the shows they have done there, get out and make
it a sell out. If you want to see them on the next European tour, you
have to pack the venues. Holland knows all about packing them in!
The final show will be the one in Milan on Dec. 22. We did think this
show was sold out, but we understand that some outlets may have a few
tickets left, so call around till you get one. The final show is always a great
one.
Awhile back, the Italian magazine Hard! advertised a contest where
three winners would be chosen to hang out with SLASH and interview him or
to take 10 tickets for the show. We heard from Lisa that she is one of the
three winners, and of course is taking the time with SLASH! Lisa is thinking
of questions to ask as well as what to wear! Snakepit shirts are always
appropriate for meeting SLASH. Good luck, Lisa, and we hope we'll be
reading that interview soon.
All kinds of interviews are popping up. If you are in the UK, mark January
9 on your 2001 calendar. Mary Anne Hobbs will be broadcasting her
interview with SLASH. We hope the UK people know who this is and if it
is TV or radio. This is all we have so far. Thanks to Scott who spotted
the mention and sent it in. Ternell is one of SLASH's big fans. She
reports that in the winter issue of Experience Hendrix magazine's
news section, SLASH got a mention for listing Jimi Hendrix's "Machine
Gun" in the Nov. 2000 issue of Guitar World. This was where SLASH
did an article for the "60 Minutes: Ultimate Mix Tape". The magazine includes
a black and white concert photo of SLASH. Thanks, Ternell!
Shari posted on the Snakepit list that the current "Christmas Double Issue"
of NME has a review of the Snakepit show at London's Underworld.
Shari says the review is pretty good! The final line of the interview sums
up the show: "This might be a damp Camden, but SLASH is still taking us
where the grass is green and the girls are pretty". The issue date is
December 23/30, so check that out. Thanks, Shari!
Jarmo let us
know about this next interview which is on the web. It's a good one!
When SLASH's Snakepit was in Stockholm, Sweden, he was interviewed by
station Rocket 95.3 FM. SLASH is asked about the past and the present. The
interviewer is a guitarist familiar with the California scene in the
1980's. "A blast from the past!" exclaimed SLASH! Lots of good questions
and comments from SLASH and the interviewer. Thanks, Jarmo! Why not listen
now?
Ismar is from Croatia, and he saw SLASH on German MTV last
Wednesday afternoon. After playing the SCOM video, SLASH asked not
to be asked about GNR, but of course the interviewer asked anyway.
Viewers asked if SLASH would do more guest appearances, and SLASH said
given the chance and time, he would do more. He enjoys doing them. He
talked about working with Lenny Kravitz and said they were in school
together with Lenny being in with the regular kids and SLASH in the "bad
student group". SLASH mentioned he had good relationships with all the
ex-Gunners except Axl whom he hasn't spoken to in five years. SLASH said
that he dropped out of school because he was totally into his guitar and
music, and his parents were OK about it as long as he made some money. He
did this by working as a paperboy (!!), in a clock factory, apprentice at
a law office (HA!) and in restaurants. He worked as a waiter to help
finance GNR. (one riff to go!) Asked about the new rock from Kid Rock and
Limp Bizkit, he thought it was OK. (At other interviews he has said he
likes the attitude although he would not play that brand of rock) He has
no grand goal for Snakepit now, just as he never had one for GNR when they
started out. He was asked why people would be coming to see Snakepit in
Berlin and he said because of GNR, because they bought the album, because
they like rock music and because Johnny Griparic is the only European in
the band! (Johnny is from Sweden). SLASH said that he lives in LA but it
is more a base for touring than a home. Asked about his snakes, he said
he has 33 adult snakes and gives away the babies. Comparing Snakepit 95
with the current version, SLASH said that the first was more of a project
while this is a real longterm band. Finally, he was asked what he was doing
the past five years, and he said he was busy doing music and getting a
divorce! SLASH'S BACK! Thanks, Ismar, for that great report.
As for the Stuttgart show, Annelaure was there, too. The show was
good, but the sound was bad. The guitar solos and Rod's vocals were
inaudible. Another kiss from Rod, and she was on her way! Abi was
there, too, and says it was an exciting show. The crowd went crazy
on the GNR covers, "Landslide" and "Ain't Life Grand". Abi liked that
last one the best - really powerful with a cool ending. Keri tried
spitting in the air but didn't catch it and it landed in his face.
Rod did a little mooning of the crowd. Abi thought SLASH looked out
of it and a lot older than he expected. He speculates that SLASH has
had a rough life. (the older women think he's grand!) SLASH would laugh,
and it was really cool. The whole band sang a beer song, and SLASH tried
to sing it which sounded funny! Rod started to laugh, then SLASH; and they
had to stop! Over all the show was amazing! Thanks, Abi! Tommy saw
the show, too, and says it was a strange moment in his life...to be a
huge fan of SLASH's and then to see him a few feet away. Tommy thought...
it's just like he's a friend of mine I haven't seen in a week. There was
no rockstar about SLASH at all. The band was just having a good time;
and the music was fabulous. Keri Kelli is absolutely great on guitar and
really cool. Rod is the showman but cool. Tommy says that SLASH has
affected his life in a very personal, beautiful way. Thanks, Tommy!
Looking back at the Paradiso show in Holland, Marc said the show was
really great! It was unbelievable being that close to SLASH. Marc and
his best friend were right in front of the stage, just one meter from
the band. A great performance, great show! Marc likes Rod more than
he liked Eric Dover; Rod's voice really fits the kind of music they're
playing. After the show the band did autographs, but it was really cold,
so Marc just got Matt to sign his ticket. He was close to getting SLASH
to sign, but he didn't quite make it. (Maybe when they come back?) Thanks,
Marc! "Mick Jagger" sent in a review. He says they were at the Paradiso
at 7:30pm with a lot of other people waiting. Inside, the opening band
did their set, and Mick thought it was not so bad as others thought. He
said it was just simple music, and all the songs sounded pretty much the
same. The perfect band for background music while you drink beer and talk
to your friends. Thanks, Mick! Ferry was at the show and had a great time.
He and his cousin Dennis tried to get there early but were late. The
doors were still closed though. While in line, Dennis walked to the corner
of the building and motioned Ferry to come over. There was SLASH signing
autographs! Ferry got SLASH to sign his CD covers and had his picture
taken with SLASH. The concert was very cool, and Ferry was right in front
of the stage. He took lots of pictures which he promises to send. He
says Snakepit is best live; they rock like no other. Ferry said he saw
AC/DC, and Snakepit is 10 times better. Catching picks is hard, and Ferry
missed one from Keri and also Matt's drumstick. He DID manage to get
a towel though and hung onto it. Rod was full of energy as was Keri. Johnny
is really cool. SLASH was definitely having a good time. A pretty girl got
a kiss from Rod! Ferry bought a cap and tourbook for himself, and panties
and vest for his girlfriend. Back outside, he waited with 20 other people
and got his tourbook signed by everyone but Matt who did not come out.
Ferry says he had a hell of a night and will send pictures as soon as he
gets them. Thanks, Ferry!
The winner of Contest #2 Is Maria from
New York City. Maria saw Snakepit at Madison Square Garden, one of the
best shows in the U.S. Tour. She is a huge SLASH fan and loved his new
band. She now has a CD autographed by both SLASH and Rod Jackson. You
can win our last one! Contest #3 starts right now and due to the holidays
we'll run it through Saturday, January 6. All the answers can be found
somewhere on the SLASH page, and this set should not give you much trouble.
Click here to get the next set of questions:
Snakepit has an off day today.
They are getting ready for the last three German shows in Koln, Munchen
and Nuremburg. Then, another day off moving to Italy, and on 12/22 is
the final European show: Milan. Tickets are available for the German
show, but we understand Milan is a sellout. A nice sendoff from the
Italian fans! And if you're planning to send the band a fruitcake or
a card, time to get that in the mail. You can send things to any or all
the band members at this address:
(Slash's Snakepit or a band member)
c/o Susan Blond, Inc.
14542 Ventura Blvd., Suite 210
Sherman Oaks, CA
91403 USA
Keri Kelli
P.O. Box 8074
Huntington Beach, CA
92615-8074
Do you remember Damien who wrote to us ripping into the band after the
Kansas City show? He had had foot surgery just before this. Later he wrote
that the show was actually pretty good, but the sound quality really set
him off. Damien is back and says he wanted to make this up to SLASH and
here is how he did it. Damien is a guitar player in a band called Preferred
Villian. He was asked by the Lawrence Journal-World Entertainment staff to give his favorite
albums of 2000, and guess which album he rated #1? Ain't Life Grand!!
Check this out:
There are a good number of reviews that have come in from the last few
shows. Markus was at the Stuttgart show. The concert was about 90 minutes
long. He says he has waited 7 years to see SLASH, and SLASH didn't let him
down. The venue was about half full but it is a large one, and the tickets
were expensive. Markus said all the tshirts sold out except size XXL, so
the coming shows better hope there are more in the bus. There was no
opening band, so the show started at 9pm. The worst thing was that someone
threw a glass of beer in Johnny G.'s face! Johnny told the "fan" what he
thought of him. Shirts and hats were thrown onstage, and Rod put on a grey
hat which looked hilarious. The whole show had not one weak spot. The
band played well together and really put effort into it. The crowd was
very into the show and was louder than larger crowds Markus has been in.
Markus came to see SLASH, but the whole band impressed him. He says that
SLASH has picked the right people to play with. Overall: a great concert
and one of the very best Markus has been to this year. He hopes Snakepit
will do more albums and tours. Thanks, Markus! Stefan was also at the
Stuttgart show, and says the band was loud, wild and rock n'roll! SLASH
wore a yellow shirt and threw it during the show into the audience. Now
THAT is a souvenir! Rod has a good voice and flirts during the show.
