Guns 2 Roses, a Guns N’ Roses tribute band started by Cwmbran man Gavin Felvus, has sold out a comeback gig at the Congress Theatre, 18 years after they first appeared on the same stage.
Cwmbran Life interviewed frontman Gavin in 2012 and 2017. He told how his band has performed across the world at large festivals to crowds of 100,000 and estimates to have played Axl Rose over 1,000 times.
This Friday 28 April he is bringing Guns 2 Roses to his hometown theatre and the 312 tickets have been snapped up leading to the ‘sold out’ sign going up.
Gavin said: “Our first gig at the Congress Theatre was way back in 2005 on 5 September. It absolutely bombed ha ha. Guns 2 Roses had not long played three sellout dates at the famous Marquee Club and in London as well as various and my mindset was let’s say, very over-ambitious off the back of it.
“I had only left Cwmbran for London three years prior so thought it would be time for a hometown show. What I didn’t take into account however was that despite the band being big in London, very few people knew we existed in Cwmbran. This was before the days of social media so online promo was a no go and therefore the old-fashioned black and white poster flying was key.
“There was a small article in the Cwmbran Post newspaper but it didn’t really focus on the band or its concept. Tribute bands were still relatively new back then especially outside of London.
“We had just under 50 people in attendance that night. In September 2022, after 17 years almost to the day, I was in visiting Cwmbran with my aunt so decided to speak to the theatre manager Martyn and assumed we would be told ‘no’ for a return.
‘To my amazement, he said ‘yes’. We confirmed the new date. Unlike the original date, this has one sold out weeks in advance. Despite our success around the world from the UK to Europe, America, Middle East and India, the Cwmbran Congress Theatre was one of the few venues I’ve always wanted to host our show.
“The past year was an eventful one to say the least. Since the last time you (Cwmbran Life) covered us in April 2022 we had a very busy tour taking us all around the UK and into Poland, Spain and France. I sadly lost my mother Helen to cancer on 30 July just two weeks after diagnosis so a few concerts were cancelled so I could be with my family in Cwmbran. It was by far the most difficult period of my life to date and I did go off the rails badly for a good six months.
“I received tremendous support from friends and family both in Cwmbran and London however and gradually rebuilt myself back up there. The choice to come back to the Congress Theatre was inspired by this tragic loss and I will be dedicating the concert to my mother, as it was the venue I’d always wanted her to see me perform at. Many of her friends and family will be in attendance, including my father David and sister Robyn.
Watch Guns 2 Roses’ Gavin on Polish TV
“All this aside though the 2022 concerts were great with many festivals in the summer across the UK and Europe as well as my first debut as a presenter in Warsaw Poland which was questionable as I forgot all the words the script gave me, haha.
“So this Friday we will be performing a full concert with all the Guns N’ Roses hits from ‘Welcome to the Jungle’, ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’, ‘November Rain’ ‘Paradise City and many more. With this being a theatre production it will be a much larger production to anything we have done prior in Cwmbran.
“Not only that but we have the excellent Foo Fighters tribute coming up from Bridgend called The Foos Fighters. We’ve worked with them on occasion before and they’ve been superb. We will also be hosting an after-party following the Congress Theatre show at The Waterloo on Two Locks Road.”
Tickets
Contact the Congress Theatre for any ticket returns.
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