The Guns N' Roses/Velvet Revolver Thread

[SteveAJones]

I like to get to a place early for the best standing room or just to beat the crowd.

Although the main floor at their Seoul, Korea concert was general admission (standing), the ticket holders had to form up outside the venue according to ticket number first 30 to 60 mins before doors opening. So there were roughly ten lines with 500 people in each line. Line 1 with ticket holders 0001-0500 Right Side was let in first...and so on...then Line 1 0001-0500 Left Side and so on (the main floor was divided in half).

Apparently, most of the big concerts in Seoul are handled this way. In theory it encourages people to buy their general admission ticket early (to get a low-numbered ticket) and eliminates the need for anyone with a general admission (standing) to arrive more than an hour prior to doors opening. In reality, non-Korean acts such as Guns n Roses draw a lot of non-Hangul speaking/reading attendees who end up frustrated and confused when they realize or are informed by security the line they have formed hours in advance is meaningless.

If anything, it was easily the most controlled, if not conformist entry to a rock concert I've ever experienced. That's not to say it was as well-managed and widely understood as it should have been.

Edited January 26, 2010 by SteveAJones

[Juliet]

Hi:

The review I read was on-line ..I could not find the review in the actual paper nor were there any pics..

Now if they had started at the proper time, the paper might have done a hard copy review and pics for the band and their fans to show the grandkids!!!!

Juliet

PS I also don't think it's fair that the band went past midnight because the London city buses don't run all night..people have to get up and go to work or students have to go to school..SHAME ON YOU AXL...

PSS There's a classy restaurant at The JLC ..I saw the menu..wow...ladida,Axl...Aren't we livin' the high life...appetizers,entrees,fancy deserts...I usually eat at a fast food place with the locals before a JLC show..that high class food gives me gas!!!!

[sailor86]

I liked G'n'R first album alot, but after that they didn't do anything really for me, I saw them at Donington 1988 and they were good, a fan died in the middle of their set due to a crowd surge at the front and the speaker tower or something collapsed !!

Velvet revolver on the otherhand I like alot,, From what I have heard it really rocks.

Stone temple pilots was a fave band of mine so having their singer with Slash works well me thinks !!!!

I rather liked Use Your Illusion I & II. They seem to have matured their sound quite a bit. And as a live band, they really stunk in the early days. Slash is a phenom guitarist. A real original. Real unique style sonically and visually.

[sailor86]

When Slash left, half of the band was gone, IMO. I'm not a very big fan, but I often listen to the Greatest Hits album (and sometimes Appetite for Destruction). One of my favorite songs are Don't cry, Sweet Child O' Mine, Knocking on Heaven's Door and Patience.

they have a greatest hits album? Didn't know that.

[sailor86]

I hate when people say that. If it weren't for Axl Rose, none of us would know Slash's name.

Axl is Guns n Roses.

I think that's like saying we wouldn't know Keith Richards if it weren't for Mick. Axl and Slash complemented each other well. I don't believe either would have made it as far without the other.

As far as Velvet Revolver is concerned, Weyman is a dark character. I can only take him in doses. Too depressing at times.

[SteveAJones]

I also don't think it's fair that the band went past midnight because the London city buses don't run all night..people have to get up and go to work or students have to go to school..SHAME ON YOU AXL...

I've been an after midnight type since I was sneakin' out of my house in Jr. High. With old Guns we preferred 12am or so. When we moved to theaters etc obviously that changes but it's never changed inside me. Doesn't matter what I do so generally that's when I'm more myself. This isn't to mess with anyone that has an early schedule to keep it's just personal preference.

As far as being late, I've been that way my whole life. It drove Izzy crazy but he would check himself and freely admit I was generally actually doing something that had to get done rather than watching basketball etc.

Axl Rose via NewGnR.com

Edited January 27, 2010 by SteveAJones

[Juliet]

I've been an after midnight type since I was sneakin' out of my house in Jr. High. With old Guns we preferred 12am or so. When we moved to theaters etc obviously that changes but it's never changed inside me. Doesn't matter what I do so generally that's when I'm more myself. This isn't to mess with anyone that has an early schedule to keep it's just personal preference.

As far as being late, I've been that way my whole life. It drove Izzy crazy but he would check himself and freely admit I was generally actually doing something that had to get done rather than watching basketball etc.

Axl Rose via NewGnR.com

Steve Jones:

What is this? I mean who is this? Did the real Axl Rose read my post and reply?

If so I would like to say....Mr. Rose ..I shall not embasrrass you by giving the stats on how many people were at your gig in London...however we both know it was not a full house...I would re-evaluate your policy and procedures if you want better attendance...and start on time for your fans...not for you...

