Slash Trades the Black For Blues Once Again With Upcoming Live at the S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival Record

Why did the jazz musician keep touching the colourful paintings? He was just trying to feel the blues. I'm a dad now so I can get away with openers like this. Just when you thought top-hatted guitar legend Slash was taking a breather after dropping blues record Orgy of the Damned last year, the Guns N' Roses riff god is set to unleash another heavy slab of blues with upcoming live album Live at the S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival. This one's for the Slash fans who either discovered blues with the 2024 release, or simply loved seeing Slash and Blues go hand-in-hand.

That's right, before hearing anything new with Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, on 7 November the 60-year old will release a 15-track live release across multiple collectible formats, which also includes a concert film from the recording. The live event took place at the charitable S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival tour that Slash debuted across North America. For those playing at home, the name stands for Solidarity, Engagement, Restore, Peace, Equality, N' (and) Tolerance.

The glam-metal icon is joined by Orgy of the Damned musos Teddy 'ZigZag' Andreadis, Tash Neal, Johnny Griparic, and Michael Jerome - all noteworthy in their own right. They will soon be heard alongside Slash on this live spectacle recorded in Denver on 17 July, 2024. The setlist is packed with some goodies - and it's a mixed bag of sorts. You've got some live renditions from Orgy of the Damned but also an extra bunch of awesome blues covers, plus a little bonus original track titled 'Metal Chestnut'.

For a taste of the release, Slash has released Fleetwood Mac cover 'Oh Well' to feast your ears on. What a homage this is; the track sees magic happen when the song hits its infamous mid-point jam. The clean, acoustic-laced second half of the 1969 original is replaced by a roaring build-up where the man of the hour rips it up with a raw and improvisational torrent of riffs that wrestles with the notion of blues. He is the guitarist behind Guns N' Roses after all.

Written by Ricky Aarons