Friday in London town, slightly overcast, a bit windy, a bit drizzly. On our way here we witness about fifty variations on the Appetite for Destruction tshirt and a lot of red bandanas… it’s time for the momentous occasion of Guns ‘N Roses at BST Hyde Park.
Making our way through the arena gates, we are met with the sight of thousands of black tshirts – such a contrast to last weekend’s extremely P!nk crowd. Taking a stroll over to the merchandise stall, we find a decent selection of fun stuff up for grabs (I really wish I’d bought the Appetite trucker hat) but the prices are pretty eye-watering in most cases. It seems we aren’t the only ones who think so, as a guy yells to his friend “Seventy notes for a hoodie? Nah, I could have knitted you one mate”. I do also find it a little funny that the BST tshirts clearly haven’t been signed off for using the G’n’R fonts or logo, making their event tshirt kinda flat for £40. I get that prices are rising everywhere but, this seems extraordinary – doesn’t it?
Heading over to the Great Oak stage we witness Justin Hawkins of The Darkness jokingly calling out a fan down the front for hoarding keepsakes… “How many plectrums you got, you cheeky bastard?” before launching into ‘Japanese Prisoner of Love’. It’s a short 9 song set ending up with the customary ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’, and there’s some stage pyro going on sure, but I’m not convinced this is them at their best – the crowd response is notably flat.
Taking a turn around the arena to look at a few things, we come up to the House of Peroni – a giant beer garden deck designed to look as if you’re on holiday in Italy of course. White shuttered faux houses above the bars are tipped with royal blue accents, the tables are full of people enjoying cold beers and watching the chaotic chair swing fairground ride off to the side.
Around the back of the stadium, you can get a full face of glitter done at the Aperol lounge, or ‘festival hair’ braiding next to one of the AmEx trucks. If you’re an AmEx customer you can claim all sorts of things at this event, like free water bottles and access to a special balcony overlooking the festival. Even British Airways are getting in on the action, with a very cute lounge area where you can grab a drink and sit in birdcage style seating areas, but the best bit is obviously their GlamCam moving camera photobooth. A little leafy-walled backdrop gives you the perfect space to do whatever weird thing you can think of in 3 seconds of a camera flying at your face, then you can email the monstrosity to yourself to upload onto socials.
Over at the Rainbow Stage we soak up some classic rock; “We are a band from sunny South Wales called James and The Cold Gun” (named from a Kate Bush song) who are dressed in a joyful array of flared trousers and velvet shirts. They are quick to note that their bassist’s Dad had a heart attack yesterday and was in hospital “…she had the courage to come and do this despite all that going on” and thanked her for being there with them to the huge applause of the rather big crowd they’ve gathered. It’s a solid set and I’ll be adding some of their tracks to my playlist after this.
Over on the Garage stage BST house band The Cuban Brothers, are up to their usual antics – inciting the crowd to lewd behaviour. If you don’t love it, you’re wrong. “They say you are what you eat, but I don’t remember eating a fucking legend today” yells frontman Miguel (aka Mike) dressed as a camp Axl Rose. The Cubans are joined on stage today by DJ duo Shaka Music “on the ones and two’s” as Miguel puts it, and they’re all sporting new Cuban merch featuring ‘The Swan’. If you know you know, and yes it is rude. Shouting out in a cockney accent that the tshirts can be bought at the Flat Iron for twenty quid, before a small rendition of Welcome to the Jungle, Miguel cheekily says “Ladies and gents, I’m gonna be honest. We are definitely going to be infinitely more entertaining than anything else you see tonight…” and tells us he’s been ‘hanging with Duff last night’.
After their set we head over to take a look at the Flat Iron, which has a cool looking private balcony on the front of it (who gets to go up there?) and buy ourselves a tshirt. Next up on the main stage are The Pretenders, as the rain begins to fall in earnest. It’s a solid rock and roll set but, I can’t pretend I don’t find it a weird booking choice as the set up for G’n’R. Chrissie Hynde is a legend, and the set is technically good, I just want something more upbeat to set us up for tonight and this feels a little too niche and out of the zone. “This one is called ‘I’ll Stand By You’, there you go Axl” Chrissie calls out, and don’t get me wrong – it’s iconic, it’s just not pushing my buttons.
As if to prove themselves entirely correct, The Cuban Brothers return to the stage and are in fact, much more entertaining, with Dominic providing breakdancing and flips and Kenny on rollerskates or doing a hauntingly beautiful dance to Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’. They note that they’ve been doing this for 10 years, and that this was their 56th Hyde Park show – living legends indeed.