Juliet

PS HAVE A GREAT SHOW IN TORONTO ON THURSDAY NIGHT AT THE ACC...

[sailor86]

Guns n Roses - Saskatoon - January 19, 2010

Axl's got a variety of "voices". That screechy one he uses in "Michelle" is just grating to me. He's got his ups and he's got his downs.

[Juliet]

Guns n Roses - John Labatt Centre - London, Ontario

January 25, 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AucYM3pjWDw

Thanks, Steve....wish I could have been there...despite the late Mr.Rose..

Juliet

PS My earlier comments are because I'm overprotective by nature...I would hate to see him lose a gig due to lateness...so far...he's still being hired...I'd be fired if I was 1-2 hrs late for work..

[SteveAJones]

My earlier comments are because I'm overprotective by nature...I would hate to see him lose a gig due to lateness...so far...he's still being hired...I'd be fired if I was 1-2 hrs late for work..

It's Axl's world, we just live in it. Actually, when he failed to show in Philadelphia a few years ago a disturbance broke out

and the remainder of the North American tour was cancelled. I'm relieved to see the Canadien tour has gone off without

any significant problems. Of course, it ain't over yet.

[SteveAJones]

Axl Rose Autographs Guitar in Toronto

[Juliet]

News at 6 on CITY TV (TORONTO) RE. ACC SHOW

GUESS WHO WAS LATE AGAIN LAST NIGHT?

It's unfortunate valuable airtime was wasted with Axl's behavior...

FYI....CITY TV has had cutbacks...there's no longer noon news..I am more interested in the welfare of those wonderful news people...

So next time Axl.......**** and*#*#*....

[SteveAJones]

Axl Rose Mentions Jimmy Page Onstage in Toronto

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=V7gi3X1HJFY

Trailer Park Boys:

http://en.wikipedia....ailer_Park_Boys

Bubbles

Bubbles is the heart and soul of Sunnyvale, not to mention the smartest person in the park. He loves his best friends Julian and Ricky, cats, shopping carts, the music of Rush, truck-driving, spaceships and this year adds model trains to the list. If it were up to him Bubbles would lead a quiet life in the park. Unfortunately, he’s constantly getting caught up in Julian and Ricky’s schemes and is afraid they – or even he – will go to jail again. The start of season seven sees Bubbles more frustrated than ever with the boys and as the season goes on it’s clear he’s reached the breaking point.

Mike Smith:

Mike Smith was born and raised in Thorburn, Nova Scotia.

Mike worked on the US cable pilot called Espia as writer and musical director and appeared as Bubbles in the music video Legal by Canadian artist Snow. He also appeared with Robb Wells (Ricky) and John Paul Tremblay (Julian) in The Tragically Hip’s music video, The Darkest One, featuring Don Cherry. Just before that, Mike joined Robb and John Paul on a cross-Canada tour with the musical group, Our Lady Peace. In 2004, Mike (as Bubbles) played guitar and sang Closer to the Heart with Rush for a tsunami benefit concert televised by CBC.

Edited January 30, 2010 by SteveAJones

[SteveAJones]

Edited January 30, 2010 by SteveAJones

[SteveAJones]

Guns N' Roses show worth the wait

By JANE STEVENSON, Toronto Sun

Last Updated: 29th January 2010, 11:44am

How do you know you're at a Guns N' Roses concert?

You have to wait a really long time for the show begin.

And so it went on Thursday night at the Air Canada Centre as a crowd of about 21,000 waited for frontman Axl Rose to begin just over two hours past the scheduled start time - would you believe at 11:25 p.m.? - following sets by homegrown opening acts Danko Jones and Sebastian Bach.

Somebody needs to grease Axl's wheels. Seriously.

Of course, waiting for the 47-year-old Rose is nothing new.

He made fans wait some 17 years for the latest GN'R release of original music, Chinese Democracy, which came out in November 2008, and for which Rose is currently touring the world, including some 13 dates in Canada in January and February.

While fans cooled their heels at the ACC, women in the stands - either in various states of undress or making out with each other - were shown to huge cheers but time dragged on and there were boos as the crowd's impatience grew.

By the time Rose and the latest lineup of Gunners - guitarists Richard Fortus, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal and DJ Ashba, keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman, drummer Frank Ferrer and one-time Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson - opened with Chinese Democracy's title track, it felt underwhelming.

