On a night where Duff McKagan’s long-term side project Loaded are due to finally make their debut on these shores, it is heart warming to see such a great reaction greet London-based supporting act The Loyalties. Their bouncy, tongue-in-cheek cockney mischief is far removed from the glam swagger of tonight’s headliners, but they still strike a clear chord with the crowd, and are applauded heartily by the time they end their enjoyable set. Considering the general hype surround the appearance of McKagan at such an unusually intimate venue, it is testament to the guy’s fanbase that they are so accommodating to a band that could have potentially been as successfully received as a fart at a minute’s silence.

    Duff receives the kind of hero’s welcome that many musicians have attained, but few deserve so thoroughly. This is a man who has survived the implosion of one of the greatest rock ‘n roll acts of all time whilst battling his own demons, and yet has never ceased in his bid to continue making great, honest music and tour his ass off when given the chance. Loaded launch into a set that includes some promising new material, old favourites, a couple of Guns ‘N Roses covers and even a brief moment of ‘Word Up’ by eighties party-starters Cameo, and every second is lapped up by a crowd that is perhaps more star-struck than blown away musically at times.

    Not to say that McKagan, Mike Squires, Jeff Roure and Geoff Reading don’t have the songs to match their stage presence; tunes such as the punky ‘IOU’, acoustic ballad ‘Wasted Heart’ and the crunching, Sabbath-inspired ‘Executioner’s Song’ are all particular highlights, while the less-impressive numbers are juxtaposed with renditions of ‘It’s So Easy’ and ‘Dust ‘N Bones’ that whip the Academy-filling audience into a joyous frenzy. By the time the band take their well-deserved leave, the atmosphere around Islington is one that seeps the kind of satisfaction that only idol-worship can attain. Loaded will never outshine the work that both Guns and Velvet Revolver have released over the past twenty years, but for now one Duff McKagan can rest assured that his reputation reaches far beyond that of a great bassist. He is a fucking good bassist though.


Reviewed by Merl Alderslade

Photography by Asif Salam & Daniel Gray