I’ll be the first to admit that I really don’t know why I signed up to cover the show I did on Saturday. Maybe it was just because it was a bigger show. Maybe it was because of the free parking. Maybe it was just to add to my ever-growing “I can’t believe I actually had the opportunity to see this person live”. Regardless, there I was, at the beautiful Mystic Lake Casino Showroom in Prior Lake waiting for the one and only Slash to take the stage (yes, that Slash– with the top hat and curly hair).
Plush was the one and only opener on this sold-out show and, as soon as they kicked into their all-too-quick thirty-minute set, I was in love along with the rest of the audience. The all-female rock band had such an instant connection with the audience that it was quite amazing to watch. Based on the reactions happening in the audience around me, it seems like nobody quite knew what to expect from this four-piece band but that didn’t matter because everyone wanted so much more from Plush within the first couple of notes of their first track. They had this undeniable sense of power about this and also this feeling of being seasoned veterans on stage (although I came to find out that these women are young– like ridiculously young.
Plush’s music is very hard rock but with this certain edge to it that I just can not put my finger on even as I sit here listening to them this morning. There’s just something so smooth about vocalist Moriah Formica’s voice but it still very much has an aggressive edge to it. It’s really quite a feat that she pulls off vocally and it just needs to be heard. Overall, Plush’s music is a bit more just hard rock than I tend to go but that mixture of the stunning vocals with the amount of fun that the band was clearly having on stage was more than enough to have me sold on them. Plush’s set was only thirty minutes long but they could have played for much longer and I don’t think you would have gotten a single complaint from an audience member.
I don’t really feel the need to give you a huge long backstory on the legend that Slash is but, just in case you’re like my mother who claimed to have no idea who Slash is when I said that was the show I was covering, he is best known as the lead guitarist of Guns N’ Roses. His image is almost as legendary as his amazing guitar playing. To say he is a larger-than-life figure would be an understatement and, as mentioned, having the chance to see him live and without the flair of Guns N’ Roses was an absolute treat. Although he wasn’t on stage alone (he was joined by Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators but more on them later), the show definitely revolved around Slash. From his epic guitar solos to just the swagger that he presented on stage, it was all eyes on Slash the majority of the night. Although I’m not a guitar player nor would ever pretend to know anything about guitar playing, watching him power through the twenty-one song set was jaw-dropping. Whether or not you know anything about the mechanics of guitar playing, it’s easy to see the undeniable sense of talent that this man has.
The band supporting Slash (the show was actually billed as “Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators”) is definitely legendary as well. Myles Kennedy, the vocalist, is best known as the singer of Alter Bridge. Although I’ve never been an Alter Bridge fan, I know that that title holds some clout and, much like the legend of Slash being felt throughout the night, you could also feel the legend of Myles Kennedy and his amazing band. This pairing was not a surprise. Myles and Slash have been working together for over ten years and the way they blend together is flawless and perfect. Although the show was definitely about Slash, Myles and the rest of The Conspirators got the spotlight when they deserved it while fading into the background when needed. The balance that all of these musicians showed on stage was yet another highlight of Saturday night’s show.
The twenty-one-song set was full of originals from Slash and Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators but their cover of Elton John’s “Rocket Man” was definitely a highlight of the set for me. I can’t say that I’m surprised that there wasn’t a Guns N’ Roses cover but I think my heart was a little hurt that we didn’t get at least a taste of one of their legendary tracks. That being said, it wasn’t until I was leaving the show that Ir realized we didn’t get a Guns N’ Roses track. That just goes to show that Slash is so much more than that band and can absolutely hold his own.
All in all, Saturday’s show was not quite my normal cup of tea but, you know me, and know I will never pass up on a chance to see a legend live. I went from being one of the oldest people at the Yungblud show on Friday to one of the youngest at this show but I didn’t really mind. Watching people much older than me relive their youth and truly let loose as they sang and fist-pumped their way through this show was just the icing on the cake to the night.