Especially since Rose made his entrance in a wheelchair, wearing a black fedora over his red scarf and sunglasses (the fedora and glasses he eventually ditched), his blond hair now shoulder length and sporting a moustache, dressed in an unbuttoned shirt and jeans with a large cross and heavy necklaces adorning his chest.

"Sorry about the time delay," said Rose after that first song. "We got a little carried away .... last night. But anyway, we're here."

He even joked later that some local deejay had predicted the band wouldn't go on until 2 a.m.

"I'm early," he cracked.

Thankfully, Rose and company got the crowd quickly on side with the second song, an explosion-heavy version of the GN'R classic Welcome To The Jungle.

Other song highlights were no surprise: A fiery, explosion-laced version of Live and Let Die; the GN'R signature song, Sweet Child O' Mine featuring stellar guitar work by Ashba; the heartfelt ballad November Rain with Rose at the piano; the propulsive You Could Be Mine; a great cover of Bob Dylan's Knockin' On Heaven's Door that included an audience singalong; the anthemic Night Train and the show-ending Paradise City complete with more explosions pink confetti and silver streamers. (It's 1:55 a.m when they finally leave the stage although Axl returns to take a bow with his band and distribute shots to some people in the crowd and throw flowers out into the audience.)

Less effective was much of the Chinese Democracy material save for the soulful mid-tempo rocker Street Of Dreams; the dramatic power ballads Madagascar and This I Love, the latter featuring Rose standing on top of Reed's piano.

On the plus side, Rose proved to be a non-stop man in motion, constantly running around his enormous stage that was adorned with large video screens and lighting columns, two circular staircases, three mini-catwalks, and elevating platforms for the guitarists to play on.

He also performed his trademark side-to-side dance moves and stomped his right leg so hard, it's no wonder he kept running off to a little black tent at the side of the stage where he changed his sweat-soaked shirts.

Rose was generous frontman too, sharing the spotlight with nearly all of his musicians who were given extended solos with special mention to Reed on a mirrored grand piano and the heavily-tattooed Ashba on a glittery black guitar.

Axl even performed his own instrumental piano medley of Elton John songs.

So far the best reported sidebar about this tour is that the Rose has banned Guns N' Roses fans from wearing Slash T-shirts or top hats (I'm pretty sure Ashba was symbolically wearing a squished one) at the shows.

The incredibly silly move has been denied by Rose's camp even though TMZ claims a member of the concert security team has confirmed it.

Rose and Slash has been at odds since the guitarist left GN'R in 1996 and then wrote about their feud in his 2007 autobiography.

Someone will have to ask the former GN'R axeman, who will release a solo album later this year, what he makes of it all when the guitarist shows up at Canadian Music Week in Toronto in mid-March to be a keynote speaker and play some tunes.

Or not.

Can't we all just get along?

RATING: 3.5 out of 5

Edited January 30, 2010 by SteveAJones

[Juliet]

Hi Steve amd others...

Oh boy,...it's cold today,eh? -15 (Celcius).....more or less the same temp in Ottawa to? It's cold enough to freeze Axl's axles ...but it's a dry cold....dry enough to dry up Axl's axles I hope

In any case....I've been checking the Music week's site...no sign of Mr. Rose speaking...I see that his former fellow bandmate Slash will be there though http://www.cmw.net/

Juliet

PS Bubbles and TPB (National treasures)....I bet their show always starts on time,eh?

PSS I always thought Axl's speaking voice would be higher

Edited January 30, 2010 by Juliet

[SteveAJones]

Guns N Roses: Welcome back to the jungle

Axl Rose brings his reformed Guns N' Roses back to Montreal on Wednesday, Jan. 27 for the first time since his infamous 1992 Big O show that left rioting and looting in its wake

Mark Lepage, Canwest News Service

National Post

Published: Monday, January 25, 2010

Do you know where you are?!?!

You are in early 2010. Ready for the longest-delayed makeup gig in rock.

Guns N' Roses have backstory everywhere, but they have a ... special history in Montreal. Plenty of Guns, no Roses. But take the long view: the Big O events of August 1992 were presaged years earlier, and confirmed every step of the way, with every release, every tour, every spittle-flecked pronouncement from singer, leader, Last Man Standing and GNR President for Life W. Axl Rose.

Hey, you knew what he was like when you married him.

Flashback: You are in the Verdun Auditorium in 1987, where headliners the Cult relax backstage while shirtless, sweat-gleaming hellions race from end to end of the stage. Slash races one way, brandishing a Les Paul like a weapon while Rose shrieks "They're out ta get me!!" into the echobox of a venue. Sweet Child O' Mine is still just an evil twinkle in the eye of the mass audience, but these unknown miscreants are not your parents' metalheads. The review is somewhere in cyberspace, something on the order of "this band will be huge if they survive."