Keri was totally into the music, and Matt was very good on drums. Johnny
had beer thrown on him, but he was really cool and gave beer to the
audience to drink. SLASH played his BC Rich guitar while on his knees
and then lying on his back. The band seemed to be having fun. Stefan is
off to the show in Koln tomorrow, and we may get some photos from him.
Thanks, Stefan!
Cordelia sent in her notes from the Berlin show. She wants to thank the
band for the amazing show. SLASH was as sexy and cute as always and
smiled all the time. Cordelia says she has never seen anyone play guitar
with such passion and so well. Doing solos, SLASH often has his eyes closed.
Rod has a great voice and did a very good and sexy show. Johnny, Keri and
Matt were also good, but Cordelia couldn't see them as well. She liked
"Serial Killer", "The Alien" and "Back to the Moment" best. The audience
really liked all the songs. At the end, SLASH, Keri and Johnny threw picks
into the audience, and SLASH pretended he would throw his guitar, too.
After the show, Matt, Johnny and SLASH came out for the autograph signing,
picture taking and talking with the fans that everyone likes so well.
Cordelia said they stayed in spite of the fact it was really cold. They
were all friendly, and SLASH said he would be back next summer. (Note
to U.S. fans...what about us??) Thanks, Cordelia!
The fans in Amsterdam must have been recovering. We've now got a LOT of
reviews from then. Ruud says that he was in front at the show. The sound
was perfect, and Snakepit was having a great time as was the audience.
Ruud wants them back again soon...possibly in another venue. He loves the
current Snakepit which is full of raw power. Ruud promises to send some
pictures. Don't forget! Thanks, Ruud! Daniel writes that Snakepit kicked
ass in The Netherlands. SLASH smiled the whole time. Rod is a great singer
and performer. Rod talked to the audience, and it seems he is a little
horny! Don't worry, Rod, you will be back home soon! Keri seemed to have
had quite a few beers, but he can really rock. Same for Johnny and Matt.
SLASH played with a lot of energy and feeling. Daniel says SLASH is the
one reason that made him go and buy a Les Paul when he had never touched
a guitar in his life! Daniel declares SLASH to be "the best bitchin'
guitar player in the world"! Thanks to the band for the really great rock
show. Daniel says..go out and see these guys! Thanks, Daniel! Toon was
also at the Paradiso. The band led off with "Life's Sweet Drug" and
then played "Been There Lately" without a break. The place was full, and
the band was fantastic. Rod's voice was good, and SLASH's fingers were
fast. The last song was "Speed Parade". The show was 2 hours long, and it
was GREAT! Only one thing wrong: the support act sucked. Thanks, Toon!
Jasper sent his notes on the Amsterdam show. He says that some people were
waiting at 11am in front of the venue! Doors opened at 7:45, and the band
came on at 10 pm. Jasper is part of Roadrunner Records street team which
is something like a promo team. Jasper did the promotion for the band in
Holland! Ain't Life Grand is released in Holland by Roadrunner. Jasper
was fortunate enough to get into soundcheck which was like a private mini-gig.
After soundcheck, Jasper put up posters all over Paradiso. Thanks, Jasper!!
After that, Jasper got to see the interview done by TMF with SLASH. They
gave him a bottle of Jack Daniels and a yellow shirt. SLASH signed Jasper's
CD booklet and got a picture of the two of them together. Jasper hurried over
to the front of the stage and had a great view of SLASH. Jasper says he has
seen lots of bands but this one really rocks! Rod is a great frontman. He
said Rod mooned the crowd, but he doesn't recommend seeing Rod's bare butt!
Everyone seemed to have a really good time, especially Johnny. Matt is a
great drummer. There was a rush on the merchandise stand, and the black
Snakepit shirt sold out. It's rumored that the gig and interview will be
broadcast. Thanks, Jasper, for that unique view of the show. Ed also went
to the show, and they were able to hear soundcheck. Ed was in the first
row with friends Jop and Robbin. The crowd started chanting SLASH after
the support band went off. When they came on, the crowd went crazy. Rod
wins over the crowd with his great voice and personality. The songs were
fantastic. For any fans who have not seen them yet, get to a show and
see them! Ed said his friend Jop owns the SLASH signature amp, and he
brought its certificate along. Every time SLASH came over, Jop held up
the certificate. Ed says that there was a woman photographer taking
pictures who said they would be up on www.rockezine.com in about a week.
The band came out after the show, and Jop got that certificate signed by
SLASH. The band signed a tourbook for Ed, and Robbin got his ticket signed.
There was a lot of merchandise for sale: 3 types of tshirts, a tourbook,
underwear, posters and a Snakepit logo button. Very cool stuff. Ed hopes
to see them again soon. Thanks, Ed! Martijn was at Paradiso and has been
a fan for 11 years. SLASH's Snakepit were so great! SLASH had a great time,
smiling and sweating, talking and smoking like a steam engine. SLASH did
great solos and was everywhere on stage. Rod is a great singer. Keri kept
spitting and catching it. (gag) Keri did some great background vocals
and guitar work. Johnny and Matt rocked! He hopes they will be back soon.
Martijn missed the interview on Dutch radio and wants to hear it on this
website. If someone can send it along, we'd be glad to do that. The
Holland fans must be some of the greatest in the world. There are even
more reviews! This one is from Remco who had a super day. He got to go
to the radio station to see the guys! SLASH, Rod and Keri arrived with
three acoustic Gibsons. Rod was taking cold pills. They did a soundcheck
and had a tour. Rod played acoustic also! Rod told Remco that he is the
one playing intro on the album for "Something About Your Love". They
also played "Been There Lately" which had great acoustic sound. SLASH
wanted vodka with his coke, and he was carrying his own supply. He wanted
ice, and the station ran out and got some. A man with sunglasses came in
that noone knew, and Remco was asked to kick him out! He was a drug dealer
who seemed to be handing out samples or something. Remco got rid of him.
Thanks, Remco! Rod drank warm tea. After the show, Remco asked Keri and
Rod to sign his Japanese copy of the album. Remco wanted a picture of all
of them, but his camera didn't work! Keri and SLASH worked it over, but the
camera wouldn't budge. Remco got SLASH to sign his guitar, and he used his
videocam instead. Later, Remco went to the show in time to see the band
come in and snare some pictures with a working camera. Remco really liked
Matt. Remco also filmed them on his videocam. Remco brought his little
brother who is not a real GNR or SLASH diehard, and he had the time of his
life! His brother said that Snakepit was one of the best bands around.
SLASH's Snakepit is a real band, not just SLASH. The power of each member
is just astonishing. Finally, we have Annelaure who went to the Sheffield
UK show and the Amsterdam shows. Annelaure says the Amsterdam show was
much better. For one thing, she had a friend who let her wait inside, so
she got there in the morning and waited. Keri stopped to talk when he got
there and told her to clear it with the manager about soundcheck. And she
got in! SLASH did his interview with TMF after that, and they gave Annelaure
SLASH's sweaty towel! The show was great with the whole band in a good
mood. Johnny gave her his bandana. She got a nice kiss from Rod. At the
end, the band threw picks, sticks, towels and beers into the audience.
Everything was perfect. The band came out and signed autographs and
were friendly and talked to everyone. Annelaure is also planning to see
the band in Germany! A true road trip! She wants you to know, too, that
the band is not just SLASH. The other members are great! It's the best
band she has seen in her life. And they give kisses! Thanks, Annelaure!
Samurai_99 is from Germany and drove 5 hours to see Snakepit in
Denmark. It was a great show! SLASH and Keri signed his pick guard.
SLASH looked tired, but he smiled and was cool with the fans. It was
the best gig! Thanks, Snakepit! Also, SLASH was on German MTV this
weekend. He gave cool answers about what new bands he likes and what
his former jobs were. SLASH asked them to play "Renegades of Funk"
by Rage Against the Machine. Thanks!
If you're looking for more Snakepit contests, you might try the one
at Metal Meltdown Online. One CD a week is being given away. These are
not autographed but would give you one for the car, one for home!
Sign up for their newsletter to be eligible. Metal Edge online is
having a contest also. They have 5 autographed albums to give away.
Check out Metal Edge Online.
Tomorrow is the cutoff for the second contest
to win an autographed cd from Snakepit. Ain't Life Grand is
signed by both Rod Jackson and SLASH. There's still plenty of time to
get your entry in. Do it by midnight your time tomorrow. The contest
information is right here:
SLASH called from Stuttgart, Germany
today where he was between interviews. He said he was "in beautiful
downtown Stuttgart" in case that helps you get a fix on his position.
In the next 5 days there are 4 German shows. The German fans lucked out on
this tour! We hope to hear from you about the shows there. On the 22nd will
be the final European show in Milan, and Snakepit comes home. What a
Christmas present for their families and friends! They are all thrilled with
the tour's success and the reception that all of you gave them. They will be
back!
Before we move on, we got word from Frank Suicide from the Dutch rock
band Wasted that the support band on Dec. 18 in Koln will be
Frank's good friends, The Alien Swingers Club. We looked up the band on
the net, and they call themselves a rock and roll band. This should be
a good matchup with Snakepit. The Alien Swingers Club is saying goodbye
to Germany and moving to LA in January looking for their big chance.
What a huge thrill to support Slash's
Snakepit. Sounds like a great evening for Koln!
