Concert Review: Guns N’ Roses (Mumbai, India)

Not loud enough, but still the coolest band on the planet.

Pic taken from the Internet.

Slash would have looked great standing next to Axl Rose on that stage, but the world isn’t always perfect, and the chain-smoking guitarist whose face is always partially hidden by his curly hair wasn’t missed for more than a couple of minutes. The three guitarists who now wield the axes for GN’R are fabulous showmen, and all of the gentlemen backing Mr. Rose at MMRDA Grounds, Bandra-Kurla Complex last night displayed at every given opportunity why they belong to the legendary rock band. Axl Rose – the highlight and the delight of the evening – went through over a dozen costume changes (what a collection of hats!) and yowled his way through the three-hour set from the band’s fantastic discography. Most of the people were mighty pleased (and got their money’s worth) as Guns N’ Roses played all the hits. I was thrilled to see (hear) William Axl Rose hit the high notes and sway to the music in his typical way, and to watch the rest of the band seriously rocking it out on their “Appetite For Democracy” tour. The best thing about GN’R‘s show was that it was unhurried; the band was relaxed and seemed genuinely happy to be there: Guns N’ Roses – the coolest band on earth – performed in Mumbai (Bombay!) last night and enjoyed it greatly. The sound should have been much louder and should have engulfed us, but it could be that we were standing in the wrong places in our efforts to get a clear view of the band. The setlist is the wrong thing to discuss, because even though GN’R played most of the hits, there are at least five eight twelve fifteen other songs I would have loved to hear them play. But I saw the rock star of rock stars last night; the frontman of the band that made me fall in love with heavy, guitar-driven music; a band so effortlessly cool that I took up smoking and drinking only because they made it look that good. And I’ll even say that after more than a decade of attending shows and watching countless performances, the Guns N’ Roses show in my city was the first ‘rock concert’ I experienced.

Music Review: Guns N’ Roses – Chinese Democracy

Music Review: Slash – Apocalyptic Love (2012)

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Music Review: Slash – Apocalyptic Love

I can’t believe how much like GN’R Apocalyptic Love sounds. Slash has gotten himself a vocalist who sings exactly like Axl Rose. Myles Kennedy does everything Axl would do, and if he had Axl’s voice, you would hear me clapping and whistling, because it’s Rose’s yowling I want to hear over Slash’s riffs. The riffs are good, by the way – and Apocalyptic Love starts off sounding like Appetite For Destruction and turns into Use Your Illusion III midway. But Axl’s not here. Axl’s busy fucking around with those other guitar hotshots, stretching his idea of Guns N’ Roses. No complaints about Myles Kennedy though. He’s got Axl’s style and sings really well, and I can’t say I want him to sing any other way. No, that’s not true… I’m just fooling myself.

When I reviewed GN’R‘s Chinese Democracy, I admitted at some point that I didn’t miss Slash at all. Guns N’ Roses did everything right on Chinese Democracy: Axl wore his attitude and wrote great lyrics and sang like a dream as was expected of him, and the other dudes did just like the big boss had instructed them to. But listening to all these riffs and solos on Apocalyptic Love, I’m once again slapped with the realization that the most rocking rock n’ roll band ever was built by Axl Rose and Slash, with those other cool guys Izzy Stradlin, Dizzy Reed, Gilby Clarke, Matt Sorum and Steven Adler.

I don’t even know why I’m writing this review. There’s nothing to say about Slash‘s “Apocalyptic Love” except that it’s GN’R without Axl Rose. How much of a difference Axl’s presence would have made here is for the listener to imagine: the songs would have a lot more energy – the combination of Axl and Slash would make the songs pumping – hell, they’d be electrifying – given Axl’s inability to control his madness and Slash’s dazzling guitar-playing. I’m just being terribly unfair to Slash and Myles, but Guns N’ Roses was the first rock band I fell in love with. Also, after almost 10 years of being in a band (today is 9 years) I can finally understand why two individuals who made magic together might not be able to stand the sight or even a mention of each other.

It’s very saddening to hear a man who doesn’t sound like Axl Rose sing like Axl Rose over Slash’s licks. As a fan of GN’R, I find it very depressing and want Myles Kennedy (yeah, I know he’s famous, but fuck you) to make an effort to sing like somebody other than Axl Rose, so that I can listen to Slash’s solo work without being reminded all the time how much I miss Guns N’ Roses. Listen to Apocalyptic Love and tell me it doesn’t remind you of and make you miss the world’s coolest rock n’ roll band.

RATING: 3.5/5