Onto the main event, and billed at a very early 7.30pm start time, we ready ourselves for Guns ‘N Roses. Just off the back of their Glastonbury pyramid stage headline set, and some fairly unfavourable reviews, will this be the redemption arc or confirmation that this is the end of the road? As a lifelong fan (thanks to my sister acquiescing to playing me ‘Paradise City’ on repeat as a toddler) I’m hoping for something special tonight.
Opening with Axl Rose’s patented “You know where you are?” high pitched scream, and some Stranger Things-esque graphics on the screens (don’t tell Metallica), they explode onto the stage with all the force and energy I had wished fore. Slash is rocking leather pants and a denim shirt, along with his signature tophat and Axl has some very shiny trousers on as he runs across the stage for ‘It’s So Easy’. Lo and behold, he sounds good. Not just ok, really good.
“Look at all these people! God bless you!” Axl yells, before taking a tumble on the slippery rain covered stage. Now, in previous iterations of Guns ‘n Roses shows that I’ve been to, this honestly could have spelled the end of the set. I once watched Axl throw a full fit and leave the stage after a fall at Download festival – he didn’t return for the best part of 45 minutes. This time he jumps up, grins and keeps on spinning and singing. It feels playful and fun, a return to the style of chaotic show they were known for in the old days; “I don’t wanna jinx it but hopefully I got all that slip sliding out of the way” he laughs.
Velvet Revolver track ‘Slither’ followed by ‘Mr Brownstone’ really showcase Slash’s skills as a master guitarist – I will never not be humbled getting to hear something like that live and in person, the man is a true icon.
Now dressed in a croc-textured biker jacket, the band let us have ‘Welcome To The Jungle’ to which all 65k people here are positively YELLING along with. I particularly love to note that when Axl sings “my serpentine” and winds his body in that well known snake-like motion, we are in fact in the land of The Serpentine – Hyde Park’s lake which is around the corner from here.
Briefly looking into the crowd, Axl says “She’s holding a sign that says we saved her life, but I don’t know about that” before neon ‘G’N’R Was Here’ neon graffiti lights up the stage side screens for ‘Reckless Life’. In a cheekily clipped British accent Axl jokes “What a lovely gathering, all the best people are here” as they roll into “…the 50th anniversary of a little ditty by one of your fellow countrymen….” Wings cover ‘Live and Let Die’.
Other highlights of this epic 29 song set included ‘Rocket Queen’, UK Subs cover ‘Down on the Farm’ (albeit with graphics clearly designed for Glasto) and a super high energy ‘Anything Goes’. Axl’s voice may not hit those high notes quite as strongly occasionally but damn does he still sound good.
‘Civil War’ sees the screens plastered with the Ukrainian flag, as Axl sports one on his tshirt underneath a camouflage biker jacket, and Slash swaps to a double necked guitar. This will put them at around the same number of tshirt to guitar changes so far. ‘Sweet Child o’Mine’ is absolutely perfect, and again – Axl’s voice is wildly better than last time I saw them perform. Unfortunately as the screens turn to grey for ‘November Rain’ in a cruel twist of fate – it is actually beginning to rain for real, which doesn’t seem to bother Axl who is now gussied up in a sparkly metallic leopard print tux jacket, sitting at the piano.
After yet another outfit change (white studded leather jacket) we get ‘Patience’, “I think I could have got a couple more yayas in there, dug a little deeper” Axl jokes at the end, which seems a little bit like a ‘fuck you’ to everyone bashing his Glasto vocal performance the week before. ‘Knockin on Heaven’s Door’ has the whole arena singing along and waving phone torches, but ‘Nightrain’ is just bloody epic and the standout highlight of the whole set.
“We’re not gonna do that leaving the stage showbiz stuff, we’re just gonna do songs so we don’t get cut off” he says pulling his thumb across his neck and making a ‘crrrrkk’ sound “It’s like an insurance policy so we’re playing them now”. Honestly, having watched Bruce Springsteen get cut off here once before, and the whole Lana Del Rey saga at Glasto – we’re appreciative, and we get to see ‘Don’t Cry’ and closer ‘Paradise City’ in unhurried completion finishing bang on the dot of curfew. Oh, and I’d really like to own Axl’s Union Jack tophat.
For me, this was without a doubt the best showing of Guns ‘N Roses I’ve ever seen, being too young to have hit up their original peak gigs. Hyde Park is an epic setting and they absolutely lived up to their status as the OG kings of rock and fucking roll tonight. Long live the G’N’F’N’R Jungle.
