Slash flexes his muscle as the Brick shapes up

When Slash and Myles Kennedy came back for their encore at the Brick on Monday night, you knew they meant business. The legendary Guns N' Roses guitarist and his new singer both returned to the stage with their shirts off and their guns blazing. Slash, in particular, looked like he's been hitting the weight room the way he used to hit the pipe. It was a fitting finale for a 1¾-hour set that was at times chest-beatingly cheesy but certainly sounded muscular and fit.

Bouncing between his GNR, Velvet Revolver and Slash's Snakepit songs along with tunes from an album that lands next week, the newly inducted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and his new-ish band made a good case for all facets of the guitarist's 25-year legacy. Early in the set, Kennedy hit the high notes in "Rocket Queen" better than Axl Rose did at Target Center in November. Slash also used the "Appetite of Destruction" closer as the set-up for his longest and grimiest solo of the night. Later, the band played impressive, by-the-book versions of "Mr. Brownstone" and "Sweet Child o' Mine," and Kennedy didn't really have to worry about living up to Axl in the confetti-splattered encore version of "Paradise City" – the crowd did most of the singing. (Nope, no "Welcome to the Jungle.")

The one area where Kennedy's talent seemed questionable was in the Velvet Revolver songs. The Alter Bridge singer actually sounded too good in "Fall to Pieces," turning it into more of a power-ballad with his operatic, classic-metal-singer pitch, eschewing Scott Weiland's grungier, guttural approach. "Slither," however, was a showpiece for the entire five-piece band's mighty attack style, and it made for an impressive pre-encore finale. There was also a symbolic undertone to "Slither's" leave-it-all-behind lyrics, since Slash told the 93X-FM morning crew earlier in the day that he had no plans or intentions of reuniting with Weiland – despite Weiland's new claims he's going to write songs with his former Velvet Revolver mates. Stay tuned.

Monday's show was as much a test for the Brick as it was for Slash's new material. The new venue has been moving a lot of its bigger concerts to Myth nightclub and probably could have done so with this one, but things turned out just fine with a crowd under 1,500. It was packed, sure, but it was never impossible to find a view of the stage with a little effort getting through the crowd. The new TVs in the back and in the corners appeased those fans who didn't make the effort. One thing that has never been disputed at the Brick, its sound system and acoustics are impeccable. That alone makes it a preferable venue to its neighbor across the street, Epic, and to Roy Wilkins Auditorium.

You won't hear the best audio mix here, but this Youtube clip of "Night Train" from last night gives you an idea what the show was like.