Brisbane has taken an absolute smashing in the last month with a number of huge bands headed to the city. Recently, however, one of the bigger bills arrived, with Guns ‘N’ Roses rocking into town accompanied by bearded blues rockers ZZ Top and Aussie legends Rose Tattoo.
Playing the Entertainment Centre shortly after KISS, Motley Crue and the Boss shook the building’s walls the week before, the group dubbed “the most dangerous band in the world” manage to pack out the centre despite scandals, changing line-ups and tribulations.
Kicking the night off are the self-proclaimed ‘foreplay band’ Rose Tattoo with “One Of The Boys”. As soon as the rockers appear and rip through their first song, it becomes immediately apparent that they haven’t missed a beat.
From the raw musicianship to the powerful vocals of frontman Angry Anderson, the ‘boys’ deliver a roaring opening set, complete with “Rock And Roll Is King” and “Rock And Roll Outlaw”. They might be getting on, but these five musicians show they still have what it takes, drinking wine from the bottle and getting the aging crowd to sing along to classics like “Bad Boy For Love” and “We Can’t Be Beaten”.
With the audience well and truly warmed up and filling the venue, iconic rockers ZZ Top strut onto the stage led by their fantastic beards, opening up their set with “Pincushion”. “Route 66” and “I Gotsta Get Paid” are included in a set that simply oozes cool. With only three people on stage, the band pump out a massive sound with driving guitar riffs and soulful solos from Billy Gibbons, slick and funky bass lines from Dusty Hill, and backbone drum beats from the non-bearded Frank Beard.
Songs like “Gimme All Your Lovin’”, “Beer Drinkers And Hellraisers” and “Sharp Dressed Man” take the crowd back in time before the fluffy guitars from the “Legs” video make an appearance for the song. Finishing up the set on “La Grange”, Gibbons and Hill may not move around with great speed and energy, but they do it in a way that just looks badass. From the lighting of Gibbons’ cigarette by his roadie to the band’s stage strutting, ZZ Top leave a lasting memory with the crowd.
As the final break of the night nears its end, the floor in the Entertainment Centre is now almost full. Lights go out and the atmosphere pumps up as one by one the current iteration of Guns N’ Roses arrive on stage and the opening riff of “Chinese Democracy” reverberates throughout the space. Seemingly determined to prove themselves to old school fans (and everyone else for that matter), they get off to a great start by following the opening number with a ménage a trois of Appetite For Destruction songs: “Welcome To The Jungle”, “It’s So Easy” and “Mr Brownstone”.
The first real break in the band’s set comes with a slow intro into “Estranged”, fans finally given a chance to catch their breath and take notice of a few things – including the fact that Axl has already run off stage numerous times for reasons unknown. “Better”, one of the few gems off the latest album, re-energises the crowd and leads them to “Rocket Queen”, another Appetite favourite. The crowd are then treated to one of the many instrumental solos of the night, followed by the popular “Live And Let Die” – also one of the many covers.
It is also at this point that it becomes unfortunately apparent that Axl, unlike the supporting frontmen before him, has lost a bit of his mojo from the good old days. The voice once argued as one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll instruments in the world is just not as strong as it used to be. Not able to hold notes for as long and finishing every song out of breath, it’s clear that Rose is struggling to keep up with the band.
However, whatever the show lacks in some departments, they make up in others. For example, surprising the punters by bringing Angry Anderson back on stage to perform “Nice Boys”, goes down very well. A couple of band introductions lead to another solo, this time from the second longest serving member of the band, Dizzy Reed. A couple more songs including “You Could Be Mine” and a mesmerizing guitar solo from DJ Ashba then lead the band into crowd favourite “Sweet Child O’ Mine”.
The sight of a piano being rolled onto stage gets people excited in anticipation of one of the greatest rock ballads of all time, but before that happens the band give a bit of Pink Floyd a go. But soon enough it is time for “November Rain”, leading everyone to sing along and raise their lighters in the air. That leads to “Don’t Cry” and a blistering rendition of “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”, which is pumped out full of jams, audience participation and Axl’s strongest vocals of the night. Even Billy Gibbons joins the band on guitar.
“Night Train” brings out the beloved cowbell, then acoustic guitars signal it’s time for a little “Patience”, before another cover in The Who’s “The Seeker”.
After an already long gig – people are sweaty, worn out and pretty well satisfied – there is still room for one more song … and what better song to finish proceedings with than “Paradise City”. As that opening riff begins, the crowd becomes frenzied. This is big. The drums kick in, the whistle goes off and every member of the band and audience is jumping.
Finishing with a bang and a lot of confetti after almost three hours, the band leave the stage and everyone very satisfied.