That night, Guns N' Roses announced the arrival of hard-rock modernism in Montreal, and the end of metal romanticism. No more dragons, demons and damsels. The Hollywood street rats injected the real – a seedy punk docu-dramedy detailing the victimization of the young by urban predators, drugs, violence, streetwalking succubi and the city itself – screeched with schadenfreude glee by a strawberry-blonde hayseed-turned-antihero. "Watch it bring you to your knees / I wanna watch you bleed!"

Who was this guy? He had a voice like a cobra that seemed to coil within it every warped, furtive, livid sentiment. Here, we would have the herald of the new heartland dysfunction, announcing the revenge of the children. And with Appetite for Destruction, we had a glimpse at justification for his future megalomania. Rose was a mini rock revolutionary, as singular in his way as Cobain was in his. In all the ugly, overamped realism, Rose was the FX.

Of course, with the real came the volatile. Rose may have been the latest offender to believe there was no-such-thing-as-bad-publicity, but as the years unfolded, he proved not to be acting, but acting out. These were genuine psycho-emotional wounds, and the press was eager to give them ink.

Endearingly, we still had the capacity for shock and outrage in 1988 when One In A Million delivered a catalogue of right-wing resentments, not only against cops but "immigrants," "f***ots" and "n***ers." Youtube is scattered with videos of an agitated Rose delivering onstage diatribes against the hustlers and pervs who abused him as a runaway, and he would frame the song as a personal plaint rather than manifesto ... which altered not at all the fact that he was enacting a classic victim-on-victim dogfight to the secret glee of the true oppressors.

And before Marilyn Manson, there was the real one, Charles, who finally landed that "record deal" in a sense when Rose covered his song Look At Your Game, Girl on The Spaghtti Incident in 1993.

And so, instead of a saviour rising from the streets, an avenger – or rather, a scourge. In the zany early '90s, Rose was the perceived rival/opposite of Kurt Cobain, a conflict spurred in no small measure by the Widder Cobain, Courtney Love. In actuality, his opposite was Bono. One here to redeem, one with a heart full of hate intent on making you feel his pain.

And you would.

Do you know where you are?!?!

Flashback: You are in the Big O on August 8, 1992, 53,000 of you, anticipating a seven-hour riffathon. And seven hours you would get.

At the time, a friendly Slash had told The Gazette that neither medical issues – Rose had a hole in a vocal cord – nor the band's "typhoon of chaos" could derail GNR's first-ever headline gig here.

"It's very much like that. It's great for variety, hunh?" he'd laughed.

Boom! Metallica's James Hetfield is headed to hospital with second-and-third-degree burns to his hands and face after a pyrotechnics misfire. And speaking of misfires ...

Rose and Guns N' Roses take the stage 135 minutes later, far too long after the abbreviated Metallica set. Rose is visibly disturbed, radiating his disorder vibe. The following day's review ran:

Rose seemed agitated after the first few songs of the set, perhaps at a crowd that received the music enthusiastically but did not go ballistic.

Whatever the reasons, Rose followed a doper's blues version of Bad Obsession with a speech about how the band had honed its act on a seven-week tour of Europe just to have it all fall apart last night.

"In case anybody here is interested," Rose said, "this will be our last show for a long time."

Cue the self-destruction as fans bonfire their own souvenir T-shirts, and the real destruction that follows, spilling into the cavernous corridors and out into the east end streets:

They overturned garbage containers, smashed concession stands, tables and a car in a glass display case.

One young girl was injured when she was slammed through a glass display case by the departing crowd. She was later taken away on a stretcher.

About 200 security guards cordoned off the crowd, extinguishing flames, forming a line and shepherding the fans toward the exits.

Olympic Stadium's screens flashed the message: "The show is cancelled. Please check the media for news."

The trouble spilled out on to the street where midnight ramblers overturned a police cruiser, lit trash can fires, smashed car windshields and slashed tires.

A phalanx of riot-equipped police took up positions on Pierre de Coubertin St. on the south side of the stadium.

In the post-show recriminations, it was important to remember, as I wrote at the time, that "Some (most of whom were not there) saw scary TV news footage of kids throwing rocks and jousting with police, heard tales of teens trashing concession stands and stealing Expos caps. Others saw a reaffirmation, albeit a twisted one, of the very power that makes rock 'n' roll music our truest, realest art form."

Mainly, after the ugliness, lack of apology and $400,000 in Big O damage, the OIB banned the group for life.

