el guapo wrote
I am still buzzing from the most awesome night on Saturday. A couple of times I had to remind myself I wasn't just watching a recording. Those guys were RIGHT THERE, playing the songs that made me want to play guitar. Just the most mindblowing show.
Matt Sorum - beast behind the kit. BEAST.
Ed Roland - really ripped the bottom out of his "old man" vibe when he did a certain Velvet Revolver song: scorcher!
Dave Kushner - didn't realise what a monster player he is, and wickedly cool.
Gilbey Clarke - just one cool, kick-ass dude, nice player, pretty decent singer too!
Joe Elliot - still sounds great, and his versions of two 70s classics from "other" bands were fantastic.
Myles Kennedy - what a rock god. My wife has developed a monster crush on him, and I can't even dislike him slightly for it! He's got all the rock frontman qualities without seeming like a douche.
Glenn Hughes - one freaky little dude, but wow, he has the scream (although I'd agree he overdid it a bit).
Duff - DUFF F'CKING McKAGAN! IN MY TOWN! On the stage right there! Stalking around being the coolest 6footwhatever guy who ever lived, with that recovering-heroin-addict-who-now-works-out look. He also just looked like he was having the best time, which is so great to see. At the end of one of the Leppard songs he looked as pumped as if it were one of his own: awesome to see that these guys are all as into the other guys' stuff as their own.
Slash - what can I possibly say here? My all-time favourite player, probably the single biggest reason I play. He was an animal. Played beautifully, danced like a crazy man, sounded epic, and most importantly for me was HERE.
This one night has made up almost in one go for the musical deprivation I feel we all grew up with. And one of the greatest things was that there were about 8 guys around us, in two groups, who couldn't have been older than 16 or 17, and they sang along to every word and it looked like it was almost as much of a life-changing
experience for them as it was for me. To see guys half my age loving the same music was very special. This music lives.
Thank you for putting my feelings into words! Could not agree more with your post. The only difference is that I was only 10 years old when I first heard GnR and my life changed forever...
Just to add to your post, for me Ed Roland was the biggest surprise of the night. I saw Collective Soul when they played here for the Coca Cola Colab Concert back in 2006. Now I've always loved some of the Collective Soul music, but when I saw them in 2006, I hated every minute of their set. They were absolutely yawn-worthy and I couldn't wait for them to get off stage. At the time, I simply pigeon-holed them as a good studio band, but a boring live band and moved along. Well on Saturday night Ed shone like I'd never seen before and I have a newfound fondness and respect for him as a performer. He was absolutely superb.
Glen Hughes wasn't my cuppa tea.
As for Slash. He was on fire! Anyone that says he's lost something since the early days has no clue. He just keeps getting better and better as far as I am concerned.
