SimplyAbuDhabi X

W e live in an era of musical comebacks and some of the biggest bands of the 80s are reformed and taking us down memory lane. Guns n Roses accrued a vast global fan base in their day, as they were not quite heavy metal, yet could bring hard rock to the masses. And the masses were out in force at the du Arena on Yas Island in AbuDhabi, as ‘GnR’ performed as part of the duWorld Music Festival in association with Samsung. Infamous front man Axl Rose allayed fears about his notorious habit for coming on stage hours late, and came out just a quarter of an hour after the scheduled 9pm start. Rose is the only founding member of the group, and the original five-piece have grown to an eight-man line up. It’s the same members as when they last played Abu Dhabi in December 2010 and includes, DJ Ashba, Dizzy Reed, Tommy Stinson, Richard Fortus, Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal, Chris Pitman and Frank Ferrer. The 28-song show was a great success and the capacity crowd at the arena roared its approval at hearing all time classics such as ‘Sweet Child OMine’ and ‘Welcome to the Jungle’. The band also showcased a series of cover versions that read like an elite list of some of the century’s best-loved bands. The audience went crazy for Led Zeppelin’s ‘No Quarter’, Pink Floyd’s ‘Another Brick in the Wall’, the Bob Dylan classic ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’ and a pounding version of ‘The Seeker’ by The Who. One of the high points of the evening was another cover, this time it was the Paul McCartney penned classic, ‘Live and Let Die’, originally performed by Wings. Guns n Roses took advantage of the dramatic nature of this song and incorporated a fireworks extravaganza that went off in time to the music and thrilled the fans. He may be an aging rocker but Axl Rose still gave this performance 100 per cent, rallying his band members behind him as he ran from each end of the stage, screeching and hollering his clutch of classic songs amongst some newer, lesser known material. The energy was there as was the showmanship, including a bunch of costume changes and solo section at the piano to bring in the epic ballad ‘November Rain’. The guitarist DJ Ashba, who replaces Slash, also scored well with his solo performance, playing his own composition “Mi Amor’, Spanish for ‘My Love’. It will have been a daunting task to fill the shoes of Slash, but Ashba does it well and is popular with the audience as he interacts with the front rows, beckoning them to join in and sing along. The band play for almost two-and-a-half hours, with Axl Rose occasionally disappearing while the band indulges in extended jams and solos. They plough through the top tracks from their main albums, including ‘Chinese Democracy’, ‘Use Your Illusion I &II’ and of course the classic debut album ‘Appetite for Destruction’ that was released in 1987. Under a glowing moon the heat is really turned up for the encore, and they close the evening with the monumental hit ‘Paradise City’ – it couldn’t have been a more appropriate title for Abu Dhabi. 7 3 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I