Guns N’ Roses play astounding, hit packed 3 hour show at British Summer Time

BST Hyde Park, 30 June 2023: Guns n’ Roses, The Pretenders, The Darkness, Grade 2, Dust Coda

Review: Kahmel Farahani

Photos: Aggie Anthimidou Photography

Guns n’ Roses photos, credit to: Guilherme Nunes Cunha Neto

The Dust Coda

Taking the unenviable early slot on the smaller Rainbow Stage, London based 4 piece rock band The Dust Coda make the very best of it and surely win over some new fans doing so. The Dust Coda’s brand of no frills hard rock may not be breaking new ground but they deliver songs like Love Sick and The Road To Hell with real passion and end a brief 30 minute set in style.

Grade 2

 

Playing the The Birdcage stage, their highly energetic set, fast-paced guitar riffs and engaging performance wins the crowd straight away. Their live show is addictive and although it isn’t the ‘big stage’ it is a big, pretty special party. If you haven’t seen the band, be quick and catch them at one of their UK gigs.

 

 

The Darkness

 

 

On the Great Oak Stage The Darkness make their entrance known with a bang, a blitz of pyro and the brilliant riff of Growing On Me. The ideal festival band, The Darkness spend their all too brief slot on the mainstage mixing old and new along with a master-class in crowd interaction.

 

 

A back and forth between frontman Justin Hawkins and a fan in the front row asking for a pick turns into a heart-warming and hilarious duet at the end of Get Your Hands Off My Woman. As a fan shouts out for “the Christmas song” Hawkins chides the crowd before indulging them with the first verse of Christmas Time.

 

 

They end with the irresistible I Believe In A Thing Called Love and an announcement of a UK winter tour celebrating the 20^th anniversary of Permission To Land. If today’s performance is anything to go by, it will be a an excellent tour.

 

The Pretenders

 

 

The band, who are supporting GN’R on the rest of their EU tour, take to the main stage just as the weather takes a turn for the worse. It doesn’t seem to slow down front-woman Chrissie Hynde though as she leads her band through a set of hits including Don’t Get Me Wrong , Tattooed Love Boys (dedicated to Slash) and I’ll Stand By You.

 

 

At times the 16 song setlist does really begin to drag and with very little to separate them, songs do start to sound rather tedious to the casual fan. Compared to the non stop energy and crowd interaction Of The Darkness, it may have suited the bill better if they had swapped places.

 

Guns N’ Roses

 

 

As the clock strikes 19.20 exactly, Guns N’ Roses take the stage in their BST Hyde Park début and, over the course of the next 3 hours, play one of the greatest rock and roll sets in recent memory. Starting with It’s So Easy, the band dive right into Use Your Illusion album tracks like Bad Obsession and Pretty Tied Up. It’s a joy to hear these songs played live, especially with Axl Rose, Slash, Duff and company nailing every respective note.

 

 

In fine voice and even finer mood, Axl Rose is smiling and chatting to the London crowd throughout the show, joking about almost slipping on the stage while running from one side to the other. “I will continue busting my ass for you guys” Rose says with a grin. Looking sharp and sounding superb, Rose is one of the last true rockstars left in a world of imitators and try hards.

 

 

The breakneck pace of Reckless Life is followed by an excellent Double Talkin’ Jive with extended solo from Slash, whose playing tonight is nothing short of astonishing. The legendary guitarist has only gotten faster over the years and, with the incredible guitar playing of Richard Fortus as his foil, the pair make the perfect duo. Trading solos and licks on Rocket Queen and an extended Knockin’ On Heavens Door, their guitar tone is immense.

 

 

Duff McKagan takes centre stage for a riveting cover of The Stooges TV Eye, which leads into Appetite deep cut Anything Goes. Civil War is played with the usualy Voodoo Child outro and Sweet Child Of Mine is the big hit that unites all of Hyde Park in singing along. As the band pass the 2 hour mark Axl Rose announces they’re just getting warmed up.

 

 

The acoustic Patience is followed by an epic run through of Coma. The fact that Guns N’ Roses hold nothing back in their performance or the length and breadth of their setlist makes one love them even more and as the sun finally sets just before 10pm, Axl announces that the band have decided to forgo the showbiz thing to do and simply stay on stage to fit more songs into their encore. A sublime Don’t Cry is followed by the final trip down to Paradise City and a glorious and perfect ending to an excellent day.

 

 

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