Members of a 30,000 capacity audience at Autism Rocks Arena on Friday night rolled their shoulders and cracked their backs in recovery after Guns N’ Roses played an almost three-hour set in Dubai. Yet somehow Slash, who had just played a song with the guitar held behind his head, still had energy to do a handstand once they were done. These guys are unstoppable.
The band was dressed in their instantly recognisable combinations of plaid, ripped jeans, bandannas, sunglasses and top hats. They arrived perfectly on time despite a traffic jam that had some of their fans still waiting outside. There was an accident on route to the gig that was going to turn the band’s 30-minute journey into a three-and-a-half hour one, so they went off-roading and got stuck in the sand for the “real Dubai experience”, according to frontman Axl Rose.
This tour marks the first time since 1993 that he and Slash have performed together. After an infamous falling out decades ago, Rose said that a Guns N’ Roses reunion would happen “not in this lifetime” — a phrase that has now been cheekily re-appropriated as the name of the tour.
Seeing them in top form on Friday night (the line-up was completed by Richard Fortus, Frank Ferrer, Dizzy Reed and Melissa Reese), you would’ve forgiven them their past transgressions.
The band powered through, in no particular order, It’s So Easy, Double Talkin’ Jive, Better, Estranged, Live and Let Die, Rocket Queen, You Could Be Mine, You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory (McKagan’s cover of Johnny Thunders), Coma, Nightrain and the sadly still relevant Civil War.
They got the more obscure songs out of the way in the first half of the gig (the acoustics sounded temporarily blown out at the start), but the second half of the gig was untouchable.
Rose, who occasionally leaned an elbow on Slash’s shoulder while he played, introduced his on-again-off-again friend as having come “from the depths of the unknown”. This, right before Slash launched into a mind-boggling seven-minute intro to one of the band’s most famous hits, Sweet Child O’ Mine.
Other songs that got the audience to lose their minds: Welcome to the Jungle, November Rain, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door and set-closer Paradise City (accompanied by fireworks).
A personal highlight was when the band did This I Love, a rare stripped-down ballad that showed off their more melodic vulnerability. Slash’s wailing guitar and Reed’s dreamlike piano supported the star of the song, Rose’s chilling voice.
A roar erupted when they took their final bow just before midnight, making it clear the night was a success. Yes, the guys have naturally grown older and yes, the years of hard rock ’n roll living have made their mark, but if this show was anything to go by, they’ve still got barrels of energy to spare.
