It’s the concert rock fans have been waiting for all year. After several false starts, not to mention whirlwind rumours, American hard rock band Guns N’ Roses is finally set to rock fans this Friday.
With Palace Grounds still out of reach for commercial events, the venue the new Bhartiya City, Thanisandra, a concert arena that’s fast on its way to become the next unofficial venue for all rock concerts.
After American thrash metal band Slayer, Finnish metal heads Children of Bodom, and rock guitarist Carlos Santana, Guns N’ Roses, rock fans will tell you, brings a perfect end to a year that’s brought rock and metal back to Bangalore.
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Getting over a bit of a prolonged dry patch following the recession in 2009, after which the concerts began to dwindle in numbers, this year’s been good. Of course, besides rock and metal acts there were the pop acts like Enrique Iglesias and Sean Paul who made this year worth its while for pop music lovers.
This is the first time that Guns N’ Roses is touring India. There’s little doubt that Slash, the band’s former lead guitarist and musical legend, will be sorely missed. In fact, purists would say that there’s no Guns N’ Roses without Slash, or even band bassist Duff McKagan. But others would argue that the vocals of the band, the energetic Axl Rose, is enough reason to make it to Friday’s concert.
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Bitter breakup
Slash quit the band following differences with Axl Rose, and any hopes of a reunion have been rubbished by both sides that continue to be bitter about the breakup. In fact, it was reported that as recently as in June this year that Rose decided to deny entry to members of the audience who sported Slash T-shirts. Last heard, there are no such restrictions imposed for the Bangalore concert.
Either way, with Rose being the last standing member of the band that gave us “Sweet Child o’ Mine” and “Paradise City”, fans can hope the concert will at least give them a peek into the band’s musical genius.
First stop
In fact, Bangalore is the first stop for the legendary band that will also perform in Mumbai and Gurgaon in the following week.
The concert starts at 4 p.m. Tickets are priced between Rs.1,500 and a hefty Rs.10,000. You can buy them online at www.kyazoonga.com