When they walked into the room, clad in black with sunglasses, there was no doubt these men were rock stars.
This new rendition of the Kings of Chaos had arrived in the form of ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt and Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolvers’ Matt Sorum, Duff McKagan and Gilby Clarke.
Missing at the media conference on Wednesday in Sandton was Aerosmith’s Steve Tyler, who was “safariing” at the Victoria Falls.
“He’s hoping to catch the Big Five,” joked Sorum, the brains behind the project.
Each year, he puts together different members of legendary rock bands to form a super-group that then performs each other’s big hits at selected concerts.
This is the second time Kings of Chaos have played in South Africa. Last year’s concert included Slash as well as members from Def Leppard and Deep Purple.
The first concerts are taking place on Saturday and Sunday at Sun City, before moving to Grand West Arena in Cape Town on Tuesday.
The mood at the briefing was jovial with much banter between the world-famous musicians. All agreed that this experience was special, not only for the audience and fans but for them too.
“You will never see this concert in the UK or the US,” Sorum said.
“You will never see Steve Tyler playing Guns N’ Roses hits with members of Guns N’ Roses. This is a unique experience, just for South Africans.”
“I call it a collision of enthusiasm,” announced Gibbons in his Texan drawl.
When Gibbons was asked by the master of ceremonies at the conference, Highveld’s Alex Jay, what he would be taking back to add to his collection of South African art, the ZZ Top guitarist replied: “A bowl of mopane worms. I can see them and they can see me.”
There was an awkward moment when former 5FM presenter Gareth Cliff’s producer tried to ask a question, only to be thwarted by Jay, who briskly took away the microphone in retaliation for Cliff’s statement earlier this year that “radio is dead”.
After muttering under his breath, Jay relented and returned it to allow Cliff’s producer to ask his question.
The Kings of Chaos concerts will be drawn from hits by ZZ Top, Aerosmith, Guns N’ Roses, Cheap Trick and Extreme.
Tickets are still available for the Sunday show at Sun City on a buy-two-get-two free basis. - The Star
• Read tomorrow’s Tonight for an exclusive interview with Gibbons in which he relates stories of his five-month stay in South Africa.