They came. They played. They underwhelmed.
After 30 years of waiting, Thai fans finally had a chance to experience Guns N' Roses in real life, when they wrapped up the Asia leg of its "Not In This Lifetime Tour" in Bangkok on Tuesday. The concert reunites three of the celebrated members of the band -- Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan -- playing songs from the albums Appetite For Destruction, Use Your Illusion (I and II) and Chinese Democracy.
Ten thousand fans filled the SCG Stadium in Muang Thong Thani. They sang, they jumped, they screamed, they had a good time thinking about the 1990s. And they took lots of video on their mobile phones.
When the concert surprisingly kicked off on time (they didn't have an opening act), fans were still fighting their way through traffic. As they played It's So Easy, Mr Brownstone and Chinese Democracy, people still struggled getting into the stadium. They rushed to the entrance gates when they heard Welcome To The Jungle.
Rose wore a red bandanna, black T-shirt, silver necklaces, big bling rings, ripped blue jeans and chequered shirt wrapped around his waist.
At 54, his voice isn't what it used to be, even missing some of notes in the faster numbers. But he didn't disappoint when it came to songs that really mattered to his Thai fans, like Civil War, Sweet Child O' Mine, Don't Cry, November Rain, Yesterdays and Knockin' On Heaven's Door.
Overall, the show needed some heavy lifting from its guitarists. Slash, in particular, infused his mastery of the high-pitched strums that defined much of the band's immortal songs. His solo performance of the classic mafia theme Speak Softly Love has been divisive throughout the history of their concerts -- one side thinks it's virtuoso, others simply find it weird. Nevertheless, the solo paved the way for Sweet Child O' Mine, sending the crowd into wild screams.
Axl Rose and Duff McKagan at SCG Stadium.
Bassist Duff McKagan took centre-stage in his solo performance. Richard Fortus (rhythm) and Slash would later provide their version of the Pink Floyd classic Wish You Were Here.
At some point the concert's visuals became too fascinating to ignore. There were the recognisable Guns N' Roses trademark visuals of petals, rain, skulls and logo. Meanwhile, ravens, jellyfish and iguanas seemed to represent some message accompanying the songs, and there were otherworldly artworks in other numbers. There were skeletons in an orgy and raining bullets that seem too passé nowadays. They were apparently allusions to some bygone graphics from the MTV era.
It did not help that Muang Thong Thani consistency fails in providing a decent sound system to match the scale of its concert venues. Thus, the more hard-hitting songs came out either too broken to be understood or, at times, reminded one of the speaker system in a rural temple fair.
Never mind. Fans in Bangkok had to suffer rumours of concerts that never came in the 90s and early 2000s. They came roaring in Knockin' On Heaven's Door, encouraged by Axl Rose to sing along. The stadium was swaying full-blast by the time of Nightrain.
However, the band's encore crushed the crowd's enthusiasm, when they came back with Sorry -- too slow for a crowd already primed to headbang the night away. They picked the crowd back up with Don't Cry and ended the gig with Paradise City. Thus, it is inevitable to feel that this concert lacked the hurt, anger or love that people came to expect from such a near-mythical icon.
This was a professional performance with Rose's patented shrieks, Slash playing the guitar behind his head and proper showmanship. But the band didn't bring the passion that could pierce our hearts.
