On Tuesday, July 16, 2024 Slash took us on a tour of Blues roots from 1920s Mississippi Delta to Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s electrified sound that would later give us rock ‘n’ roll (and punk) and sprout other branches like folk, country, funk, hip-hop and R&B. Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre provided the perfect portal for the mad hatter himself, to usher us down the musical rabbit hole that is the Blues.
Slash’s S.E.R.P.E.N.T. festival, which stands for Solidarity, Engagement, Restore, Peace, Equality, N’ Tolerance, brought fans together to celebrate the spirit of the Blues and support marginalized communities. A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales goes to The Equal Justice Initiative, Know Your Rights Camp, The Greenlining Institute, and War Child.
Jackie Venson started the celebration with a modern take on the Blues with “Keep On,” a disco-delic rhythm and blues tempo interspersed with electrified guitar riffs. With Rodney Hyder on drums and Venson’s guitar magic, the duo delivered a big sound. On “Next Life” she again blended psychedelic disco, funk, and R&B into a fresh mix while her wailing guitar kept us close to her musical origins. For me, the standout number, “Rollin’ On,” oozed old-school blues.
Venson is an innovative artist modernizing and reinterpreting blues music for a new generation. She ended her lively five-song set with “Always Free” leaving the sun-soaked audience wanting more.
Samantha Fish continued the musical romp and shifted directly into fourth gear with “Kick Out The Jams,” a homage to the late ‘60s band MC5, a precursor to punk rock. She grabbed her cigar box guitar and thrilled us with her original composition, “Bullet Proof.” Fish comes from Kansas City and now hails from New Orleans, but her musical style is a modernized take on the countryfied offshoot of Delta Blues known as Mississippi Hill Country Blues. Regardless of the origin, her stage presence and guitar mastery is pleasingly hypnotic. She breathed new life into early ‘60s soul with “Somebody’s Always Trying.” Slash joined her on stage for her final mesmerizing number “I Put a Spell on You.” Her electrified four-song, 30-minute thrill-ride of a set ended much too soon.
Keb’ Mo’ is a living link to the seminal Delta Blues that traveled up the Mississippi River and across the expanse of America. His multi-Grammy-winning post-modern blues style crossed many sub-genre tributaries. He started his nine-song set with “Somebody Hurt You” before funkin’ it up with “Government Cheese.” For me, the highlight of his remarkable set came when he grabbed his shiny National resonator guitar and harmonica and did some fine old-style blues pickin’ on “Suitcase,” “Am I Wrong” and “She Just Wants to Dance.” Accompanied by a full band, Keb’ Mo’ blended the sounds of struggle from the rural South of the 1920s with the urban beats of injustice today. He ended his set with “I Remember You.”
The show traveled full circle: from the modern style of Jackie Venson to Samantha Fish’s electrified middle, and Keb’ Mo’s blend of the old and new. Slash and his band brought us home. They tackled Bukka White’s 1940 Delta Blues classic “Parchman Farm Blues.” Their rendition was full-throttle rock ‘n’ roll with keyboardist Teddy “Zig Zag” Andreadis taking lead vocal.
Slash just released a remarkable new album Orgy of the Damned. On this project, he reworks a dozen blues and rock classics into his musical style (with a great selection of guest vocalists). The new album is a perfect vehicle for this festival. Slash gave us 10 of the album’s 12 songs starting with Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor,” a Chicago Blues standard. For this show Tash Neal sang lead vocals while accompanying Slash on the driving guitar riffs. I really liked their rendition of “Papa Was A Rolling Stone,” with Neal on lead vocals and “The Pusher” featuring Andreadis on vocals. Slash really showed off his blues guitar skills on “Stormy Monday.” Though I must note on the new record Beth Hart provides the vocals for the remake. At the Garden Andreadis took lead vocals and he’s no Beth Hart, but did a fine job nevertheless.
They ended their robust 13-song rockin’ blues set with their rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s “Stone Free” and encored with an electrified version of Dylan’s folk classic “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry.”
Slash put together a fine crew to celebrate the Blues (and all the other genres that grew from its seed). It truly was a music festival packed into a perfect evening at the Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre. And as always the sound crew did an amazing job.
As a fun post-script, my wife and I left for Denver the following morning and we ended up meeting Jackie Venson, her drummer Rodney Hyder, and their team at the airport as they were boarding the same flight to Denver, the next stop on their tour. I’d love to catch Venson again at an intimate venue like The State Room. I already have tickets to see Samantha Fish later this month in Phoenix on her headlining tour. You can never get too much of a good thing.
Who: Slash, Keb’ Mo’, Samantha Fish, and Jackie Venson
What: Slash S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival: A Celebration of the Blues
Where: Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre
When: Tuesday, July 16, 2024
Info: https://redbuttegarden.org/concerts/
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