Don’t let anyone lie to you, kids: Smoking makes you cool. Cool like Slash. (Photo by Scott Harrison)

Slash stepped up Saturday for the launch of Bottle Rock It, the new poolside concert series at Red Rock Resort wherein wine, rock and environmentalism all come together. Really, though, just the wine and rock is plenty. Anything else seems like overkill.

The Velvet Revolver, Guns ‘n’ Roses and Snakepit guitarist brought Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains, Jason Bonham and Royston Langdon of Spacehog along for the show. The quartet also stopped by to take in Katt Williams’ act at The Pearl inside The Palms. We weren’t actually sure Jerry Cantrell ever smiled, so the news comes as much of a surprise to you as it does to us. It’s not like Alice in Chains ever did a video featuring a creepy monk with his eyes stitched together like upholstery or anything.

Slash delivered a slew of classics, performing the blues standard “Born Under a Bad Sign,” Steppenwolf’s “Pusherman” and BB King’s “The Thrill is Gone” before bringing up Jason Bonham for “Bring it on Home,” which Led Zeppelin covered on their second album.

Spacehog’s Royston Langdon then jumped on stage for David Bowie’s “Suffragette City.” Then came Jimi Hendrix’s “Stone Free,” Appetite for Destruction classic “It’s So Easy,” and Spacehog’s breakthrough hit “In the Meantime.”

Jerry Cantrell came up for Alice in Chains’ “Rooster,” followed by a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here.” Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction made a surprise appearance to belt out Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” with a full glass of Bordeaux in his hand, then they did a version of “Mountain Song” and “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” before bringing Cantrell back on the stage to rock Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.”

This coming Saturday’s show features Farrell, who’d like to remind you that we’d make great pets.

Here’s Slash with sometime-Guns keyboard player Teddy Andreadis doing “Always on the Run,” written by Slash, originally recorded by Lenny Kravitz and influenced enough by Joe Perry that it appears on the the new Guitar Hero: Aerosmith game.

By Jason Scavone

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