We have quite a few reviews for the past shows. Here's the first one
we've received from Berlin. Fabian was there and says the whole audience
was stunned by Snakepit. They went wild for the GNR covers, but "Serial
Killer" and "Speed Parade" got good reactions, too. The band communicated
with the fans all the time. SLASH threw drinks and cigarettes, Rod spit
water, Matt threw towels and Keri and Johnny threw picks! They could just
throw themselves and forget all the other stuff! The band had a good time
SlASH smiled the whole time. Rod mooned the audience and went off on George
W. Bush, Keri threw a pick right at his friend who couldn't find it. Fabian's
evaluation: Idiot! Fabian said he and his friends talked about it long into
the night. And SLASH and his band did the same...they do go over the show,
too. Another rocking night in Europe!
Have you ever looked forward to a show so much and had such a great time
that when it was over you felt depressed and nothing seemed like much fun
and you wished you could go "Back to the Moment"? We have and Lollo from
Sweden has too. She says the show was the best and worst experiences of her
life. To see an ex-GNR member was amazing, but she felt like it was a dream
when SLASH came out. (We actually cried when he came out because he was
real and had 3 dimensions and wasn't flat.) Two days later, Lollo is still
crying over "Back to the Moment" because she felt that was the finest
moment of the show. Lollo thought SLASH might be fat and old, but of
course he is very trim and sexy and plays guitar like it is his last gig
on earth. Rod suprised her, too, as she thought he would be more like
Lenny Kravitz, but he is a born singer and performer. Keri's style was so
cool, but she didn't see Matt or Johnny much. Lollo left and went home not
realizing that the band came out later to do autographs. So that is another
cause for sadness, but you know they will be back! The band, the music
and the fans make you want to run away and sign up with them!
Here's a bunch from Amsterdam. Dave says the band started about 45 min. early and
played an hour and a half. SLASH was great, and there was a lot of contact
between the band and the audience. Dave wore a top hat, and SLASH looked his
way a few times (probably planning how to get the hat!). There was a guy in
the audience who had SLASH's haircut. It's pretty amazing to see your hero
so close. Dave wants to thank the band for the terrific evening! D & J were
also at the show, and say it was the best they have ever seen. The band
was in a very good mood, and the new video for "Shine" was filmed! Before
the show, they met Rod, Johnny and Matt. SLASH went right in but promised
the guys would be out after the show, and they were. Killing show!! Anton
was at the sell-out show in Amsterdam, too. They led off with "Life's
Sweet Drug" and then did "Been There Lately". The whole show was filmed
for Dutch music TV (TMF). SLASH did amazing solos on "Serial Killer" and
"Landslide". Rod was a very good singer. They didn't play "The Truth"
or "The Alien". Anton hopes they will come back soon. Sunday the new
single will be on the TMV TV station at Rockzone. Thank you, Anton!
Frank Suicide, whose buddies, The Alien Swinger Club, will open for
Snakepit on the 18th, was also at the Paradiso. He said the gig was
absolute magic with the band sharp as a knife. Rod took his shirt off
and won over the crowd. Frank thinks Rod is a brilliant singer. He says
he attended the show with two other bands, and they all thought this was
one of the best gigs ever. Frank is a big GNR fan, but after this he "doesn't
care about any damn reunion, SLASH's Snakepit is the bomb"!! SLASH seemed
to be feeling the effects of something because he basically announced
"Mr. Brownstone" when they had just played it! SLASH is getting punchy!
Time for a day off. SLASH said, "That's why they don't let me get too close
to the mike". And he told Rod, "Kid, that is why you have to keep away
from drugs and alcohol ha ha ha". Thanks, Frank!
Ferry reports that SLASH was on Dutch national radio, and it was
marvelous. Snakepit played two acoustic songs, "Something About Your
Love" (Rod dedicated it to the legalisation of marijuana) and "Been
There Lately" which was dedicated to all the prostitutes because they
haven't been there lately. They also mentioned they love Heineken beer
which was pretty cool. The station also played "Shine" from the album
while the guys tuned their guitars between the two acoustic numbers.
Thanks, Ferry, who was also the winner of our first contest's cd.
Shari from the UK reports that there's a review of the first London
Underworld gig in Kerrang! (issue #832) dated Dec. 16. The review
awards the show 4 out of 5. There is a Top 40 album list in the same
magazine, and Ain't Life Grand moved up one place from number
35 to number 34. Thanks, Shari!
Tonight's the first of the shows in
Germany! Tomorrow night is the long awaited show at the Paradiso
in The Netherlands. This one is SOLD OUT! Checking with scalpers is
your only hope of getting in to this one. This is a familiar venue
for SLASH. Many of you no doubt remember the famous benefit concert
here for Jason Becker that featured Zakk Wylde and SLASH. A dazzler.
Look for the band to pull the stops out in Amsterdam tomorrow! The
boys will need a day off after this show, and they will move to Stuttgart,
Germany and catch up on some sleep while SLASH runs around doing
interviews.
If you're not going to see the band tonight, maybe you'd like to hear
a great online SLASH interview. Actually there are two good ones
available on the NME site. When you get there, there's a condensed
text version, and then you select your modem speed and the interview.
In one, SLASH talks about the Guns N'Roses issue. The second talks more
about what SLASH is doing now. (The picture at right has nothing to
do with the interviews, but the ladies need a SLASH bathing suit photo
fix in winter!) Check out the interviews here:
Nicholas was at the Sheffield show in the UK, and he said it really
rocked! He waited outside a long time, and SLASH did come out! Fans
got autographs and pictures with Nicholas getting his Appetite
... album signed. Pretty much a normal evening for SLASH. But surprise!
Who shows up? Another SLASH! Nicholas snapped this great photo of SLASH
meeting SLASH! Check the real SLASH's expression! Thanks, Nicholas!
Some reviews are in from the Denmark shows and the Swedish show. Torben
was at the show in Esbjerg. He said it was the best and sends a big
thank you to the King of the Guitar, SLASH! SLASH signed his It's
Five O'Clock Somewhere album. Torben said it was a dream come true
meeting SLASH and finding SLASH willing to talk to him. He hopes to see
Snakepit again in Denmark. Thanks, Torben. Jakob went to both shows in
Denmark. That's the way, Jakob! After 6 hours, his ears are still ringing.
Jakob spoke to SLASH, had his picture taken with him and got a personal
SLASH greeting on his arm: "To Jake - SLASH 2000"! And SLASH loved Jakob's
tshirt, too. At the show, his first sight of Snakepit was Rod coming
screaming out with those long dreadlocks. This guy knows how to party!
Keri was on the run right from the beginning. Jakob says Keri is very
cool and reminds him of Izzy in some ways. Matt was beating his drums
in a very professional way, full of energy, and if you watched him
you could catch him doing some drumstick tricks. Johnny G has the coolest
attitude of the band, Mr. Rock N'Roll. Then, SLASH, with his worn out
looking Les Paul doing magnificent solos. The show was great covering nearly
the whole new cd, and for the die-hard Gunners, there was "Mr. Brownstone"
and "It's So Easy". "Beggars and Hangers-On" got a chance at the end of the
set.
Jakob says the best part of the show wasn't SLASH or Johnny or anyone
person...it was the whole band working as a whole band. Keri and Johnny
sat on the stage at the end for an hour signing autographs. The second
show was a larger venue. Jakob has bruises from being smashed up against
the fence. "Shine" was played twice because they were recording a live
video of the song that night! Jakob thinks the coolest guy again was
Johnny G who came down and shook hands with him. Jakob got SLASH autographs
after the show. He told Jakob about his snakes and admired his Kermit the
frog tshirt. Jakob says SLASH is Number 1!! He says he hopes this will give
all the fans an idea of what it is like to see their show and meet SLASH.
If you get the chance, go see them! Thanks, Jakob! Mike was also at
the second show in Denmark. Before the show they were told about the
video for "Shine" and that it would be song number 4 and to go crazy!
There was no opening band so Snakepit started at 8:30pm. When the GNR
tunes were played, the crowd went nuts. Rod was in a great mood and took
a wild stagedive into the crowd. They did "Shine" twice. The best song
was "Serial Killer" with SLASH doing a "killer" solo. "Ain't Life
Grand" was a surprise; it was better live than the original album version.
Mike stayed at the venue, and SLASH came out with his bodyguard to sign
autographs. Everyone there had a chance to meet him. Mike says SLASH is
really a nice guy, and Mike thanked him for a fantastic evening. Mike
had gotten a setlist, and SLASH signed that and shook his hand. A perfect
ending to a perfect evening. This was the best concert Mike has ever been
to. Thanks to Snakepit! And thank you, Mike. Claus was also at the second
show. He said that SLASH riffed like only he can, and Rod was great.
One of the songs, "Shine", was taped for a video. Claus would like to
tell SLASH that he'd like him to come to Copenhagen next time. You just
did, Claus, and thanks very much!
Here's one from the Swedish concert from Jenni. Jenni traveled from
Finland to see the show with no ticket in hand as the promoter promised
to leave tickets at the door. Looking for the promoter, Jenni came to
a hall where Snakepit was doing soundcheck! Although embarrassed, Jenni
couldn't leave and just listened for awhile. Snakepit came onstage and
started rocking hard. The audience went crazy; some fans fainted and w
were carried away. SLASH tried to calm them down, but it didn't help much.
Rod's voice was stunning and powerful, even better live. Rod held Jenni's
hand while singing "Back to the Moment"!! SLASH walked back and forth,
and his solos were amazing. The whole band looked great together and
were very cool. After the show, everyone was signing autographs except
Johnny who slipped away to visit with relatives and friends. Jenni gave
SLASH a bottle of Finnish vodka which he said would surely put him to
sleep. And it did! Jenni says the band gave the best show she'd ever seen,
and she wishes them all the best. Jenni promises to send photos! Thanks,
Jenni!
