FIREWORKS
What
do glam rock stars and dolphins have in common? They could both be seen at Guns
n’ Roses’ concert in Ahoy Rotterdam this Monday.
Supporting
act are Rival Sons, the American blues-rock band who give away an amazing show
and offer the audience a long-haired men preview. They play for approximately
an hour and then we -- quite young and quite girly opposed to the other people at the concert: old bald
guys and people with farmer accents -- wait
for the main show to begin. Guns n’ Roses front man Axl Rose has made a hobby
of arriving late (one of the reasons Slash left the band), but not tonight. The
lights switch off and the fireworks start, literally: the audience is treated
to a full on rock show from the start.
The
visuals are a mix of political images, a nature film featuring, yes, dolphins
and odd, seemingly homemade videos of dramatic events. While performing sad
songs like Don’t Cry, the screens
show a blonde woman crying on her doorstep while her mascara runs down her
face. Rose and the band show us quite some visuals too: they wear extravagant
and colourful suede coats, big hats and sunglasses. In the middle of the
concert Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal pulls out a sparkly orange hat and the Dutch crowd
goes wild.
Although
the visuals are chaotic, the band’s concert is very well put-together and shows
the skills of Guns n’ Roses’ individual musical talent as well as how excellent
they perform together. Axl Rose still has that unique and raw voice and reaches
all his high notes easily, at the same time running around the stage as if he
didn’t turn fifty this February. Between songs all band members get a solo
moment in which they perform a song of their choice, varying from an amazing
piano version of The Who’s Baba O’Riley by
Dizzy Reed, to two really screeching rock ‘n roll guitar solos by Richard
Fortus and DJ Ashba, and Ron Thal’s punky Glad
To Be Here, a song he wrote for his band Bumblefoot.
Guns
n’ Roses played a three hour long set, including hits like Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door and Paradise City,
even though that meant they went on until after midnight. Ultimately, I had an
amazing evening and a growing appreciation for fireworks.
