Kings of Chaos – The Fillmore, San Francisco CA

The Kings of Chaos are a supergroup comprised mainly of members of Guns N’ Roses: Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum and Gilby Clarke, with Billy Duffy (The Cult) on guitar and Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple) Sammy Hagar, and Myles Kennedy on vocals. To be in a room with one of these legends is a treat – to have the opportunity to see all of them play together at your favorite venue of all time, well… that’s a once in a lifetime moment I have now had the pleasure of experiencing.

This was a special show for the band, as it was a benefit for Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project, a Bay Area non-profit aimed to stop the slaughter and captivity of dolphins. Prior to the show there was an auction of items to go towards the charity, such as signed guitars and a private jam session with the band. With most items going for upwards of $4k, the fundraising element seemed to be successful. The crowd became anxious waiting for the music to begin.

The show opened with Hughes on vocals, backed by McKagan, Sorum, and Clarke, playing a  crowd-pumping rendition of “Highway Star,” leading into the seminal “Smoke on the Water.” A crowd sing-a-long favorite, Hughes really played to the audience, posing for pictures and pointing at the crowd.

The Red Rocker himself, Mr. Sammy Hagar, then took over vocal duties. After a quick fix of his guitar strap, he launched into a fantastic cover of Jimmy Hendrix’s :”Foxy Lady,” a great song to play on the historic stage of The Fillmore. A quick rendition of “Rock Candy” and it was time to hand the mic over to the fantastic Myles Kennedy. He and Duffy built up the crowd with The Cult’s “Fire Woman” before welcoming Slash out for the remainder of the evening.

It was at this moment that I realized this would be the best version of Guns N’ Roses I would ever see on stage. McKagan, Sorum, Slash, Clarke, and Myles then hit the one-two punch of “It’s so Easy” and “Mr. Brownstone” and the crowd went nuts. It was as good as listening to Appetite For Destruction for the first time. Kennedy then let out a high scream – right into a double header of Zeppelin!

“The Immigrant Song” and “Whole Lot of Love” led to a quick set break, where Sorum took to the mic to express his appreciation to all involved int he program, and plug the Dolphin Project again. He was holding back tears as he though of how his friend on stage were so generous to donate their time and talents to a good cause such as the one we were supporting. It was a very moving moment to see these guys enjoying the company of each other on stage and us as the audience.

A few songs later (with a little more Zeppelin, of course), and it was time to end the show. All of the artists came out on stage and closed out the show with an incredibly powerful “Paradise City.” A flub on someones take led to a nice restart of the song right around the bridge – but I’m alright with that. It’s not every day that you get to hear 75% of GnR play “Paradise City” with Sammy Hagar, Myles Kennedy, Glenn Hughes, and Billy Duffy. Definitely a favorite show of the year for me!