2022.11.27 - Accor Stadium, Sydney, Australia

Guns N’ Roses shimmer in the November rain

George Palathingal
November 28, 2022 — 2.20am

GUNS N’ ROSES
Accor Stadium, November 27
★★★★

You’d think a bit of November rain at a Guns N’ Roses show would be a good omen. Likewise the very metal forks of lightning providing an impressively dramatic backdrop to Olympic Park’s biggest stadium.

But this evening started shakily, with the very real threat of the gig being abandoned due to the weather.

Luckily, audience goodwill seemed to increase exponentially when Guns N’ Roses eventually turned up and turned everything up, going on to play for more than three hours and apparently having a fantastic time doing so.

For an outfit whose once-volatile singer drove most of his bandmates away over the years, there was something truly wonderful about seeing that frontman, Axl Rose, joyfully share the limelight with fellow original members Duff McKagan (on bass) and especially guitar superhero Slash.

Between Rose’s still formidable (if, inevitably, not quite as impressive as it was 30-odd years ago) shriek and Slash’s relentless shredding – with strong assistance from the rest of a musically muscular line-up – you got everything you wanted.

There were the songs you’d either forgotten about (Estranged) or maybe never knew in the first place (Better) that reminded you these guys could always write a tune.

There were the covers that you liked but might not have admitted to doing so (Live and Let Die, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door) and a few you didn’t expect on the night (definitely not Jimmy Webb’s Wichita Lineman; maybe AC/DC’s Whole Lotta Rosie, given Rose fronted the Aussie icons briefly).

And there were the hits: the anthems powered by Slash’s classic riffs and Rose’s pretty melodies. If you stuck around, you got them all, from the exhilarating likes of You Could Be Mine and Paradise City to the more sensitive November Rain in its epic entirety and, of course, Sweet Child O’ Mine.

To some, the three hours might have felt an hour too long – there was undoubtedly a leaner, stronger set in here. To others, though, this could have been the show they didn’t want to end, and might have been perfect.

Guns N’ Roses play at the MCG on December 3.