The Return of Chaos

International collaboration outfit Kings of Chaos returned to Sun City South Africa this weekend to continue where they left off in 2013. This time around Gilbey Clarke (Guns N’ Roses), Duff McKagan & Matt Sorum (Velvet Revolver), were joined by Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme), Robin Zander (Cheap Trick) and the irrepressible Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.

Off course I had to be there…

Last time out Duff McKagan & Matt Sorum were joined by Joe Elliott (Def Leppard), Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge), Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple), Dave Kushner (Velvet Revolver), Slash (Guns N’ Roses) and Ed Roland (Collective Soul). It would have been awesome had they all come back, but Steven Tyler more than made up for the missing artists.

The ticket prices were pretty steep; it’s the most I’ve ever forked out for a concert performance. However it was worth every cent to see old-time rock favorites like More Than Words, La Grange, I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing, Mr. Brownstone, Whole Lotta Love, Tush, Surrender, Cheap Sunglasses and Walk This Way, being performed live.

The stage backdrop and lighting was far more lively and interactive than last year. I could not take any photos as I was on the floor in front of the stage head-banging like a boozy teenager. It was actually sad to see so many people looking into their smartphone cameras trying to record the performance, rather than just enjoying the spectacle. And it was good to see quite a few older folk (like me) also at the concert, some of whom that can still shake that booty.

The tedious drive back in the rain to the game farm we booked in at was a schlep in the early morning hours, especially after missing a turn in the pitch darkness and getting lost, but it’s hard to wear off the kind of euphoria one is left with after a great concert. If they return next year, I don’t think I could stay away, especially if they bring Steven Tyler back.

Check out some of the photos taken by the media here.

Lenny’s got tickets…

Just because it’s Friday and the girls and I will be attending the Kings Of Chaos concert this weekend at Sun City.

…Janie got a gun
Dog days just begun
Now everybody is on the run

Run away, run away from the pain…

N.I.B.

Way back in 1987, I was one of the fortunate sons of bitches to attend the Black Sabbath concert at Sun City. Fortunate, because every metal head in South Africa must have been jockeying to be there for one of the 6 shows, an SOB since I really should have boycotted the event as it was held in defiance of Artists United Against Apartheid.

But hey, I was young and dammit, it was freakin’ Black Sabbath. If you really wanna hate me, console yourself with the fact that Ozzy Osbourne was not part of the line-up, and that N.I.B. which is one of my all-time favorite songs did not make it onto the set list for the Sun City gig. And at the time I was being payed a pittance, and the trip up North to Sun City damn near bankrupted me.

Ozzy Osbourne (for me) was eponymous with Black Sabbath; their best stuff (for me) features Ozzy on vocals. Although Tony Iommi on guitars remained a constant force, without Ozzy, the band was never the same (for me).

I would dearly love to see them again in South Africa, this time with the original members. So play nice guys, and how about that reunion here in sunny South Africa? You don’t have to play dingy Sun City again, as we have some really huge stadiums standing more or less idle after the Soccer World Cup.

Kings Of Chaos

Putting together former Guns N’ Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum and Gilby Clarke with Joe Elliott from Def Leppard, Myles Kennedy from Alter Bridge, Glenn Hughes from Deep Purple, Dave Kushner from Velvet Revolver and Ed Roland from Collective Soul, was a feat of genius.

This collaboration going by the aptly named Kings of Chaos, performed in the Sun City Superbowl this Saturday past, and in Cape Town a week earlier. And I was not going to miss it for the world; the bout of flu that took me by surprise on Thursday was just going to have to wait…

The girls and I cruised on up from Johannesburg to Sun City on Saturday, stopping by a pub on the way that served home-made beer. You could say that drinking beer while nursing a cold, is like having an appetite for destruction, but thankfully the sheer excitement of getting to witness rock royalty, kept me going.

So there was no Axl Rose, but when Myles Kennedy got stuck into Sweet Child O Mine, it was hard to tell he was missing. Myles of Alter Bridge is an awesome vocalist. But let’s not forget Glenn Hughes amazing delivery of the Deep Purple classics, Smoke on the Water and Highway Star and Joe Elliott’s retake of the Def Leppard favorites Animal, Pour Some Sugar On Me and Two Steps Behind. And off course Slash… a guitar god.

When the lounge chairs were pulled up on stage for the acoustic set, the crowd went wild in anticipation. Off course Glenn Hughes and Joe Elliott did not fail to meet expectations. An added bonus was Kings Of Chaos renditions of the Dylan classic Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, Zeppelin’s Communication Breakdown and Bowie’s All The Young Dudes.

A special mention must got to Ed Roland who sang all my favorite Collective Soul favorites with gusto and aplomb. He’s getting on in years, but is still a superb performer.

For a little over two hours, we were all in rock heaven. South Africa has not been this spoiled for a long time. And then came Myles Kennedy with the closing song Paradise City, and it was over…

Sigh! Oh, to see it all again, and again.

17 shopping days until the end of the world?

Image via Wikipedia

October 21, 2011 approaches!

According to Harold Camping, the world is supposed to be in the final stages of 5 months of horrible torment since the fabled Judgment Day which passed with hardly any fuss, on 21 May 2011. With just 17 days to go before that supposed all-defining moment in the brief history of mankind, die-hard believers are presumably wringing their hands in glee, while those who have not accepted Camping’s Lord, should either be wondering if there’s anything to all this flim-flam, or laughing hysterically.

To be fair, the last five months have been kinda unusual. Could Camping be onto something? Or is he on something, which seems to be the consensus of opinion?

World events over the last 5 months have been rather unusual. Or so it would have seemed to the casual observer. I’m not even going to try to imagine what it must have seemed like, to the stoned observer.

Despots who were apparently well-loved by the people being ousted in North Africa, the darling of the freedom movements, the ANC revealing themselves to be plain old scum, economic crisis in Europe, snow near Sun City and tornadoes in other parts of South Africa, Julius Malema being disciplined and the ANC Youth League losing popularity, and Arsenal languishing just above the relegation zone in the English Premier League table.

Now those were just some of the mighty unusual occurrences over the last 5 months. Or Harold Camping will have you believe so.

Either way, whether you’re a believer or not, it’s the ideal time to get in some shopping. Whether it’s to buy some wine for that last supper, a gift for Harold for warning everyone, a new bible to search for those passages to help you repent, or a bottle of the usual plonk, to ease those mouth muscles while you laugh at those who fell for it again…