Brisbane fans fire up for the Gunners
Wed 11 July 2007
Gail Loader, Journalism
Fans had been waiting a long time for hard rockers Guns ‘n’ Roses to perform at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre recently as part of their Chinese Democracy world tour.
Rock legends in the 1980s, the Gunners and support group Sebastian Bach had not rocked Brisbane’s world since the early ‘90s.
Singer Sebastian Bach, of the band of the same name, said that between the two bands they had waited about 30 years to play the Sunshine State.
Warming up the crowds last Wednesday for the North American bands was aging Aussie rockers Rose Tattoo.
Though Axl Rose is the only original member of Guns ‘n’ Roses still playing 22 years after the band was formed, this did not stop the band from performing all the ‘Gunners’ original hits.
But even die-hard fans did not seem to appreciate the Gunners’ new songs with the audience only getting fired up for their classic ‘80s songs including the opening number Welcome to the Jungle which had the sell-out crowd on its feet.
The fireworks, fire and light show was spectacular, but sound issues detracted from an otherwise very entertaining concert.
A tinny sound, not unlike feedback, filtered through on certain tracks and the huge guitar sound often left singer Axl Rose struggling to be heard.
Axl showed glimpses of his former glory in his performance but his hard rocking lifestyle seems to have had an effect on his once powerful and unique voice.
He proudly announced to concertgoers that the band had partied until 8am after the first Brisbane concert and that he still felt massively hungover moments before this performance, wishing for a truck to run over his head.
The sound problems caused some of the Gunner’s newer songs to be compared to the whining of a swarm of electric mosquitos, massively amplified.
There was an incredible amount of hair tossing during Sebastian Bach’s performance and the band’s guitarists played with the full roundhouse style of arm swing, often popular with air guitarists.
Lead singer Sebastian Bach entertained fans, working up a sweat performing in a leather jacket and black leather pants so tight they defied the laws of physics.
His power ballads and rock anthems included the huge hit I Remember You and took the audience back to another era of music.
Among modern rock musicians, few performers can really compare with the power rock voices of the 1980s like Meatloaf, Bon Jovi and of course Guns ‘n’ Roses.
This was certainly not a show for children with the offensive language showing that singer Sebastian Bach had come full circle from his role as Jesus in the Broadway production of Jesus Christ Superstar.
Surprisingly he stopped midway through a song when a fight broke out in the mosh pit, verbally abused the offender and had him thrown out.
He also bemoaned the fact that fans did not purchase CDs any more but preferred to download music from the net.
The band has given up trying to fight the technology and recently released their latest, much mellower offering By Your Side onto their MySpace site.
The increased popularity of online music has been great for live music fans as it encourages the bands to tour more to make sure they are reaching their fan base, especially the lucrative youth market.
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