NO ILLUSIONS NEEDED AS GUNS N’ ROSES TAKE OTTAWA TO PARADISE CITY

Mother Nature saved her August rain for Tuesday and spared a massive crowd at Ottawa’s TD Place stadium on Monday night from her wrath. Massive crowds arrived early and showed a lot of Patience and didn’t cry over long merch and beer lineups because it was all better by 7:30 when Axl Rose, Slash, Duff and the rest of Guns N’ Roses exploded onto the stage.

Popular Canadian rockers Our Lady Peace kicked things off shortly after 6pm by the time they reached their fourth song, “Is Anybody Home?”, the clear answer was yes. Although many seats remained empty throughout their set the stadium floor, which is where I was located, was teaming with fans of all ages jockeying for position in merch or beverage lines many of whom were singing along with Raine Maida.

Admittedly I’ve never been much of an OLP fan, mostly preferring Maida’s solo work and songwriting, but when they launched into their new track “Drop Me in the Water” my ears perked up. This was a sound I was not used to from OLP. It’s an edgier, harder rock sound than much of their earlier music and I could get used to hearing more of that sound from them. OLP wrapped up their set (9 songs total) with “4am” and “Starseed”.

It's almost showtime, we're fueled up and ready to rock at @TD_Place with @gunsnroses #WeLoveLive #NotInThisLifeTimeTour #GNROttawa pic.twitter.com/DvVXNp7BWD

— Sound Check Ent. (@SoundCheckBlg) August 21, 2017

Moments before Guns N’ Roses took to the stage a souped-up muscle car animation took over the three large screens that took over the TD Place end zone. The car squealed its tires and revved its engines occasionally spinning around to fire off the two guns that make up the Guns and Roses logo. This led into the “Looney Tunes Theme”, almost fitting given the bands history, and then the first notes from the band itself as they launched into “It’s So Easy” to kick off the night. What followed was 3 solid hours of uninhibited rock and roll.

Appetite for Destruction turned 30 about a week after my 43^rd Birthday which means that Guns N’ Roses have been a part of my musical diet pretty much my entire life but until last night I had never seen Guns N’ Roses live. But there was something even more special about last nights show for me, it’s been six years since I founded Sound Check Entertainment and my team and I have worked hard for those last six years to prove that we deserve a place in the media circles at the big shows. Well it doesn’t get much bigger than Guns N’ Roses “Not in this Lifetime” and we did it and last night I did what I do best, at a show, tweeted the hell out of it.

By the fourth song of the night Axl Welcomed us to the jungle and the crowd went wild. At most concerts by the time you’re four songs in you’re almost a quarter of the way through the show, not last night. Turns out they were just warming up. Four songs later when they launched into their version of Wings’ “Live and Let Die”, which I must add is my preferred version of the song, the stadium exploded and the show was running with the tachometer pushing into the red. At this rate most normal engines can’t take much more before they blowup, one thing was clear Guns N’ Roses weren’t holding anything back and we were definitely headed for an explosion before the night was through.

It wasn’t all head banging, fist pumping, throat hurting rock n’ roll, Axl let his softer side shine through with ballads like “This I Love”, “Yesterday’s” and, of course two mega highlights “November Rain” (which also showcased Axl’s piano playing skills and, of course, Slash’s awe inspiring guitar) and “Don’t Cry”.

There were also no shortage of guitar solos, first with Slash going for about 10 minutes from guitar solo into Nino Rota’s “Speak Softly Love” (Love Theme from the Godfather) into “Sweet Child of Mine”. A few songs later Slash joined Richard Fortus for a powerful duet of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” which lead into “November Rain”.

There were a few covers mixed in throughout the night none more poignant than Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun”, no doubt a tribute to the late Chris Cornell who’s music has played such a big role in keeping the GNR “Night Train” relevant over the years. It was especially powerful for me as GNR, Metallica and Soundgarden were my top three rock bands growing up through my teenage years.

The band finished their regular set with a high octane trip on a “Nightrain” before returning to stage with “Don’t Cry” and AC/DC cover “Whole Lotta Rosie”, before which Axl told the crowd he’d been to the Young Bootcamp, rock n’ roll bootcamp and he’s on time now (referring to his rebel phase where he was notorious for showing up late and starting his show, sometimes, hours after it was due to end). Things mellowed out a bit for “Patience”, probably one of my favourite GNR ballads, before finishing off the night with a cover of The Who’s “The Seeker” and an explosive high octane ride to “Paradise City” which took the needle deep into the red before the stage exploded with fireworks and ticker tape much to the delight of the massive crowd.

So that was it, Not in this Lifetime? No I’m thinking more like once in a lifetime. Over the last six years I’ve seen hundreds, if not thousands of shows, but this one…Guns N’ Roses…trumps them all. For 3 incredible hours on Monday night a section of Ottawa magically transformed into Paradise City.

For those of you in western Canada Axl and the gang are headed your way next with stops in Winnipeg (August 24), Regina (August 27), Edmonton (August 30) and Vancouver (September 1). The band then returns to the US for numerous dates before return to Ontario for 2 shows in Toronto at the Air Canada Centre (October 29 & 30). All shows are presented by Live Nation, for tickets visit www.livenation.ca or www.gunsnroses.com

I guess in closing the big question remains…will this be the last we see of Guns N’ Roses, or will we hear new material before the decade is out? I guess time will tell but I, for one, am happy that I got at least one chance to witness the spectacle that is Guns N’ Roses.

More photos from TD Place and elsewhere on the Not in This Lifetime Tour