In recent days Axl Rose and Rod Stewart, two of the biggest stars entering the Hall of Fame this year, pulled out of the show, making complete reunion performances by The Faces and Guns N’ Roses impossible. Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante opted not to come, and the Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch stayed home as he continues to recover from cancer. So really, it was looking like this was maybe not all the organisers would have hoped, but the reality was very different! 

“I don’t know that it matters who’s here tonight, because it’s about the music that these bands played,” Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan said during his induction speech. “The fans are the ones who made it possible for us to get together tonight with all the adversity and everything that was going on,” said Slash. He particularly thanked his wife, saying, “When all this drama was going on, I was like fuck it, but she said ‘Go and do it with the guys,’ and I said ‘You’re right.’” Drummer Matt Sorum took the high road, saying, “I want to thank the other bandmates that aren’t here tonight and tell them that I love and respect them and I’m honored to have been on stage playing music with them.”

Minutes after making that point, he walked over across to the stage to play an explosive three-song set of Guns N’ Roses songs with Slash, Duff, guitarist Gilby Clarke, Alter Bridge front man Myles Kennedy and Steven Adler. 

There were boos from the crowd and chants of ‘Fuck Axl’, but it seems the minute the guys took to the stage the absense of Mr Rose and Izzy Stradlin were forgotten. They played Mr Brownstone, Sweet Child of Mine and Paradise City.

The Faces also soldiered on without their lead singer, recruiting Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall to fill his slot. The Beastie Boys had no intention of performing without Adam Yauch, so The Roots were joined by Kid Rock and Travie McCoy to deliver their own tribute to the trio.

Chris Rock stepped up to induct the Red Hot Chili Peppers and provided much amusement. “A lot of people are upset that Axl didn’t come tonight,” he said. “But let’s face it. Even if he was coming tonight, he wouldn’t be here by now.” The band also did a 3 song set of By The Way, The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie and Give It Away. 

So a pretty great night all round then? All the worry and speculation for nothing, as in the end, it is the music that wins over all. 

It’s official! After months of voting through an online poll, Guns N’ Roses emerged winners to join a handful of other inductees.

In the ‘classic’ era of the group, they produced one of the greatest debut albums of all time, Appetite For Destruction, containing hugely popular rock anthems in Sweet Child O’ Mine and Paradise City. Despite losing Steven Adler, the group battled on and introduced Use Your Illusion I & II. Unfortunately it was the supporting 26 month tour that saw the final break ups of the classic line up, resulting in the Axl show that is out there today.They are also well known for their off stage antics, being one of the most reckless bands rock has ever seen.

Traditionally, the members deemed most important are inducted and attend the ceremony as a group. With a members list as long as Axl’s arm, who will the chosen few be? Will they all show up together? Is a performance actually going to happen? Let the speculation commence!

Laura Woodhead

Last night, I had the chance to go along and review 4 of Glasgow’s unsigned metal bands in Ivory Blacks. It was to say the least interesting, and definitely worth the trip.

Twisted Conspiracy

I found out a little later on that this band were playing without a singer, their singer couldn’t make it so I understand why they were the way they were now a lot more than I did at the time.

The band seemed uncomfortable, the set wasn’t very tight at-all, they didn’t seem to have any kind of awareness of one another, it was incredibly messy sounding, it also didn’t help that the stand-in singer wasn’t confident in his abilities and was singing so quietly that I missed almost all of the lyrics. The bassist seemed to have an arrogant air about him and the crowd seemed generally quite uninterested.

However, their harmonies are brilliant, they clearly have the ability and I think the absence of a vocalist affected their confidence and therefore their performance, I would go see them again because they hold a lot of promise, it’d just be nice to see a full band, and to see the overly arrogant bassist knocked down a peg or two.

Despite their poor performance and lack of interest from the crowd, they finished their set on a very high note, they did a cover of System of a Down’s Chop Suey which seemed to excite the audience a little, and they did do a fairly good cover as well.

I hope to see them again as a full band and hope that last night was just an off night for them, they really do have potential.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Twisted-Conspiracy/176721064979

For fans of

• Bullet For My Valentine
• Trivium
• A Day to Remember

Lost Persona

This band were fantastic, they were relaxed, confident, opened the set with a killer riff accompanied by Tim Mcllrath-esque vocals, the crowd instantly came to life and Lost Persona gave us some much needed hope in the night ahead.

They had brilliant stage presence; there were no inflated ego’s in sight, they were having fun, they are a brilliant balls out metal band and they know it, they quite obviously have a serious passion for music, they’re experimental, they’re watertight and they should be in a much bigger venue than Ivory Blacks, much more suited to Barrowlands.

They went out with an absolute bang, gave their all, Lost Persona don’t have one weak member and deserve every bit of recognition they get, they’ve worked hard and are definitely one to watch for the future.

For fans of

• Rise Against
• Machine Head
• Red Hot Chili Peppers

http://www.facebook.com/lostpersonascotland

The Rare Breed

“There’s a reason this breed is rare” quipped a member of the audience and sadly, I have to completely agree. 

As the extensive amount of merchandise and equally extensive amount of young fans started pouring into the venue, I held high hopes for this band, they seemed to have a lot of support from quite a few people!

However, The Rare Breed did not live up to expectations at-all. Their sound was completely off, it was just noise, there was no indication that they knew what they were doing really, the vocalist Jason Harris kept going out of his range, Harris’s unwarranted cockiness did the band absolutely no favours, “try hard” was mumbled once or twice.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, The Rare Breed actually brought somebody on stage to advertise their already in plain view merchandise. Considering each band got a 20 minute time slot, I thought this was unprofessional, desperate and time wasting, completely unimpressed. 

Despite their pretentious air, The Rare Breed are nothing to write home about and have a long way to go before they can live up to their own hype. 

For fans of

• Cancer Bats
• Machine Head
• Whitechapel

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Rare-Breed/149061101790513

A Ship Going Under

This was A Ship Going Under’s first gig in around 6 months so while they were obviously a little rough around the edges, they were generally quite brilliant, they are very modern, very now, they were obviously what the crowd had been waiting for all night and they were absolutely worth the wait.

The only people sitting down are myself and two others, they are definitely crowd friendly and know exactly what they’re doing on stage. They have fantastic energy, gutsy vocals and great variations between songs. 

A Ship Going Under seem to make a statement that they know they’re good, they like what they do and they’re here to stay. I have to say, they do have the right balances when it comes to skill, attitude and confidence, they are doing everything right on the road to success.

Looking forward to seeing these guys again, definitely worth keeping your eyes peeled for.

For fans of

• Lamb of God
• Winds of Plague
• Man Must Die

Sarah-Louise Kelly.