 7/30/2024 - Lewiston, New York - Today it is Tuesday in July and that historically means a show is to be had at Artpark and in a last minute decision I picked up a ticket to see Slash and his S.E.R.P.E.N.T Festival perform at Artpark's Amphitheater. The festival's name is an anagram for Solidarity, Engagement, Restore, Peace, Equality N' Tolerance. Good to see them promoting something positive and the ticket was only 30 bucks and Slash was going to play all blues to promote his latest album Orgy Of The Damned, which was all blues with special guest artists. Tonight Slash would have Robert Randolph, ZZ Ward and Keb' Mo' opening with some blues jams. I was there early enough to get a spot in the small line awaiting entry into Artpark and when the gates opened I secured my usual good spot behind the pay seats. The show was not a sellout and weather was a factor today as rain was in the forecast and would come down for part of this show. Robert Randolph opened the show and soon after the rains did come down during his set making it somewhat shortened and very wet. He did some good covers of I'm So Glad and Foxy Lady but again the rain made it difficult to enjoy. The rains appear to have ended and next up was ZZ Ward who did a good set of blues that included Dust My Broom and Cadillac Man. After a brief intermission Keb' Mo' and his band hit the stage and played a very good set. They opened with Somebody Hurt You and Keb' admitted to being buzzed and told the crowd he had been drinking all day, I say he was a little looser than normal. He and his band had good sound and played a nice jam on Suitcase and closed their set with a good rendition of I Remember You. After another brief intermission the headliner Slash hit the stage and absolutely wailed out an excellent blues set. Slash ripped thru classic blues songs like Howlin Wolf's Killing Floor, Booker T and the MG's Born Under A Bad Sign and T-Bone Walker's Stormy Monday. He did a nice cover of Fleetwood Mac's Oh Well in tribute to Peter Green and closed the set with a cover of Jimi Hendrix's Stone Free. Slash's performance was impressive and his band helped bring the nice extended jams on these blues classics. The crowd although not a sellout definitely enjoyed this show. They closed the show with a two song encore of It Takes a Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry and the finale of Shake Your Money Maker. This was really a good show and even though it rained overall well worth the trip and ticket price of 30 dollars. Thanks Artpark......Slideshow |