Dutch fans: we got word from Ferry, Jeroen, and Ivar about publicity
events in Holland. The channel TMF will record and broadcast the show
in Paradiso in the program called "Rockzone". There will be a special
with SLASH in the program TMF Extra probably in late December/early
January. There will be two radio interviews on Dec. 14 at Radio 538 and
second in the program Denk aan Henk on radio 3FM between 1 and 2pm Dutch
time. In this program, SLASH will bring another guitar player (Keri?)
with him and they will jam for a couple of minutes! Note: if anyone tapes
these, we'd love to have a copy to extract some clips from for this site.
Let us know at webmaster@snakepit.org. We can trade some US interviews
on audio or NTSC video if you'd like. Thanks to all of you!
Marte sent us the news that SLASH was on the Swedish TV channel ZTV
yesterday. It was aired three times. SLASH talked about how Snakepit
got its name and his blues influence as well as the rock n'roll attitude.
At the end of the show, SLASH said that in the end of the show, it's
a combination of band and audience; they all come together. Some clips
from a concert were shown. SLASH was relaxed and in a good mood and wore
his F*ck U! tshirt. The last question was that dead horse, are you going
to play with GNR again. SLASH seemed fed up with that one. They ran a
clip from "November Rain" at the end. Watch for reruns! Thanks, Marte!
Tonight is the second show in Denmark.
The guys have tomorrow off to move to Germany. Germany got a lot of
shows, so there should be some good turnouts. Don't forget to let the
rest of us know what happened! We hope to have some pictures from the
Swedish show and are hoping someone from Denmark can scan a ticket and
send some photos, too. The Tour Photo section has some UK photos in it
right now. We've got some from Keri Kelli of Japan. Some nice fans in
these!
The band will be coming home in time for Christmas Eve. Keri will be
checking and answering mail directly again. If you have a question
for Keri, his email address is:
Don't forget to send the guys a Christmas card! You can also send a small
gift if you'd like, but that's not necessary. Let's bury them with
Christmas wishes. You can email them to Rod and Keri if you want or send
a card to the whole band using SLASH's address...be sure you put SLASH's
Snakepit if it is for everyone or the band member's name. Otherwise SLASH
will get everything which we are sure he would like but maybe not what
you had in mind. Get them in the mail soon!
The big show in Amsterdam
is the 14th. Jizz tells us that rumors are
going around that the Paradiso show there will be recorded and
broadcast later by a Dutch music channel called TMF.SO. Jizz says
for all you there to keep your eyes open for announcements. There
is also to be a SLASH special on this channel! Jizz told us the best
news of all. The show is SOLD F*CKIN' OUT! Thanks, Jizz, and keep us
posted on program times. Marijke added that on Thursday, Dec. 14, there
will be a SLASH interview on Radio 538. This may be the same one Jizz
was speaking about or another. Sometimes SLASH does 9 hours of interviews
a day and goes to the show. Marijke also said that Guitar World
did a reader's poll of the Top 100 Guitar Solos, and SLASH came in at
#6 with the "November Rain" solo. Thanks, Marijke!
Four reviews from the first Swedish show, Dec. 9, have come in. Janne
saw SLASH for the first time and thought it was a great show. Janne says
this venue held 600 and was also SOLD OUT! Way to go, Sweden! They were
very close to the stage which made you feel really connected to the band.
Snakepit was LOUD, and it was sometimes hard to hear SLASH's guitar.
(Note to SLASH: LOUDER!) Rod is a great stage performer, and Janne thinks
his singing is great. Rod was the one to talk between songs, and he said
the girls were so beautiful that he was getting married tonight. He
borrowed a camera from someone in the audience but couldn't work it,
so he asked SLASH! They looked at it for a long while then SLASH took
a picture of the audience! The other guys were very cool especially
Keri. SLASH's playing was great, and he did some blues jamming in the
intro to "Mean Bone". Janne thought his slide playing was great, too.
All the songs were very good, but "Ain't Life Grand" was the most
impressive and is a lot better live. Janne promises to send photos.
Thank you, Janne!
Marte gets the prize for coming the furthest away. She and her brother
came from Norway to the Dec.9 Swedish show. It was totally worth it!
Marte has been a GNR and SLASH fan for 9 years, so it was a dream come
true to see SLASH. Marte says her ears are still ringing and is so
excited, sleep is impossible. Snakepit led off with "Life's Sweet Drug",
and the crowd went wild. Marte's favorite was "Serial Killer" but says
all the songs were great. All the Ain't Life Grand songs were
played except "The Truth". Has anyone heard them do this live? Rod is
an excellent singer and awesome on stage. Singing that beautiful ballad,
"Back to the Moment", he sat on the front of the stage, holding a girl's
hand. Everyone was full of energy. Matt was really good, a very talented
drummer. SLASH was brilliant, and everyone wanted to touch him. His solos
are amazing, even better than Marte expected. Keri Kelli was awesome, too,
rocking all over the place, throwing picks and having a blast. Johnny
Blackout is really cool and an amazing bass player. He and Keri were
flirting with the audience, and the crowd loved it. Johnny shook Marte's
hand during the show. Marte was right in front of Johnny who finally walked
over and shook Marte's hand and went back. There was a lot of pressure
forward, and some fans passed out. Marte had to be lifted over the fence
and put in the back of the room at the end. About 20 fans waited at the
end of the show. It was freezing cold outside. Matt came out first, then
Rod. They signed autographs and shook hands. SLASH came out and walked to
the bus, but then he came back out and signed autographs accompanied by
his huge bodyguard (Animal, ex-Atlanta Falcons pro football player). We
stood in line but had to move on when he had signed our things. SLASH
apologized for not having time to talk, but Marte was thrilled to see him
and shake his hand. Keri Kelli came out, and Marte talked to him a lot.
He gave her one of his picks, too. Marte says Keri is a true gentleman...
and gorgeous, too. Johnny Blackout didn't come out. Keri said that Johnny
was going to stay in Stockholm with family and friends for awhile. Marte's
favorite was Johnny, so she'll just have to catch him next time. With this
great show, the band is sure to be back! Thank you, Marte!
Tonight's the second Swedish show. We'd
really love to hear about the show in Denmark and the two in Sweden.
If you went, drop us a line and let us know how it was...the email
address is webmaster@snakepit.org. The band is off tomorrow and moves
back to Denmark for the second show there. We've been discussing the
fan mail issue. There is a big box of it in L.A., and we're trying to
figure out how to get it to SLASH safely or if it should just be held
till his Christmas return. We'll let you know. At this time, our
advice is to be prepared for a wait. SLASH's days seem to be filled
with shows and interviews. If you are trying to get something for
Christmas, that will probably not happen. Just a little patience...
With many college students into final exam time and everyone into
holiday preparations, we've had several requests to delay the contest
ending date for a few days. This seems reasonable, so we will let it
go one more week till next Saturday at midnight. If you need the
information again, click here and you'll see the questions and information
on that autographed cd:
We have two more UK reviews! Chris saw them at
Sheffield and says they played virtually the whole new album, "Beggars
and Hangers-On" and covered GNR's "It's So Easy" and "Mr. Brownstone".
SLASH looked really cool, but Chris doesn't like the goatee that SLASH
is sporting - says it makes him look too old. There were too many crowd
surfers; but the band was great and Rod was great. Rod was hit with a
bottle of water and went ballistic (like Axl, Chris says). There was a
lot of eye contact with the band and the crowd, but they didn't come
out after the show to sign anything. Chris speculates it could have
had something to do with the audience behavior. Best thing: Chris saw
SLASH! Thanks, Chris. Next, Matt says that he has wanted to meet SLASH
for 10 years, and the day finally came! Matt arrived at the venue at
2 pm. SLASH came at 5 and went right in after saying hi. Matt said the
show was great, especially Rod and SLASH. He really liked the GNR covers.
Matt waited around outside for hours. SLASH came out at around 1am and
signed lots of stuff for people. Security wouldn't let anyone near enough
to get a picture with SLASH. After signing, SLASH left in a minibus. Matt
raced to his car and followed. 15 minutes later Matt was at the hotel and
rushed to meet SLASH. SLASH was great and said Matt shouldn't have waited
so long in the cold. He signed everything for Matt, and Matt got his photo
taken with his idol. Matt says, "Thanks for a great day, SLASH! And what
a f*ckin' great guy!!!" See, if you wait long enough, he has to come out
sometime!
Michael sent in a note that he saw SLASH on TV last night! This was on
the FX channel on their "X Program" show. The interview was taped of
course. SLASH talked a little about the GNR breakup and what he is doing
now. We saw this too. One host introduced SLASH by talking about how
GNR made him a man. And he raved about SLASH. Later in the interview he
asked SLASH if he could show him how to play something basic on the
guitar so he could impress girls. SLASH played a riff that was basically
a scale played by a very talented and experienced guitar player! SLASH
said that that was the most basic thing that every guitar player should
learn. Michael was able to catch SLASH later on a rerun of MTV's
"Rock Star Update". Twice in one night! Thanks, Michael.
Awhile ago someone wrote in that SLASH would be in the December 2000
issue of Stuff magazine. Vicki got a copy and "a telling look"
from the cashier. The magazine comes wrapped in a foil package, so you
know this won't be one to share with the kids. On page 44 is a picture
of SLASH in the "Blitz!" section. SLASH is on his bed, shirtless,
barefoot, with his guitar. Under the headline "Living", it says, "SLASH
answers your etiquette quandries". There's a letter from Frank M. in
Baton Rouge, "Is there ever an inappropriate time to don a leather top
hat?" Answer from SLASH, "No". Another tough one. Thanks, Vicki, so we
don't have to brave the checkouts with our Stuff magazine. If
Vicki would just scan in the picture, we'd be satisfied!
