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.