Hearts, Guns N’ Roses

 

“She’s got a smile that seems to me

Reminds me of childhood memories

Where everything was as fresh

As the bright blue sky

Now and then when I see her face

She takes me away to that special place

And if I stared too long,

I’d probably break down and cry….”

                                        (Sweet Child O’Mine, Guns N Roses)

 

It was 11 o’clock at night when Denis phoned and he was unapologetic:

“Listen man…. Laurent is coming and at the same weekend Guns N’ Roses are playing in Belgrade! So, no way that you can refuse that !…..”

He had a point …..

Denis Novak, one of the partners of the family owned Veterinary Clinic Novak – an institution not only in Serbia’s capital, but a place that over the years had been visited by all the Great and the Good in Companion Animal Veterinary Medicine, a disruptor and rethinker of veterinary continuing education on the Balkan and in many other Eastern European countries, a connoisseur of good rock music, addicted to dark fruit juices (preferably freshly squeezed blueberry juice) and authentic Italian pizzas (strictly limited to Margheritas), had – once again – an offer for me, that was impossible to resist.

Laurent Locquet, a fast rising star of veterinary cardiology, who, when not applying his trade at some of the UK’s finest veterinary referral clinics, can usually be found scanning the hearts of tigers, lions, chimpanzees and other more unusual creatures or designing smart phone applications to improve the cardiac care of both humans and animals, had – following some serious arm twisting by Denis – agreed to pass on some of his knowledge and skills of cardiac ultrasonography at Denis’ training facility near Belgrade. A free concert ticket had apparently been the ultimate argument….

Four weeks later, and I found myself together with Laurent and Denis right in the center of the crowd in-front of the stage at the Gun’s N Roses concert venue not far way from the Sava river…..

I have to admit, that I am not a great fan of large crowds, but once we had identified the place with the best acoustics, there wasn’t too much of a squeeze and fans who had travelled from around the world, were reassuringly polite and relaxed with each other.

Gun’s N Roses, like so many other groups that had come to fame and fortune at the end of the last century, were giving their career a final push this summer with another concert tour, possibly to show that they still “could do it !” and certainly to cash in ‘big time’ once again.

While some of these performances were of questionable merit and at some occasions provided extremely poor value for money, the same could not have been said for what Axl Rose and his band had install for us over the following three hours of non-stop performance…

40 years of repertoire were rolled out to an enthusiastic crowd, below a cloudless night sky. People of all ages were dancing to ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’, ‘Paradise City’, ‘Patience’ and ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ or to a few solo guitar performances by Slash or Duff McKagan.

This was rock music at its finest and some decades old T-shirts worn by die hard enthusiasts vouched for a lifelong love affair.

Axl Rose was drenched in sweat after the first hour. Slash’s guitars were exchanged faster than you could down a can of lager.

During the guitar intro of ‘Welcome to the Jungle’, the combined amplification of well beyond 100 000 watts appeared to make the loudspeakers glow red hot, putting a real strain on Belgrade’s electricity grid. As a result, the reverberation of the rhythm of the drums through the rib cages, the shredding on the guitars and the melodies of the lyrics massaged the thirsty ear drums of every lucky ticket holder in a thoroughly physical interaction with the music – something that only live performances are able to achieve.

What a night….

The next morning it was time for the performance of a veterinary ‘rock star’ supported by a happy band of Scottish Terriers.

Just outside of the capital, in a room equipped with padded examination tables and a number of ultrasound machines, Laurent took a group of veterinarians, that had arrived from all over Europe, on a ‘Tour de Force’ through the intricacies of cardiac ultrasonography.

While the dogs visibly enjoyed the stroking and the constant attention, every little details of their hearts were measured, the function of their valves was assessed, the ratio of the diameters and the volumes of different chambers were compared and the velocity and the direction of their blood circulation was displayed in vibrant colours on the adjacent monitors.

Once again the ears were tuned, this time to the rhythm of pulse waves that were entering and exiting canine hearts.

While Laurent didn’t need to break the same amount of sweat as Axl Rose the previous night, his performance left an equally lasting impression on his audience and in addition, one that is likely to benefit dogs with failing hearts for many years to come….

 

‘Cause nothin’ lasts forever

And we both know hearts can change

And it’s hard to hold a candle

In the cold November rain’

                        (November Rain, Guns N Roses)