For South American fans, Miguel wrote in to say that he did an
interview with SLASH for the Argentinian Rolling Stone
when SLASH was in Mexico. The magazine was released this month!
Thanks, Miguel. We're looking for that one! Anyone feel like doing
a translation?
Ferry was the winner of the autographed CD in our first contest. He
sent in the most marvelous interview with SLASH. This is from Rock
Sound, and we are very pleased to share it with you. The reason it's
special is that it covers a lot of new ground, mostly personal. The
interviewer asks questions that we have never heard SLASH answer before,
and it gives some good insight into SLASH's mind. He's asked about
a belief in aliens, his dreams, the epitaph he'd like to leave with us.
You'll enjoy this one. And even the SLASH page comes in for a small
mention. Take some time and read this one over. Ferry, thank you so
much!
We've got another new video up that's just
super. It's from Rock Star Update, a program which aired on MTV
in October this year. The program updates you on what some of the rock
stars are doing now. The section on SLASH is honest and positive. There
is footage and photos we hadn't seen before. These are a very young
SLASH playing guitar, and the footage is SLASH in his days of being
stoned on drugs and alcohol. We're lucky to have him with us. Today's
SLASH is there and looks so healthy and full of life while he talks
about the battle to keep GNR intact and about the guest appearances he's made
over the years. Adam Day, SLASH's guitar tech, appears briefly to add
some comments. SLASH worked hard to become a guitar legend and has
incredibly solid fans, yet he still is nervous before a show. It's the
portrait of a man who could have collapsed with GNR but instead went
forward to new beginnings. Check it out on the SLASH Video Section of
this page:
If you didn't get a chance to see Snakepit live yet, there is an
Australian site that has two songs from the Ottawa show, "Life's
Sweet Drug" and "Been There Lately". They burned up the stage here!
SLASH takes off on the album version and adds some really cool moments
to intros and solos. Radio station Three M obtained the footage from
Shock Records, Snakepit distributor in Australia. Many thanks to Gabriel
who sent us the information. See Snakepit again LIVE:
Our UK friend Kim tells us that this week's Kerrang! will have a
one page article on a day in the life of SLASH! Kim will be sending that
for you to see. Kerrang! mentions that "Been There Lately" came out
December 4 on Koch Records, so look for that in the UK stores. We
understand it is an exclusive release to the UK. Kim says that there
is a sidebar on records that make SLASH's day, and they are Soundgarden's
Badmotorfinger, Nine Inch Nails' Pretty Hate Machine,
Stone Temple Pilots' Tiny Music..., the Rolling Stones' Exile
On Main Street and AC/DC's Powerage. Sounds like a good issue!
Some more reviews on those UK shows have come in. Tonight Snakepit is
playing their first Denmark show. Tomorrow night is the Swedish show.
Then they are off for a day moving back to Denmark for the Monday night
show. As far as we know, you can still get tickets; and if you want
them back, let's try to sell them out! John bought tickets for both
shows in London, and he had a great view since the venue was small. His
ears are still ringing! John had only one complaint and that was that
SLASH didn't do autographs after the second show. The fans were told SLASH
was just too tired. This was the night SLASH said that he had not slept
or eaten for 48 hours, so we'll have to be on his side this time! John
would like to know if Snakepit will release a live album soon. As far as
we know the next album will be a studio album but we have heard rumors
that a live album will be out. Andi saw the Dec.4 show
at the Underworld. The gig was excellent, and the band was relaxed. A
guy jumped onstage and was snagged by security but SLASH hugged him before
he left the stage. Andi wasn't pleased with the new album thinking Rod's
vocals were weak, but he has changed his opinion! Rod was awesome, and
Andi thinks the album producer should be shot. SLASH announced that the
Underworld shows would be recorded for a possible live album. We agree with
Andi, you have to see/hear them live to get the full impact! Andi thinks
the band deserves to be big on its own merits not just because SLASH is
a celebrity. Andi's message to the band is thanks! They need more rock
bands there onstage. Thanks, Andi! Simon was at the Sheffield show and
told us that Rod announced that "Beggars..." was written about Axl. "Serial
Killer" was written about Rod's friend who did coke and shot his girlfriend.
An excellent show with Simon up front by Johnny and Keri who really rock.
Simon was so close he could read the headstock on SLASH's guitar! Simon
wants to thank the band and tell them they are 10 times better than
Snakepit 95. Thanks, Simon! Lisa was also at Sheffield...SLASH's
playing is amazing. The crowd was enthusiastic, and Lisa was only
10 feet from SLASH himself. She bought a Snakepit vest and waited
a couple of hours to see SLASH after the show. When it started to
rain, the crowd dwindled from 100 to 20, but Lisa hung in there
and SLASH finally came out! Lisa got her program and her stomach
signed! She plans to have the signature tattoed. Send pictures!
Thanks, Lisa. Next one is from gbewley who was at the Underworld
and would like to know why the show started so late. Is this the
one where the opening band failed to turn up? He got to meet Rod
and and Johnny in a pub before the performance, and they practically
guaranteed SLASH would sign his tat. Is this the one where AC/DC
was in with SLASH..they are talking about touring possibilities now.
He'd like to tell Keri that he really rocks on guitar, looks relaxed
and like he is enjoying himself. Thanks, and hopefully you'll get
that sig when SLASH comes back. Graigor saw the band in Camden and
says it was pure class. The band was up for it although they have done
so many shows recently. Being so close to the band is unbelievable. The
crowd was excited but never got out of hand. Rod and Slash both talked
to the audience with SLASH saying how good it was to be in England. It
was a little hard to hear him. Graigor is a big GNR fan, so he was
going mostly to see SLASH, but each person onstage came into his own,
and he was soon watching them all. Special thanks to Keri for the pick
and pouring Jack Daniels down his throat! Thanks, Graigor! This one is
from the Dec.5 Underworld show. The show rocked! Snakepit came out and
launched into "Life's Sweet Drug", and it was mindblowing! Keri was
amazing, and all the ladies fancied him. He had a Great Britain sticker
on the back of his guitar. Rod was really impressive. SLASH seemed dreamy.
He walked up to a stage pillar and pretended to... (Note: send SLASH's
girlfriend immediately!) In one song, SLASH put down his guitar, lit a
cigarette and threw his lighter into the crowd. After the show, Keri was
surrounded by the ladies! Rod was really nice and very polite. Johnny
spent most of his time looking for ladies (should have looked for Keri).
SLASH and Matt weren't around at all. (SLASH having taken the pillar
back to his hotel no doubt). It was brilliant and a great night.
Jamie was at the Underworld on the 5th, and it was excellent. It
was his first time seeing SLASH. Jamie got up front with SLASH right
in front of him. Some technical difficulties prevented SLASH from
playing "Shine". There was a really good vibe at the club, and SLASH
said they would need a bigger venue next time. Jamie liked seeing them
in this small club where you could be right up front. Jamie sent us
some pictures which we are working on. Thanks for those,
Jamie.
Our
final one is from Steve who saw the last UK show at the Underworld.
He got to the venue very early and went to the bar. In walks SLASH.
By the time they decided to find him, he was gone. Then a taxi pulled up
with Matt and Rod. He got his album signed. After a long wait outside in
the rain, they opened the doors. The club was very small, but you were
right up by the stage. Everything was amazing. Everything was going great
till "Shine" when SLASH's guitar went dead - he had blown an amp. Adam
Day was there, and the others carried on playing. Keri Kelli took over
and did an amazing solo worthy of SLASH. SLASH soon came out guitarless,
stood on an amp, lit a cigarette and gave a funny...what can you do, shit
happens expression. When the song ended he apologized saying they were
breaking everything tonight. Someone yelled to hurry up and play. SLASH
told him to go f*ck himself and carried on. The rest of the night was
stunning. Keri was now a new idol on fire. Johnny G just ruled all night
long, and Steve was blown away by Matt. Rod can do no wrong. SLASH
was happy and into his music. He was everywhere on stage, spinning around,
dancing with Rod...stunning solos and he used nearly all his guitars.
Steve was so anxious to see SLASH, and his goal has been filled. Great!
Thanks to you all. We're happy for you and envious at the same time!
Let's hear from some Danish fans!
The last UK show is on for tonight. It is also SOLD OUT! The band is
pulling out of the UK and moving on to Denmark which gets their first
of two shows. The first show is in Esbjerg on Thursday, December 7.
They will then go to Sweden for two shows and come back to Denmark
for one more! If you want the guys back in your country soon, turn out
for these shows. The UK will be on all future lists! SLASH will be on
a couple of lists, too! Remember if you are in Germany, Sweden, Italy..
check the tour schedule below for some minor changes.
If you can't see a show, how about some cool interviews? The Artist
Direct site now has the SLASH interview video working. Thanks to
Jeroen from The Netherlands who pummeled them with mail about it.
This is well
worth seeing - some good questions that aren't asked everyday, e.g.
the Sam Kiniston question, but the obligatory GNR one is there if
you need a fix on that:
Maria in Toronto told us a few days back about a show on Much Music
on groupies. SLASH and Rod spoke for Snakepit. That episode is on this
week according to Yurich, and he gave us a location where you can see
our two guys comment on the wild women of the rock world. Look for the
word and groupie on your left, click that (guys, that's enough clicking!),
and you'll see Slash on the left. Click SLASH to hear what he and Rod
have to say on this:
A couple days ago the UK people sent in mail about SLASH's appearance
on a daytime TV show there where he used the words blowjob and f*ck
on live TV. Although the TV station apologized to those with tender
sensibilities, our guy did not. He says he was asked a question, and
he answered it. Better to stick to those GNR questions. We have for
you first an audio of the interview, then a comment from SLASH. Thanks
very much to NeMiSiS who sent us the audio version and Janet who posted
the exclusive SLASH comment to NME on our Snakepit list.
