1997.05.30 - The Boston Globe - Slashing for WAAF

Transcript:
-----------------

Slashing for WAAF: The Mama Kin Music Hall is sadly being phased out. Look for video games, pool tables, and an expanded kitchen to creep in there in coming weeks, though music will remain in the front room. The Music Hall was rocking Wednesday in the last of three sold-out WAAF-sponsored nights to benefit homeless veterans. Nuno Bettencourt, formerly of Boston’s Extreme, headlined with a hectic hard-rock show in which his guitar pyrotechnics outshone his mixed-too-low vocals.

But the real treat was Slash, the former Guns N’ Roses axman who tore through a set of gleefully loud cover tunes (Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well,’’ B.B. King’s “The Thrill is Gone,’’ and Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” among them).

The group was called Slash’s Blues Ball and was “a full-on, wing-it band,” Slash said later. He also clarified why he’s no longer in G N’ R, saying that singer Axl Rose was headed in a more “techno-grunge” direction rather than the straight rock that Slash prefers.

“I just quietly walked away and told him, ‘When you want to do a rock ’n’ roll record, let me know,’ ” said Slash.