After Saturday night and the Kings of Chaos concert, I can die a happy music fan. I did not believe you could get any better than the Metallica experience a few months back. I was wrong. The Kings of Chaos gig at Sun City was just brilliant.
Slash, Slash, Slash. He is all that and more. He didn’t say a word to the audience, he didn’t have to. His fingers and stage presence were more than enough.
I had the pleasure of watching the show with Gareth Wilson of Southern Gypsy Queens.
He was totally blown away by the experience. Also present in the audience was Wonderboom’s Martin Rocka.
“It was a like watching a supergroup of covers,” said Rocka after the show.
“I was particularly blown away by Glen Hughes from Deep Purple. He was rocking and he’s like 65 years old.”
He certainly was a highlight of the show, as was Myles Kennedy. He is best known for his work on Slash’s solo album. And he makes Axl Rose look like the loser he really is. At one point I felt quite sorry for Axl. These magnificent musicians have each other and still have great careers, whereas Axl is left out in the cold.
In fact, so much so that before the press conference on Wednesday the journalists were briefed not to mention his name at all. None of the members of this fluid supergroup wanted to get into the dramas of this once-great musician.
Kennedy was just phenomenal. His vocal range and sensitivity to his craft will make him a legend in his time. His presence among these legendary musicians is deserved.
Then there was Ed Roland from Collective Soul. While not the most dynamic of performers, he managed to hold his own.
Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott was an absolute rock star. He was certainly one of the most popular singers, mostly because Def Leppard have a huge following among the Afrikaans community who made up most of the 10 000-strong crowd.
They performed each other’s songs, they threw in some Led Zeppelin. And all of it was held together by the power-drumming of Matt Sorum.
The concert can be summed up by the lyrics from Guns ’N Roses’ Night Train: Loaded like a freight train. Flyin’ like an aeroplane. Speeding like a space brain. One more time tonight/I got a Molotov cocktail with a match to go. I smoke my cigarette with style.
The good news for those who missed the shows in Cape Town and Sun City is that Sorum said twice in the press conference that Kings of Chaos will return to South Africa next year.
“I will come and visit my three adopted lions in Cape Town when we come back to tour next year,” were his exact words.
I could do it all over again.