The reviews have been coming in from the UK, and we're so pleased that
you took time to write down your thoughts on the shows. The band likes to
read these, and we do, too. Starting with the Sheffield show on December
3, Rob sent us a good summary: Snakepit band is brilliant! Every song on
the new album was played except "The Truth". They played covers of GNR's
"It's So Easy" and "Mr. Brownstone" as well as Snakepit '95's "Beggars
& Hangers-On". Rob said the guys were full of energy and very tight. It
was the best night of his life! The only bad part of the show was when
some idiot threw bottles at Rod. Not cool, friends. An artist can be
seriously hurt by these aside from the fact that they really kill the
show and turn attention to the bottle-thrower instead of the music. Rob
said Rod was seriously angry about it, but he continued. Rod is a great
singer with excellent onstage presence. Matt is the best drummer Rob has
ever heard with total control over the skins. Keri seriously kicked ass
on guitar, and Johnny Blackout was great. SLASH? Rob says there are not
enough ways to describe his brilliance. Thanks, Rob. Jon agrees saying
the whole show kicked ass. SLASH looked cool and the rest did, too.
Rod got heated up by the bottle throwing, but it didn't ruin the show.
They are amazing musicians, and Jon was so close to the stage he couldn't
believe it. To be 2 feet away is amazing! To quote Jon, "It was loud, it
was crazy....it was rock and roll! If you get the chance, see them!".
Thanks, Jon! RHolding summarizes the show as...excellent. They played
the album songs and the two GNR songs. Can't wait for them to come
around again! Thanks! Luke says that there was no opening band as they
didn't turn up! "Life's Sweet Drug" was first, and it was brilliant. They
played over 90 minutes without a break and then did a great encore of the
GNR covers. Rod is the most amazing live singer Luke has ever seen, and the
crowd went wild for him. Luke's favorite song was "Serial Killer".
The
band had so much energy, and the momentum was only stopped by some idiot
throwing a bottle at Rod. The only disappointment was that SLASH didn't
come outside in the freezing rain to sign autographs. (Remember this is
an L.A. person unaccustomed to even the WORD freezing!). "An amazing gig
and a good venue. Nice one, SLASH!" Thank you, Luke! Echo writes that
"I have never enjoyed a gig so much". Rod is so much like Steven Tyler
with the same stage presence and moves. SLASH is just so cool. He hasn't
lost anything in the time from the Illusion tours. Snakepit Rules! Thanks,
Echo! Sharon traveled 2 1/2 hours to see The Boys; they looked cool,
sounded great and were everything you'd expect them to be. The venue was
about 1200, so Sharon was close to the front. SLASH and Rod had their shirts
off and looked hot. (they are pretty hot looking IN their shirts!). SLASH
did talk a bit, thanking people for coming and saying how he enjoyed a live
show in England again. There was a tour program for sale with beautiful
pictures of the guys (we've seen that and it is gorgeous). It's the first
time Sharon has seen SLASH pictured without sunglasses and hat. She thinks
he has really nice eyes. (kind and intelligent as well as wickedly funny
at times). Sharon thanks the band for coming to England and hope they
enjoyed it, too!
What a super fan letter and review, Sharon! Thanks!
Here's a joint letter from Roger, Damo & Big Scotty T. (Let's get Big
Scotty after these bottle throwers!). They say that if you were disappointed
that Snakepit didn't appear with AC/DC in the UK, the band made up for it
and more with their show at the Sheffield. The band was tight, the
atmosphere was hot and the time flew by. There's an apology here to the
band for those who saw fit to throw bottles at Rod. Please don't hold
that against the rest of the fans, and please come back! The Corporation
is Sheffield's premier rock club and small concert venue. The GNR covers
were a huge hit with the crowd. Everyone left happy. Go get a ticket
to the Underworld shows! (These are sold out but there are always ways
of getting a ticket). Rod had amazing vocals, and SLASH looked like he
was having a real blast. Come back soon! Thank you! Emily got back from
London at 4 am but has never been so happy. She said they were so close
she got to touch SLASH twice. SLASH would smoke half a cigarette, come
up by the crowd and wave it around. Emily said she had no chance of
catching it, but SLASH put it right in her hand. She put it out and
kept it and promptly fainted! (SLASH can have that effect on you, best
taken in very small doses at first). She had to be lifted over the barrier
where "I sat under SLASH's concerned eye...BLESS HIM!" Then they let
Emily go sit in the soundbooth with AC/DC!!! WHAT A NIGHT FOR EMILY!
The show was great. Rod made a lot of eye contact with the audience and
so did SLASH. SLASH was in a great mood and smiled a lot...the the
joy of the audience. Thanks, Emily! Pang saw SLASH face to face
at the venue when SLASH came at 3 pm. Matt arrived at 5 and was
very nice. The rest came about 5:30. Pang was disappointed that
you could not take pictures inside the venue. Each venue has their
own rules although SLASH did tell me he can't see his guitar well
if he gets all those flashes in his eyes. Peng was also disappointed
that the show was so short and would have liked more GNR covers
like "November Rain" and "Sweet Child O'Mine". (note: SLASH doesn't
want to play songs strongly identified with the old GNR and Axl
Rose). Pang got Keri's pick! SLASH seemed shy and hardly talked, but
he is the No. 1 coolest guitarist on the planet. Thanks! Antony sent
a great review which really should be read in its entirety. All these
reviews can be found elsewhere on the page (www.snakepit.org, scroll
down to Main Menu, click Slash's Snakepit 1999-2000 and then click
Fan Show Reviews for the complete message, unedited). Antony says the
show was not quite full but was pretty well packed. The sound was almost
perfect. You could hear the guitars and Rod easily. "Serial Killer"
was again the favorite. They rocked the crowd! Antony says it was the best
gig he's ever been to - far beyond anything he has seen. SLASH seemed shy
at first, but then he got into it and would stand so he made that cool
looking shadow. Godzilla and the Gibsons were there as was the BC Rich
Mockingbird. Rod is a serious presence onstage with great singing ability.
For those who were disappointed that SLASH didn't come out, you just
didn't wait long enough! It was 4 degrees, raining and there was a nasty
wind, but Antony hung in there for 3 hours till SLASH came out. He took
SLASH's picture and got autographs. Rod, Keri and Matt were really good
about getting pictures taken, and Keri shook his hand, too. SLASH stood
and signed in the rain for 30 minutes. Rod was being very cool, and the
fans chanted "Snakepit Rules"! SLASH seemed happy about the show and
about being in England. Antony got a setlist signed by SLASH and a
Snakepit program signed by SLASH and about 25 (!!) pictures of the band.
He promises to send these along. PLEASE!! Antony says he is almost
shaking with excitement from meeting the band. It was the best weekend
of his entire life. Finally, Antony drove 3 hours home, got there at
4 am and got up at 6:30 am for work. "It was worth it"! Thank you, Antony!
And thanks to everyone who contributed their comments. We have a couple
from the Underworld show last night and we'll do those tomorrow. It's
never too late too send yours in. Any scans we'll put in the Tour Photos
section. Thanks to you all.
Tour schedule changes! These are just for Sweden, Germany and Italy.
Check the Swedish show on December 8 for
a change of city and venue. Check the German show on December 19 for
a change in the venue only. The Italian show on December 22 also has
a change in venue only. The schedule here starts with Europe:
SLASH's SNAKEPIT - EUROPEAN LEG
Sun., Dec. 3 The Corporation Sheffield, England
Mon., Dec. 4 *SOLD OUT! The Underworld London, England
Tue., Dec. 5 *SOLD OUT! The Underworld London, England
Thu., Dec. 7 Hultihuset Tobaken Esbjerg, Denmark
Fri., Dec. 8 KB Malmo, Sweden
Sat., Dec. 9 Klubben Stockholm, Sweden
(Kollingsbong)
Mon., Dec. 11 Train Aarhus, Denmark
Wed., Dec. 13 Columbia Halle Berlin, Germany
Thu., Dec. 14 Paradiso Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Sat., Dec. 16 Kongresszentrum Stuttgart, Germany
Mon., Dec. 18 E-Werk Koln, Germany
Tue., Dec. 19 Babylon Munchen, Germany
Wed., Dec. 20 Furth Stadthalle Nurnberg, Germany
Fri., Dec. 22 *SOLD OUT Alcatrazz Milan, Italy
Sat., Dec. 23 US for Christmas Holidays
SOUTH AMERICAN LEG
Fri., Jan. 19 Obras Stadium Buenos Aires, Argentina
Sat., Jan. 20 Obras Stadium Buenos Aires, Argentina
Mon., Jan. 22 GO Mar del Plata, Argentina
SLASH called from London this evening. He said the shows are going great.
He has hardly slept or eaten at all. Tonight he fell asleep in the alley
by the venue on a crate before the show! Not only is he doing the shows,
but he is doing interviews about 8 or 9 hours a day. But he is having
a great time, and he's just thriving on all this activity. SLASH says
playing London for him is like playing L.A. because he has a lot of
family and friends there. As you know, SLASH is from the UK
originally, and he is so happy to be back there. Make him welcome,
and clap extra loud. We had black and blue hands when we saw Snakepit
for 30 minutes. We expect full set fans to be hoarse as well. SLASH
is also looking forward to Denmark which comes up next. We haven't heard
from too many Danes out there, so we hope you are quietly buying up
all the seats for your shows.
