SSMF

The third annual Sunset Strip Music Festival (SSMF), set for Aug. 26-28, 2010, has announced 2010 honoree SLASH will perform with FERGIE and MYLES KENNEDY — two of the vocalists on Slash’s No. 1 album — during the Aug. 28 outdoor street festival. Organizers also announced COMMON, SEMI PRECIOUS WEAPONS, NEON TREES, BIG B, and STEEL PANTHER have been added to the street festival lineup.

They all join previously announced headliner The Smashing Pumpkins as the boulevard is closed to traffic between Doheny Drive and San Vicente Boulevard and transformed into a premier concert destination with outdoor stages, beer gardens, a VIP lounge, food trucks, interactive experiences and live performances within the venues during the day.

Multi-Grammy award winning musician and noted actor Common, who has spent his career pushing boundaries and taking listeners out of their comfort zones with his socially conscious words, will close the East outdoor stage. The street fest will also feature Semi Precious Weapons (whose appearance marks a break in their tour with Lady Gaga and a return to their Sunset Strip roots); Neon Trees (who “are excited to share the stage with such an amazing eclectic group of artists as well as have the time to become fans for the day”); Big B with special guests (known for his high caliber collaborations with guest performers, Big B will preview songs from his upcoming fifth studio album); and a larger than life performance by The Sunset Strip’s resident heavy metal band Steel Panther.

Additionally, a mix of more than 50 local and national artists — including John West, Vanaprasta, Tomorrows Bad Seeds,  Adler’s Appetite, The Binges, Ankla and Dirty Sweet — will perform within the venues during the Aug. 28 street fest date. Aug. 28 venue lineups include (more to be announced):

Whisky A Go-Go
Adler’s Appetite
Billy Boy On Poison
The Shrill 
Yeti 
Ankla 
Tornado Rider 
Forrest Day 
Sean Rex 
Soma  
Subliminal Trip 
Reason To Rebel 
Electra
Lost Patrol 
Acidic 
Desecrate

The Roxy Theatre
Tomorrows Bad Seeds
Zen Robbi
Nikki & Rich
John West
Andy Grammar
Wicker
New Kingdom
Juke Kartel

Cat Club
Oh No Not Stereo
The Dollies
Hillbilly Herald
Lonely Drunks Club
White Arrows
Rattlesnake Shake
HDR
Casper & The Bad Spirits
Dirty Sweet
Diamond Lane
Prohibition Rose
JD Bender
Cast Of Kings
Love And A .38
Lady Sinatra
The Binges
The Royal Highness

Key Club
Vanaprasta 
Volbeat
Dommin
Transfer
Blowing Up The Moon
(More TBA)

Individual venues have also started to announce their Friday, Aug. 27 lineups, which include WARNER DRIVE with Run Devil Run (Viper Room); P.O.D. with Static Pulse, Thick As Thieves, Slant, Asphalt Messiah and Sound Of Ugly (Whisky); and KIX (House of Blues).

The three-day fest kicks-off with a tribute to legendary guitarist Slash at the House of Blues on Aug. 26. Friday, Aug. 27 includes a Virgin America sponsored VIP cocktail party at the Andaz hotel prior to the venues hosting a full night of music. Again this year, the Viper Room will serve as the official media hub during the day of the street festival, with live remotes from 98.7fm and artist interviews.

Tickets are currently on sale via Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com/ssmf). A portion of all ticket sales benefit Los Angeles Youth Network (LAYN), a charity personally selected by honoree Slash. LAYN’s mission is to end homelessness, one kid at a time, by providing shelter, food and counseling for the abused, neglected and abandoned.

SSMF 2010’s proud supporting sponsors include Virgin America, V Australia, Jack Daniel’s, Ticketmaster, Vitaminwater, Gibson Guitar, 98.7fm, Andaz West Hollywood, Whole Foods West Hollywood, City of West Hollywood, West Hollywood Marketing & Visitors Bureau and Signature Creative. Street fest production provided by Swing House Hollywood.

2010 HONOREE SLASH BACKGROUND
Slash is widely considered one of the greatest rock guitar players of all time. His recent solo album SLASH topped the charts as the #1 rock album and #3 on Billboard Top 200 list in its first week of release. He has received countless accolades and awards including a 2007 star on the Hollywood Rock Walk alongside his idols Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix. An original member of iconic rock band Guns N’ Roses, Slash helped the band create signature sounds like the guitar riff of #1 hit “Sweet Child o’ Mine” and “Welcome To The Jungle.” The band dominated the 1980s and ‘90s music scene selling more than 100 million albums worldwide and ushered in a decade of hard charging rock music. After leaving the band, Slash went on to critical acclaim in his personal project Slash’s Snakepit, and global success with supergroup Velvet Revolver. He has been widely sought after by the biggest musicians of all time, performing with everyone from Michael Jackson to Stevie Wonder to Ray Charles. Slash is one of the marquee playable characters in Guitar Hero III, has two signature Gibson guitars in his name, and authored his own top-selling biography Slash in 2007. Slash’s contributions to rock will also be recognized in 2011 when the guitarist receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.