Guns N' Roses, Korn, Shihad @Kwinana Motorplex, Perth(11/12/10)

Tue 14th Dec, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Guns N’ Roses is a legendary name in the hard rock landscape. Although there’s not much left of the original band, Axl Rose has kept the name alive and he brought the current incarnation of GnR to the Perth Motorplex on Saturday. And with all things considered he wasn’t too late on stage.

Walking into the venue it was clear it was going to be an elaborate exhibition. Shihad looked comfortable making use of the tri-pronged stage that allowed the musicians to salute each section of the crowd. The New Zealand outfit’s star may not fly as high as it once did but they still had a healthy following warming up to their late evening set. Vocalist Jon Toogood was already tapping into the nostalgic theme treating the followers to their turn of the millennium hits My Mind’s Sedate and Comfort Me. The fans were vocal and active, the openers were punctual and the amphitheatre terraces were already becoming a montage of black shirts and flannelette.

Korn have enough achievements in their own right, having them open for Guns N’ Roses was a recipe for a massive night. Another band arguably past their prime, at least as far as commercial success goes; they are by no means past putting on a monstrous performance. The crowd erupted at the unveiling of vocalist Jonathan Davis’ H.R. Giger designed signature microphone stand. Ray Luzier played the first few beats of 4 U, bounced his drumstick into the air, caught it and signalled the cue for the thunderous tones of original members James “Munky” Shaffer on guitar and the bass of Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu.

Korn blasted their seminal Nu-Metal classics throughout the Motorplex. The drag-strips now swarming with flying dreadlocks as the sun set, the light show gradually becoming visible as they worked Queen’s We Will Rock You, Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 and Metallica’s One in amongst their own work; Freak On A Leash, the nursery rhyme littered Shoots and Ladders and the rapturously greeted finale Got The Life. Clearly not a drama school scholar, Davis turned his back to the audience between songs, choosing to use a more ethereal mode of thanking the audience. Playing for 70 minutes they’d already provided the crowd with a memorable rock show, complete with drum solo, and the main act was still an indeterminate amount of time away.

Indeed the impatience was already beginning to build in the audience. Screams of “We want Axl!” and “Where are ya, Axl?” and “Axl yer farkin’ pussy!” could be heard before Korn even had a chance to exit the stage. For three quarters of an hour the only entertainment would be the occasional forcible removal of overzealous payers. Cheers went up as one such example did the inchworm air-hump while four security guards carried him out a limb a piece.

The stage not in readiness until 25 minutes after the scheduled start time, it was another 20 minutes (it could be much worse) before the lights dimmed and sirens signalled the arrival of one of rock’s biggest names.

Guns N’ Roses.

But it was not a familiar face standing on the platform that rose around, behind and above the drum kit. It was that of DJ Ashba, perhaps describable as a weak imitation of legendary GnR guitarist Slash, from the top hat to the Les Paul. And the riff was not as iconic either. It was that of Chinese Democracy, the opening track from the album of the same name, and the album they are still touring two years after its release.

Excitement spilled forth from the 10,000 strong crowd when the man himself, the sole remaining original member, W. Axl Rose entered the stage. Not quite the striking figure he cast circa 1992, the face a bit podgy, the hair a bit wiry, the handlebar moustache and Stetson style hat creating a sad cowboy effect. But he was still in possession of the one thing that mattered. The voice.

Love it or hate it that voice was a large part of what separated Guns N’ Roses from the rest of the rock bands of the 80’s and 90’s. When the second song started, Welcome to the Jungle, everything fell into place. Almost. It sounded right, but didn’t quite feel that way. Unfortunately that voice was connected to that person and from all reports it was his antics that led to the departure of the rest of the original band, and with them the chemistry they carried on stage.

Rose has cobbled together a more than capable bunch of musicians, as would be showcased in the five solo sections (three guitar and two piano), all players comfortable in the rock arena setting. Unfortunately all the pyrotechnics in the world (most of which were used at some point) couldn’t mask the fact they lacked the bond of a band who has fought for it. Seeing them perform to the point of mimicry – solos, cigarettes and intonation – the classics from Guns N’ Roses debut album Appetite For Destruction would be up to the viewers discretion as to how it would be digested; bitterly – if focusing on what once was. Take the show on its own merit however and it was pretty sweet.

The first half of the set was a healthy mix of old and new but after Street of Dreams, which was reinvigorated when unbesmirched by auto-tune (for those who have heard the studio version), it was solid Guns N’ Roses gold thereafter. Those who took part in the mass exodus that followed Sweet Child O’ Mine may have just witnessed the best crowd karaoke performance but they missed out on other chorus inspiring efforts, the likes of November Rain and Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (which also inspired the adornment of Ashba’s guitar neck with female undergarments) and their own take on Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall Part 2.

Those that stayed were treated to the spectrum of platinum era Guns N’ Roses, the dirt and rawness of Nightrain and the soft rock, power ballad Don’t Cry bookmarked the encore break. A relatively relaxed and fairly jovial Rose treated the still strong Perth crowd to a song they “haven’t done in fuckin’ ages”, Patience, the only city on the Australian leg of the tour to hear it.

A monumental closer Paradise City went off like it was 1989. Red ticker tape and silver streamers shot over the audience from the back and from the front, the wind in the open air venue causing the red paper cloud to flow over the furiously performing band as fire and fireworks encompassed them. Paradise City’s anthemic chorus encouraging the enraptured fans to find their last reserves of energy to help Guns N’ Roses end their 2010 tour in style.