One of my most memorable moments of being a rock n’ roll fan pre-YouTube era was watching Guns N’ Roses on VCR. The band’s Live in Tokyo concert and their appearance at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in ’92 with the rest of Queen performing Bohemian Rhapsody with Axl Rose and Elton John (look for this on YouTube, kids!) are still ingrained in my mind up to this day.
As a fan of the band, this concert cost me three decades of waiting. Since I still have a post concert syndrome, I decided to list the key factors why Guns N’ Roses “Not In This Lifetime Tour” is the best concert of the year in the country.
Axl Rose
Slash
Slash, Fortus, Duff and Axl
5 Reasons Why Guns N’ Roses’ Not in This Lifetime Tour is the Best Rock Concert of the Year
5. The Fans
Ask any tour promoter and they’ll say that any concert would not be successful without the fans. As such, a massive thanks goes to the Pinoy and foreign G’n’R fans who flew in and traveled from different parts of the country just to see these iconic hard rockers. The legion of screaming fans filled the enormous Philippine Arena and some of them weren’t even born yet when the band dominated the music scene.
Melissa Reese
Duff Mckagan
Slash and Duff
4. The Venue
It was my first time to watch a concert at the Philippine Arena; the place is huge. Despite being in the middle of nowhere, it’s a nice new facility with good landscape and architecture. I think it was the ideal indoor place in the country to stage one of the best rock concerts of the year and to contain around 50,000 rabid fans.
Richard Fortus
Slash
3. The Production
The show’s smoke machine, colorful stage lights, dizzying array of spectrum in the jumbotrons and the tight sound system made this one hell of an audio-visual experience.
Slash
Slash and Fortus’ guitar duel of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here”
2. The Band and The Reunion of the Original Members
The triumphant return of original members Duff Mckagan and Slash to the band was one of the best rock news I had heard in 2016. Though the band had some pretty good members throughout the years like Buckethead, DJ Ashba, and Bumblefoot to name a few; nothing compares to the original bad boys of Los Angeles, California that makes this band legendary. Other members like Richard Fortus, Melissa Reese, Frank Ferrer, and Dizzy Reed did not disappoint in performing with such unbridled intensity. On a side note, I was waiting for original drummer Steven Adler to pop up somewhere on the stage as he had randomly performed with the band in select venues.
Slash and company acoustic number for the song “Patience”
Axl and Slash
1. The Songs
A rock band would not be deemed iconic if not for their memorable tunes and seeing your favorite group performed their songs live is such an electrifying experience – one that will leave you in awe. From the opening battle cry of “Welcome to the Jungle” and the thumping beat of “Paradise City” to the epic tune of “November Rain” and the ever popular “Sweet Child o’ Mine” plus bonus covers of Velvet Revolver’s “Slither”, their Chris Cornell tribute song “Black Hole Sun”, and Slash and Richard Fortus’ guitar duel of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here”… man. Obviously, Axl Rose and the boys are not in their prime anymore, but they still performed with such raw energy and a no-holds barred attitude only the rock and roll gods of G’N’R could deliver. There’s no wonder why this tour is one of the most commercially and critically acclaimed ones of all time.
Guns N’ Roses performing “Paradise City” much to the delight of the crowd
Catch more of Guns N’ Roses on select dates for the Asian leg continuation of “Not In This Lifetime Tour”
Special Thanks to MMI Live and Prestige Worldwide for bringing “Not In This Lifetime Tour” here in the Philippines.
