Guns n Roses brought their first ever India tour to the city of Mumbai on the 9th of December and I am glad to have been a part of it! Frankly, I didn't have very high expectations from them as I really would miss Slash!
Finally the 9th was here and I reached the venue at around 3.30, expecting it to be really crowded. The last time i'd gone to a concert was when Metallica had come down to Bangalore. Seeing the crowd out here in Mumbai, I was clearly stunned! The low turn-out and the dolled up girls were enough for me to form the opinion then that NO, I did not like it here.
Mumbai-based band, Goddess Gagged tried their level best to get the crowd going, but they left me a tad disappointed. Thinking it could have been due to my non-exposure to their music, I looked around and found others agreeing with me as well. Guess it wasn't their name either. They actually turned out to be more like a modern progressive band with bad vocals. The only thing good about them was their bassist. I really tried to like them, but ahh ahh.. mee no likes! And I guess I wasn’t alone here. Majority seemed bored! Was it the toofan ke pehle ki shanti? I was hoping it was…
Moving on, let me warn you, if you didn't like the show after, you shouldn't be reading further... The slow, boring, page 3 atmosphere, suddenly lit up at 7 pm when the lights went out and they appeared one by one with their intro.
Was starting with ‘Chinese Democracy’, the title song of the latest album, a good idea? I think yes. Everybody went in an uproar to see mainly Axl Rose right there!
Now comes the fun part - when they started off with ‘Welcome To The Jungle’. The quality for the concert was set. It kept getting better with all the classics and covers sung. If you'd checked out their age, you would have been shocked to see the energy they emitted on the stage. Just like 18 year olds! They did all they could to give us a night to remember deprived of The Man – Slash. They pretty much got it right with their set-list though. With Songs like Catcher in the Rye, Sweet Child of mine, Civil War and November Rain the mood was set. Apart from their originals, they had a few covers like ‘Live and Let die’ and ‘Another brick in the wall’ where Axl himself was on the piano.
What pleased me most were the solos where they tried their best to fill in the shoes left empty by Slash. The guitarists, Ron – Bumblefoot – Thal and DJ Ashba really had me glued to their music when they took the crowd by a full swing. The naïve ones started moving here and there when the solos were too much for them to digest, I exhaustively enjoyed them.
I am more than happy with the solos as it brought ahead their talent to people who had no clue of these amazing musicians. Not forgetting Richard Fortus who had an amazing solo, but I completely fell in love with Ron Bumblefoot. Though James (Metallica) still remains my first love .. Sigh… The feel and the energy that Ron brought in to the entire show was truly exceptional.
The sound, the lights and the colors, all added to the overall craziness of the evening. Talking about Axl Rose, his implausible act left me spell bound. A lot of people felt he was too old now. But dude! Playing nonstop for 3 hours, with that energy, is no joke! Full Power! You’ll read a lot of people criticizing him as old and boring, but he is still The Axl Rose.
I am just glad I was witness to him, performing live, once in my life. Ohh, did anyone notice the number of times Axl changed his jacket? Each one suited the mood of the song. As we neared the end, what the crowd eagerly awaited for now was ‘Patience’ and ‘Paradise City’. Here they start the song and there goes off a massive shot of red confetti. It was a scene to witness and cherish. As the clock struck 10, the sound was gone. Mute. All of them came to center stage and took a bow and thanked us.
I don’t know if it was your money’s worth or you were left disappointed. I am elated by the fact that I witnessed this old band (changed somehow). I can still hear the solos, feel the sway of ‘November Rain’ and the pain of head banging to ‘Paradise City’
Keep Rocking! And remember, always listen to Good Music \m/
Finally the 9th was here and I reached the venue at around 3.30, expecting it to be really crowded. The last time i'd gone to a concert was when Metallica had come down to Bangalore. Seeing the crowd out here in Mumbai, I was clearly stunned! The low turn-out and the dolled up girls were enough for me to form the opinion then that NO, I did not like it here.
Mumbai-based band, Goddess Gagged tried their level best to get the crowd going, but they left me a tad disappointed. Thinking it could have been due to my non-exposure to their music, I looked around and found others agreeing with me as well. Guess it wasn't their name either. They actually turned out to be more like a modern progressive band with bad vocals. The only thing good about them was their bassist. I really tried to like them, but ahh ahh.. mee no likes! And I guess I wasn’t alone here. Majority seemed bored! Was it the toofan ke pehle ki shanti? I was hoping it was…
Moving on, let me warn you, if you didn't like the show after, you shouldn't be reading further... The slow, boring, page 3 atmosphere, suddenly lit up at 7 pm when the lights went out and they appeared one by one with their intro.
Was starting with ‘Chinese Democracy’, the title song of the latest album, a good idea? I think yes. Everybody went in an uproar to see mainly Axl Rose right there!
Now comes the fun part - when they started off with ‘Welcome To The Jungle’. The quality for the concert was set. It kept getting better with all the classics and covers sung. If you'd checked out their age, you would have been shocked to see the energy they emitted on the stage. Just like 18 year olds! They did all they could to give us a night to remember deprived of The Man – Slash. They pretty much got it right with their set-list though. With Songs like Catcher in the Rye, Sweet Child of mine, Civil War and November Rain the mood was set. Apart from their originals, they had a few covers like ‘Live and Let die’ and ‘Another brick in the wall’ where Axl himself was on the piano.
What pleased me most were the solos where they tried their best to fill in the shoes left empty by Slash. The guitarists, Ron – Bumblefoot – Thal and DJ Ashba really had me glued to their music when they took the crowd by a full swing. The naïve ones started moving here and there when the solos were too much for them to digest, I exhaustively enjoyed them.
I am more than happy with the solos as it brought ahead their talent to people who had no clue of these amazing musicians. Not forgetting Richard Fortus who had an amazing solo, but I completely fell in love with Ron Bumblefoot. Though James (Metallica) still remains my first love .. Sigh… The feel and the energy that Ron brought in to the entire show was truly exceptional.
The sound, the lights and the colors, all added to the overall craziness of the evening. Talking about Axl Rose, his implausible act left me spell bound. A lot of people felt he was too old now. But dude! Playing nonstop for 3 hours, with that energy, is no joke! Full Power! You’ll read a lot of people criticizing him as old and boring, but he is still The Axl Rose.
I am just glad I was witness to him, performing live, once in my life. Ohh, did anyone notice the number of times Axl changed his jacket? Each one suited the mood of the song. As we neared the end, what the crowd eagerly awaited for now was ‘Patience’ and ‘Paradise City’. Here they start the song and there goes off a massive shot of red confetti. It was a scene to witness and cherish. As the clock struck 10, the sound was gone. Mute. All of them came to center stage and took a bow and thanked us.
I don’t know if it was your money’s worth or you were left disappointed. I am elated by the fact that I witnessed this old band (changed somehow). I can still hear the solos, feel the sway of ‘November Rain’ and the pain of head banging to ‘Paradise City’
Keep Rocking! And remember, always listen to Good Music \m/