SLASH had a funny story to pass along to you. He did four
interviews today with MTV Europe. When he was in the studio,
they told him he couldn't smoke in the building. They had had a fire
there within the past year or two and were being very careful. So,
SLASH put out his cigarette, but every chance he got, he went outside
and smoked. Each time he came in he kept telling them he smelled smoke.
They thought it was from his old cigarette. Then SLASH discovered his
jacket was burning!! The famous SLASH leather jacket was going up in
smoke! It was lying over a light, and the light was slowly burning the
jacket. It has a hole the size of a half dollar in it now. SLAsh loves
that old jacket. Meanwhile MTV can burn to the ground, but let's save
SLASH's jacket! SLASH laughed and said it was fine. Guess his jacket
needed a smoke.
The contest for the
first autographed cd Ain't Life Grand is over, and the winner
is Ferry Heijkoop of the Netherlands. The question which seemed to
trip up most people was the country that had one bonus track on their
released cd. That is Australia with "Something About Your Love". Koch Records donated three of these cds, and this is the second contest.
Same idea as the first one. Answer these questions about Slash and his
music and bands and send the answers to webmaster@snakepit.org. Please
put Contest 2 in the Subject. The deadline here will be Saturday,
December 9 at midnight your time. Those having all answers correct will
be part of a random drawing for the winner. Winners are notified here
and by private email. There is no charge to enter or to win. Koch
donates the albums, Slash and Ron provided the signatures, postage is
courtesy of your webmaster. Only one week this time, so hurry!
Did you catch the SLASH interview on rocknrollstation.com today? Despite
some technical and sound problems, it was definitely one of the best
interviews we've seen. The interviewer was knowledgeable, and let SLASH
answer the questions! It ran about 75 minutes, and it was a good one
for everyone to hear. SLASH talked in detail about GNR, the breakup,
Blues Ball, Snakepit 95, the current band and plans for the future. Very
complete. He also answered fan questions! For you Australians that may
have missed it, he did say that Snakepit will be back. As to whether or not
Snakepit will tour with AC/DC there, it's still a rumor. It would be a great
rock and roll show for sure. If you're a rock fan, you want to see AC/DC no
matter who opens,
so get your tickets! How can you lose? The station is sponsoring a
contest for fans to win an autographed Snakepit poster and an Ain't Life
Grand cd. We watched SLASH autograph them on the video. For details,
head over to rocknrollstation.com. They will be archiving the interview
in a few days, and you can watch it at your leisure.
There's a video on this site for you, too. It's another new one of our own to contribute.
This was taken from the Koch Records promo video that is an interview
with SLASH intercut with footage from a live concert. The music rules! This link takes
you to the SLASH Videos! Section of the page. Scroll down, and it is
the first one you come to.
SLASH live! SLASH is in the UK right now. Tonight was the first show,
and we hope to hear from some fans soon. He appeared live on the UK
TV show CD:UK where he was interviewed. Bear in mind this is a live
show at 11:30 am. He talked about GNR and the breakup and how he and
Axl would have to have psychotherapy to talk to each other again. He
was asked about the rockstyle life he lives and what was the most
amazing rumor about him. He said...the one where I got a blowjob in
a restaurant! (that's our SLASH!) He was asked about his pets, and he
commented that he had tried to stop his iguana from escaping recently
from his back garden, and it bit the f*ck out of him! HA! SLASH is too
funny. Apologies were made by the interviewers, but not by our man.
Tell it like it is. Those of us bitten by pets know EXACTLY what you
mean! The whole incident took us back to the hilarious AMA ceremony
when SLASH and Duff got up to thank the AMA for the GNR award! Thanks to all of you who sent that one in....Graigor, James, Lewis,
Thomas, Craig, Jamie, Dave, Simrin, Tom, Emily and everyone else. Thanks
for getting up so early to give us a report. We hope you are at the show
right now!
The news tonight is mostly
reminders and reviews! Be advised that SLASH's taped interview will be
aired on rocknrollstation.com Sunday, December 3 at noon, Pacific Time
even though the site advertises it as on tomorrow. You can choose to
have an audio or video session. Personal sessions with SLASH are not
available at this time! Next, the Artist Direct video. It is up and
available at their site, but if anyone can get to it, please let us
know. So far we have clicked through the many levels trying to find
SLASH, and just as we do, we got a Netscape 404 error. We're trying
hard to psych this out. Reminder to the UK fans: set your clocks to
see SLASH live at 11:30 am tomorrow your time! And we all want to know
what it was about! Sunday, December 3 is the big FIRST European show.
Please send some reviews as they are really important to the band as
well as the fans. Pictures and ticket scans would also be terrific.
Just as we were writing about the UK, SLASH called! He made it there
and sounds very excited, in a great mood, but a little tired and hungry.
He says he didn't pack too well for your cold weather, but he did
remember his top hat. People are recognizing him out in the street, and
he seems really happy about that! Yesterday he did 9 hours of interviews
with the press! He has a similar schedule tomorrow. SLASH said the UK
shows are sold out, and thanks to all of you who helped do that! A great
welcome to Europe! SLASH is moving around, so keep your eyes open.
We talked about tomorrow's program on TV, and he seemed to be a little
dubious. But you know SLASH, he's game for anything! If you found a way
to send him a question for tomorrow, he got them. We sent ours to the
producer. He's looking those over right now. We told him Bon Jovi
would be there and for SLASH to take his autograph book. He had to laugh
about that. So that should be an interesting start to his day. He was off
to order room service and go to bed. He hasn't eaten in 48 hours and hasn't
slept much either. But he really sounded happy to be there! Take care of
him...
Another reminder: tomorrow night is the end of the first SLASH contest.
That is midnight tomorrow, your time. Be sure to take a chance and
send it in. All the answers are on the SLASH page somewhere. We will
try to have the winner's name and the new contest questions to you on
Sunday night. We'll be giving away 3 of these autographed CDs in 3 contests.
Ain't Life Grand is autographed by SLASH and Rod. Pretty cool.
Here's the contest questions and where to send the answers:
Nasar wanted to add to the news of SLASH being on the cover of Total
Guitar. In addition to the interview Kim sent us, Nasar says that
there is a full transcription of "Life's Sweet Drug". If you have been
looking for tabs from the new album, there are several on the SLASH
page Tabs section. Now you can get this one, too. Nasar was thinking
about all those tshirts SLASH has. He says his favorite is "You're A
Very Naughty Girl, Go To My Room"! Ours is "If You Don't Like Oral Sex,
Keep Your Mouth Shut". Anyone else have a favorite?! We've never seen one
for sale like that in our lives, and SLASH has 13,000 of them. Thanks, Nasar.
As promised, here is the Metal Edge interview. It covers 4 pages in the
magazine including pictures which we have mostly trimmed off to speed
load times. We think you are pretty familiar with them. This is a really
nice, positive interview with SLASH. Click below to see the pages one at
a time:
We have some reviews from the Galaxy. Michelle says the boys played about
an hour and 15 minutes, but it seemed longer. The crowd was enthusiastic
but respectful of the gang. Good! Michelle took some great photos, but
security grabbed the camera after the show, took the film out and threw
it! Michelle's sister had done a super drawing which you can see on
the Fan Drawing section, and Michelle put it right by SLASH's foot onstage.
Everyone got rushed out right after the show, so they didn't get to see
the band, but it seems like SLASH got a cute picture to take home! Thanks,
Michelle. Mike sent us the setlist which some European fans are looking for.
Here's what they played: Been There Lately, Just Like Anything, Shine,
Mean Bone, Serial Killer, Back to the Moment, It's So Easy, Rusted Heroes,
Landslide, Ain't Life Grand, Mr. Brownstone, Beggars & Hangers-On and
Speed Parade. Mike says he liked this show better than the one at the
Roxy. The band was tight and on top of things even though some had colds.
Johnny was a little more sedate than usual. The sound was excellent. They
played a couple hours or less, but it felt like they played forever! There
were two encores!! These make you feel like you are really getting your
money's worth. And the band must feel great to come back out twice! Mike
got his second SLASH pick, and you were close enough to touch the band.
The band was feeding off the audience, and it was one of the best shows
Mike has ever seen.
SLASH leaves tomorrow for the UK! Looks like
the rest of us will get some dynamite reports because the UK fans are
all over this SLASH visit! The other day we mentioned that SLASH would
be on UK television Saturday morning. We had just the barest of facts
then, and now we know it all thanks to the UK fans. It appears that
SLASH is not going to have to watch cartoons with the kids after all.
The early morning show is SM:TV which is a kiddie magazine show. SLASH
won't be on that one. It becomes CD:UK at 11:30 am, and this is Saturday
not Sunday. So Saturday, 11:30 am, CD:UK is the right place/time to
see SLASH. This is a live interview. As far as we know, he will not be
performing. He might hit some little person with that Les Paul! One of
the other guests is Bon Jovi. So the little kids will love that. We're
all on the same page now, right? Let the rest of us know what SLASH
did, what the kids did, Tico, Heather...the whole gang. Thanks especially
to our great UK correspondents: Craig, Simrin, James and Jamie. Oh, if
you want to check this out, Simrin did find the website. It has a place
where you can send in a question to the guest but both of us got an
error message on it. The url is: www.cdukweb.com/cduk/guests.asp and there
isn't much to see if you can't mail questions.
