Review: All Guns Blazing: Guns N’ Roses treat Adelaide to night of pure rock nostalgia
IT WAS the gig most Guns N’ Roses fans – if not the band itself – thought would never happen. Which made it all the more special for those of us who were there.
IT WAS the gig most Guns N’ Roses fans – if not the band itself – thought would never happen.
But as dusk loomed on an unusually cool February evening, the thousands of loyal GNR army members were soon welcomed to the jungle – and for the next two and a half hours thousands relived their rebellious teenage years.
Infamously erratic and unreliable in hitting the stage even remotely on time when the band was the hottest rock act on the globe, the Gunners strolled onto the stage at the northern end of Adelaide Oval bang on time - they may have even been a bit early for a change!
The simmering excitement whipped into a chorus of open-air karaoke as the opening chords of It’s So Easy boomed across the stadium and, doubtlessly, well into the suburbs.
Charging through a smattering of classic tracks from Lies through to the often-maligned Chinese Democracy, the intensity rose with each track from Appetite For Destruction, and an electric version of possibly the most politically-incorrect song in their catalogue, Used To Love Her.
Axl Rose’s trademark ripped jeans might have been a few sizes bigger than his heyday, but worked hard for his money throughout a hit-packed set lasting two and a half hours.
Adelaide fans previously settled for Axl’s Home Brand version of Guns N Roses – despite him being the only actual Gunner on stage – while the iconic Slash has toured the festival circuit doing the odd GNR cover along the way.
But reunited, the main duo performed their hearts out, with Slash taking over the “Eddie Betts pocket” and bouncing around the stage like a teenage rookie.
Support act Wolfmother helped warm the crowd - but few were paying much attention as the cauldron-like Adelaide Oval filled with loyal Gunners fans.
While fans were finally rewarded for their patience, the namesake ballad was a notable absentee from the setlist, and there was no sign of Angus Young – leaving the door open for the first rendition of the tour of Yesterdays.
Even the most jaded of the mostly Generation X crowd found their voice when November Rain rang out and the finale of Paradise City left most with the perfect end to a nostalgic, rocking night.