The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins talked about opening for GN’R on several dates of their ongoing reunion tour, telling Music Radar:
“We didn’t get to hang out with Axl, but we did see Duff very briefly as well as their drummer Frank, who was super-cool.
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“It was great to hear those songs loud, played by largely the original line-up. Axl’s voice still sounds fucking amazing, even after all this time.
“Plus there was a fresh cowboy for every song… can’t argue with that! Every type of material and color combination – it was most impressive.
“Slash is fucking amazing, too; he’s still one of my heroes.
“There’s the tone, the taste and the touch that only Slash has, and no-one can simulate that. It’s a big part of GNR’s sound – he’s a living legend in my opinion.
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“He loves Les Pauls and ‘Appetite’ was the first album I bothered learning the tablature for, so I can actually play every note on it… accurately, too!
“And then Richard Fortus is a great guitarist in his own right, doing a lot more than Izzy could in terms of lead.
“Strangely enough, I actually met him in the gym when he was in Thin Lizzy and we were touring together.
“Obviously him and I share enormous, powerful guns and that’s only because we’re in the gym all the time…”