6pm - Grabbed a quick dinner from KFC Melbourne Central with fellow concert goer Wykeith. We then caught a tram from Flinders St. to Melbourne Park, the location of the Rod Laver Arena and the venue of the concert.
7pm - Arrived at Rod Laver to see this huge sign saying "STRICTLY NO CAMERAS ALLOWED". Great. That meant Wykeith had to deposit his camera at the cloaking booth and no quality pictures of the concert. Security was pretty tight, with quite a number of guards and metal detectors and all that...
After going through all the security and the barcode turnstalls, we then went to our seats and the sight inside the stadium at that time was rather empty...
Well, we were rather early so there it was.. waiting time!9pm - The first opening act came onstage, this band called Rose Tattoo.. The lead singer had a powerful voice but was really random at times with his speeches but overall the band was more of a classical rock genre similar to Deep Purple.
10.30pm - The second opening act, Sebastian Bach came onstage to a rousing welcome. This dude was a real entertainer and had been touring with Gn'R for some time. Great band.
11.30 ish - After Sebastian Bach, the lights came back on and the crowd had grew to full capacity.
A bunch of people from the right sides of the stands initiated a Mexican wave and it was quite cool.. It went on for a few rounds until everyone got tired of it. As I was looking around scanning the crowd, a group of people in the row in the front-right of me moved into their seats. I caught a glance and was like "wait.. isn't that.. IT IS!" Toby Rand and Juke Kartel were a few seats away from me!
Thats Toby right there, for those of you who can recognise him...11.30pm - The lights went off and everyone started screaming.. Then spotlights started shining randomly...
The opening song was expected. The intro to Welcome to the Jungle rang out a few times before coming to a pause, to build up anxiety.. And then Robin played the entire intro and lights came on stage and the crowd was greeted with an Axl trademark
The opening song was expected. The intro to Welcome to the Jungle rang out a few times before coming to a pause, to build up anxiety.. And then Robin played the entire intro and lights came on stage and the crowd was greeted with an Axl trademarkDO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU AREEEEEEEEEEEEE?!!!
YOU'RE IN THE JUNGLE BABY
TIME TO DIEEEEEEE
*Pyrotechnics display to the beat of the song.. BOOM*
The band played most of their classics including Mr Brownstone, Its So Easy, Live and Let Die, Knocking on Heaven's Door, Patience, an instrumental version of Don't Cry which was awesome and their most famous hit, Sweet Child of Mine...
A grand piano was then brought out and the crowd already knew which song was coming...
Ah.. the sounds of November Rain with a shower of sparks..
The band also played some of their new stuff including Chinese Democracy and Madagascar.
Nightrain was the "last song" of the night which I think Axl nailed. His vocals were still strong and powerful and believe me, those who think he sucks cause he's old, you guys are wrong.. He still has it!
The band went off stage for awhile before coming back to perform the traditional encore Paradise City which ended superbly with fireworks and raining confetti all over the arena.
And that was it! An absolutely spectacular concert! Arguably the best concert I've been to! It was a magnificent night but I can't help but wonder... G n' R are this good out of their prime, which leaves me thinking.. how much better would they be with Slash, Duff and Sorum.. Unfortunately thats not going to happen so I'll just leave my thoughts and enjoy the moment..
And to cap off the already breathtaking night, I took a picture...
...with Toby Rand and Juke Kartel! Watching Axl was already good enough.. This was an absolute bonus!