A reminder to the SLASH world that you can see SLASH on the web this
Sunday, Dec. 3 at noon, Pacific Time, on www.rocknrollstation.com. You need Windows
Media software for this, and you may need to register so allow extra
time. SLASH taped the interview today. Thanks again, Ian, for the
information.
Here's another SLASH web appearance! The promotion on the Artist Direct
site was a little confusing. On Friday, Dec. 1, it says "SLASH:
Uncensored, Smokin' with SLASH" which sounds like an interview for sure.
But they list Snakepit as a video to watch on the schedule. If this is
the international video with SLASH talking intercut with concert clips
of an AC/DC concert, it will be well worth watching. The one we have
seen has SLASH in a guitar shop and that part alone is so interesting and
funny, it makes the whole thing worthwhile. And the live footage is
great. We're not sure how many days this is on the site either. We need
the UK detectives on this one. Brian sent in every bit of sense he could
make of this! The url is this:
Funny SLASH mention in Rolling Stone Online's publication where they always
use an artist's quote to start the newsletter. SLASH said,
"When it first came on, it was just like 'Oh, my God.
A twenty-four-hour cooking channel.' I think that ended
my whole social life right there. I became a f---ing
recluse." -- SLASH on his love for the Food Network. Once SLASH said
he used it as a substitute for eating. He doesn't seem to be a chef, but
he just likes that TV channel.
Back to the European tour: there is good news for Italian fans. You sold
out the show! Dynamite! If you didn't get tickets, FabAxl has another
way for you to try. In the November issue of Hard! magazine, there's a
SLASH contest. You can win 10 tickets for the Milan show OR 3 passes
to spend the day with SLASH!! You get to hang with SLASH all day and
interview him for Hard! backstage after the show. This is the best
contest we've ever heard of....breakfast with SLASH at 2pm, lunch with
SLASH at 6 pm, dinner at 2 am...etc. Imagine the fun activities you can
have with THAT guy. FabAxl says that to get into the drawing, you have
to answer one really tough question: In which band was SLASH the guitarist
until 1995? Tough one! FabAxl says Italy just loves SLASH!
The forthcoming issue of Metal Edge has a really superb FOUR
page article with color photos on SLASH's Snakepit! If you remember,
Metal Edge gave Ain't Life Grand only a so-so review.
New critic, new interview...it's very, very positive. We'll get this
pulled together and have it for you next time, but don't miss this one
when it comes out.
A big Snakepit mention from JohnnyK: at the Philadelphia Flyers game
Sunday, Nov.26, they played "Been There Lately" as one of the "pump
up the fans" tunes during the game. JohnnyK says they have been using
"Welcome to the Jungle" for a long time, but this was the first time
he's heard solo SLASH at a Flyers game. The song sounded extremely good
through the sound system, and JohnnyK says he can only imagine what
it must sound like live. He's hoping to see SLASH and The Boys in Philly
soon. He'd like to see them open for Aerosmith this summer. Maybe SLASH
and Joe could jam a little.
Just a short note to bring this SLASH
interview on the web to your attention. Tomorrow, Wednesday, November 29,
SLASH will be interviewed by web station www.rocknrollstation.com. If
you have a question to ask SLASH, do it asap! The actual broadcast of
the interview will be this Sunday, December 3, at noon. It will be a
video/audio show, and you need Windows Media software. If you want to
send a question, the email address is:
Here are some reviews on the three shows
in California and Arizona. Pjassim saw SLASH for the first time
at 4th and B, and the show rocked. There was an awesome rendition
of "Serial Killer", and SLASH dedicated "Mr. Brownstone" to San
Diego as the audience went wild. The other GNR cover was "It's So
Easy", and from It's Five O'Clock Somewhere came "Beggars
& Hangers-on" which has to based, at least in part, on SLASH's
life as a celebrity. All in all, a stellar performance. Thanks for
the review!
The second review is from MDHite who says the show was great. Rod
was right on key with every song. SLASH rocked of course! Keri
is really opening up and filling the position better than Ryan
Roxie (we saw them at Cabo when Ryan was in the band). Johnny
and Keri have so much energy, that it's wonderful just to watch
them. Thanks! We agree with you on the Keri/Ryan swap. Keri now
seems like he has ALWAYS been in Snakepit.
At the Mason Jar, Spock31572 came out to see the show and pronounced
it a great one with the guys playing 2 hours. The only disappointment
was that SLASH and the band got into the bus and never did come out.
Spock31572 had a Les Paul to be signed, and it did get signed by SLASH,
but SLASH stayed on the bus. There were a lot of people after the show
walking away carrying things they didn't get signed. Was this the band's cold
or did they have to get on their way to California or...? SLASH always
tries to be available, but sometimes he just can't.
There was a major complaint about the Galaxy Theatre Show. Clement said
that Snakepit rocked, but the venue SUCKED! The crowd was mellow, and it
wasn't a sellout although it was fairly well packed. Fans up front were
really behaving well, not grabbing the band or their instruments. During
the opening band, people took photos, used camcorders etc. Just before
Snakepit came on, Security started warning people to put those things
away. Those who didn't had their things confiscated. Clement had a minidisk
taken and Security took him outside, interrogated and threatened him.
SLASH, help! SLASH doesn't care about photos and tapers, so this is some
strange policy of the Galaxy. Clement would like Snakepit to boycott the
Galaxy in the future. Sounds reasonable. Thanks, Clement.
Kim sent us a great article from the UK publication, Metal Hammer.
The article is a good one, so we thought you might want to read it all. Click
on the magazine cover, Page 1, then Page 2, to read another interview with SLASH.
Thanks, Kim!
Page 1
Page 2
Since Snakepit will be leaving for the UK November 30 (or so we've
been told), we want to remind the UK of two television appearances by
the top hatted one. This Saturday watch for SLASH on a program called
cd:uk which appears on Saturday mornings on ITV. Craig sent this to us
saying this is a program for the younger kids. ?? Maybe the kids will
interview SLASH. The first question will be...what about a reunion!
Also, James and Graham say that SLASH or Snakepit will be appearing
on SMTV Live. This program airs from 9:25 am to 1:30 pm on ITV. It will
air Sunday, December 15. This sounds very strange. Has SLASH ever gotten
up that early?? And kids??? We expect a full report on the new Captain
Snake show.
Here's one last article for you to check out. This was sent by Marios,
written by Neil Weiss in LA. The article is about the GNR Reunion
possibilities and is yet another interview with SLASH! Thanks, Marios.
Tonight SLASH's Snakepit plays The Mason Jar in Phoenix, Arizona. The
show has been sold out for sometime as the venue holds just 500. If
you're looking for something to do tonight, and you don't have a
ticket, why not go over and hang outside? SLASH fans have been known
to climb on each other or cars or trash cans to get up and see in
windows! SLASH has the band playing so f*ckin' loud you can get a
fairly decent audio show outside! Set your video cam and tape recorder
on the window ledge, and you're set. SLASH and the boys are interested
in what you thought of the 4th and B show last night as well as this
one. The Sunday one, too! Send show reviews to the SLASH page at
webmaster@snakepit.org, and we'll post them right here for everyone
to read! Thanks!
We have a report from longtime fan Olav who saw Snakepit last night
at 4th and B. Olav said the band played about 2hours! For those of
us who saw the 30-40 minute shows with AC/DC this seems like heaven.
The venue was not sold out, but about 800 fans were there. Olav is
originally from Norway, and he'd like to know what's with the US
promoters. It does seem that US promoters are basically laid back.
SLASH said the backstage area was very small, so they came out to
see the fans after the show right in the venue. First, Keri and Rod
came out with Matt, and SLASH and Johnny came later. During "Ain't
Life Grand", they had musicians playing sax, trumpet and another (Olav
wasn't sure of the English word for this one). The band did a cool
version of "Mean Bone" with a 5 minute blues intro! Olav says he took
a lot of pictures which he promises to send as soon as he can round
up the cash. And from his message, it sounds like Olav will be at the
Santa Ana show, so look for our Norwegian friend if you are there,too.
Thanks, Olav!
We've heard a rumor that "Mean Bone" is out as a promo single.
Another rumor is that "Been There Lately" will be released as a
regular (non-promo) single, UK-only in January. SLASH couldn't
confirm these as yet, so we'll have to wait and see. We ought to
know something very soon. UK people...watch for an announcement!
US fans would be happy to get a special something soon. Of
course, the US DOES have the band living there! But SLASH in particular
is more of a citizen of the world than any one country.
Finally, we'd like to pass on some information on Snakepit's
Swedish shows from Jarmo. On Dec. 8, the venue is Karen Gothernburg (ages 18+).
Tickets: call Bengans in Gothenburg (031-242400). Tickets are 230 SEK.
For 70 SEK, they can mail tickets. On Dec. 9, the venue is Klubben
Stockholm. The tickets are on sale at www.biljett.se for 240 SEK.
Thanks, Jarmo! Jarmo will be at the Gothenburg show along with SLASH,
Keri, Matt, Rod, Johnny, and lots of fans.
We spoke to SLASH briefly as he was
getting ready to leave for San Diego and the show at 4th and B
tonight. He said the whole band has colds right now, but nothing
serious enough to put the 'pit out of action. Ron's voice is solid!
They are looking forward to a big crowd tonight and one Sunday at
the Galaxy in Santa Ana. After that, they'll be rehearsing and wrapping up their
US lives for the European tour.
We asked SLASH about backstage passes
and meeting fans. He said he doesn't get involved with passes because
he is very focused on the show that day. The passes usually just go to
family, friends, media and record label people, but a fan or two sometimes
manages to get one. SLASH said he would love to meet people after the
show at the bus or the hotel, but so much depends on whether they have
to get moving to the next town or not.
If you're in a local band