Guns ‘n’ Roses & The Pretenders – live in Bellahouston Park

It’s not without an element of happy surprise that I’m writing this blog. I’ve never hidden the fact that I’m not what you’d call a hardcore fan of Guns ‘n’ Roses, or more particularly the voice of Axl Rose, having a tendency to lean more towards the guitars in the band, I did have the pleasure of witnessing Slash and Duff several times in their guise of Velvet Revolver. Don’t get me wrong, I think Appetite for Destruction is a classic debut, one that took its blueprint from the likes of Hanoi Rocks and The Heartbreakers and added their own hard rock edge and punk attitude to create the sound that many others would try, and fail, to replicate. On a dreich Tuesday night in a rain soaked park in Glasgow on a late June night, I’m pleased to say that after a 3 year and two day wait, my mind was more or less entirely changed (I’m afraid nothing will ever get me to love, or even like, the overblown histrionics of November Rain or Patience…) having witnessed three solid hours of quality live raaaaaaaaaaaawk music.

Make that four hours… Before Axl and co. took to the Bellahouston stage, we had the pleasure of The Pretenders entertaining the early comers with an utterly glorious set culled from across their back catalogue pleasing both hardcore followers and the casual observer alike. This was my baptism into a live show from Chrissie Hynde and co, and I’m pleased to say I’ve now added them to an esteemed list of bands who have impressed me with their live shows. Granted Ms Hynde is the last woman standing from the original line-up, after the far too early tragic loss of guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon a year after each other in the early 80’s. I may not have seen The Pretenders before, however, the musicians minus Chrissie are a superb band in their own right, and I have had the pleasure of seeing the magnificent His Lordship, whose name has graced these pages several times, twice over the past couple of years. When you have a band as tight and talented as that, adding the divine vocals of Chrissie Hynde on top is the icing on the cake. While other singers have been criticised, Guns ‘n’ Roses for one, as their voices change with age, Chrissie’s voice has not changed a jot, she still has the ability to both make your heart swoon or your pulse race depending on the song. And what of the songs? As mentioned, the set list was a joy to behold singles, interspersed with album tracks giving everyone something to love from early singles like Talk of the Town and Message of Love, through to most recent song in the set I’ll Stand By You, and taking in songs from Pretenders I & II, Learning to Crawl, Get Close and Last of the Independents – including Tattooed Love Boys, Cuban Slide, Back on the Chain Gang, Don’t Get Me Wrong and Hymn to Her (with an introductory tribute to ex-mother in law Irene Kerr) as well as tongue in cheek tribute to Glasgow in Junkie Walk, before closing the set with a superb rendition of Mystery Achievement. There was no mystery as to why they got achieved a resounding reception from the G’n’R crowd.

The headliners were pencilled in for a 7.30pm start, as the time came and went, with each 5 minutes passing, there was an edginess apparent and some faltering jokes about not believing the gig would actually happen until they appeared. Soon enough the stage graphics came to life and the band took to the stage to perform the Appetite for Destruction classic, It’s So Easy. Any fears over Axl’s vocal dissipated just as the rain that had been falling all day had prior to The Pretenders starting. The song was a perfect opener, band and singer on fire and in perfect harmony, setting out their stall for the rest of the night. Axl has obviously been working on his vocals as they impressed for the vast majority of the night, only twice did I wince slightly, on the chorus of Slither and on Welcome to the Jungle. During the rest of the set his range was excellent. Am I actually becoming an Axl fan? I even surprised myself, as someone who claims to only like Appetite for Destruction, in declaring that some of the highlights of the night for me were Double Talking Jive and You Could be Mine. On a personal note the lyrics of newer song Absurd “screaming fucking banshee” reminded me I need to finish writing my novel, (there’s a psychobilly band in it called the Screaming Banshees…)

Anyway, back to the gig. The epic three hour set included several well chosen cover versions, another of the nights highlights for me was UK Subs Down on the Farm (of course I was wearing my Another Kinds of Blues t-shirt), with a superb version of The Stooges TV Eye from Duff and an inspired cover of Witchita Lineman which saw Axl shine. Pretty Tied Up (another Use Your Illusion song, I’m really stretching myself now..) was an early set highlight, with Slash’s guitar solo late on in the set reflecting some Link Wray style rock n roll and rockabilly, a most pleasing interlude, followed by a peerless rendition of Sweet Child O’ Mine before November Rain gave me the perfect excuse to go to the toilets. Incidentally, kudos to the smooth organisation of the event, no queues to get in, at the bar or at the toilets all night, and despite the rain all day, it was solid underfoot (a lot of credit for that must go to all the work done on drainage over the last couple of years). Of course I was there mainly for the Appetite for Destruction bangers, so the epic Rocket Queen was sensational, as was Anything Goes and the initial set closer Nightrain. Special mention though for Paradise City, the set closer, which, despite our distance from the stage, led to much bouncing and pogoing in the vicinity around me, myself included. All night Axl had been repeating his gratitude for the patience of the fans waiting over 3 years for the gig to finally happen, in a final move, ingratiating himself to the partisan crowd wearing a leather jacket with Scotland emblazoned across the back as they gave their bows and left. For a gig I was only really going to to please my partner (the gig should originally have been played on her 50th birthday) was it worth the wait? You bet it was, with bells on. Now, let me try listening to November Rain again….