Slash smokes on stage during Velvet Revolver gig
In the present drive to denormalise smoking, and especially to cut down on the numbers of young people starting smoking, the actions of stars can have great significance, in terms of either promoting the idea of smoking as an unhealthy addiction, or promoting the idea of it as a glamourous habit.
So there was a bit of a furore last summer when the former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash broke the law by smoking on stage during a concert in Cardiff, especially as smoking in enclosed public spaces is banned in Wales, as it is now in the rest of the UK too.
Slash was doing a Velvet Revolver gig at the time, and he lit up a cigarette about halfway throught the set. Velvel Revolver is made up of three ex-Guns N’ Roses members, as well as the former Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland. Slash’s public image is very much based around the top hat that he always wears, and invariably smoking a cigarette.
Gavin Allen, the reporter who reviewed the concert for the South Wales Echo, said: “I don’t think anyone in the crowd minded and I didn’t hear anyone complain. It’s possible the fans didn’t realise it was illegal”.
Since the smoking ban in Wales was introduced, anyone caught smoking in smoke-free premises faces a £50 fixed penalty fine. Not only that but the manager of a smoke-free building can be fined a fixed penalty of up to £2,500 for failing to stop someone smoking.
For a lot of musicians, particularly jazz and rock musicians, for better or for worse, smoking can be part of their image and their act. It will be interesting to see how this changes with the continued denormalisation of smoking.
Filed under: Smoking and celebrities, Young people