Scant weeks later, U2 is in the Big O, four songs into the set. "What time is it?" Bono asks the crowd. "We gotta go ..." The crowd gets it – haha, a GNR reference. And as the band opens into One, Bono head-shakingly mutters "Axl ..." So there's another twist in their "relationship": Bono as dad, ruefully watching the angry teen blow up his life.

And then – where does the time go? 14 Years that are gone forever / and I'll never have again. Who knew that in the GNR lexicon, that wasn't just a song but a time frame? Fourteen-odd years between Use Your Illusion and Chinese Democracy. In a preface to its release, I noted the cultural touchstones we had welcomed in that span: Pentium processors, MacBook, iPod, Blackberry, Segway, Viagra, Google, Yahoo, Youtube – hell, the Internet.

But perhaps to his credit, Rose once again needed to make an album that was bigger than hard rock or genre itself. When he could have made Welcome Back, Jungle in two years and wallpapered every Hollywood whorehouse with Benjamin Franklins, he went through half a lifetime, zillions of studio dollars, half that in whiz-bang guitarists and a dozen false release dates to release an album that bears forth a few great songs (Better, IRS) and the unavoidable bombast of something so delayed and overcooked it had to be Who's Next Calling The Stairway to justify the wait and hype.

And to his discredit, he cannot simply have been motivated by some sublime Joycean artistic fire. The thing he needed the album to be bigger than was his ego.

It's been awhile since the real Rose had to smell spicy buffalo wings in the air as he took the stage. But here we are in Times Square, in BB King's Blues Club, anticipating November Rain in mid-January.

Why not ease into Wednesday's real GNR gig with a little artifice? Here in BB King's supper-club venue, cover bands are a staple: Black Dog, Tramps Like Us, Bobby and the Jets ... Tonight, featuring a fat Slash and a doughy rest of the band, November Rain pays tribute to GNR.

"Good evening New York City. Hey, we're New York City boys arselves" says not-Axl, using a southern accent for some secret tribute-band reason. And it soon becomes apparent which members of a rock tour they resemble: they look like roadies.

Their version of Mr. Brownstone is respectable. Paradise City is lugubrious and missing the high, frenzied edge. During Live and Let Die, some guy at the bar asks me if they're lip-synching.

But then, after Don't Cry, something remarkable. November Rain is cranking through the incred-ugly riff of Welcome to the Jungle to a solid response when a girl's friends somehow compel her onstage. Awkward and in braces, she's up there with no moves whatsoever, beaming with a tremulous confusion of over-adrenalin and please-let-me-hide. She waves her arms nerdishly behind fat Slash in a parody of rock 'n' roll ecstacy ... but then begins to open to the moment, to feel her place on the stage, to enjoy, and suddenly we have a cover-band revelation.

All the glamour and pretense dissolve as a band of non-Guns crunch through their long-lapsed dream of stardom while a girl has her gawky epiphany onstage, stripping away the veneer of cool to reveal the need and desire that power the rock 'n' roll lust-dream. It may be a beautiful accident. But this is no illusion. These Xeroxes are delivering the real thing.

Back on Earth, what will Rose do? Some fans from their last Montreal headline gig have their own teenage kids (and second mortgages) now. What they never had was their GNR moment. Reviews of this latest leg of the real GNR tour, which opened in Winnipeg, have been positive. A thorough, expansive, professional performance, ending with explosions and Rose's "We love you." Equal parts Guns, and Roses. And 17 years after the interruption, Montreal deserves at least that.

Guns N' Roses, with opening acts Danko Jones and Sebastian Bach, perform Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010 at Montreal's Bell Centre. Tickets are $49.50 to $84.50 (plus service charges) and are available via geg.ca or by calling 514-790-1245.

http://www.nationalp...html?id=2483064

Edited January 30, 2010 by SteveAJones

[SteveAJones]

Guns n' Roses Perform Led Zeppelin in Montreal

Guns N' Roses rock Montreal fans

By Mark Lepage, The Gazette, January 28, 2010

MONTREAL - There's waiting, and then there's waiting.

There's a teenage lifetime of dashed expectations, a lot of Patience, and an eventual 10:30 start time attending some kind of payment on an old debt.

And there's Axl Rose, so toss the script aside and let's see what flag we're flying when we take 'er home.

Guns N' Roses finally made it back to Montreal, 17 years after a Big O riot, minus all other original members save the singer. But there would be no angry recriminations, or formal addressing of a past event that many in the crowd only heard about from their tattoed parents or older siblings. There would be a huge three-guitar arena show for just under 12,000, with enough happy pyro for a Vegas New Year's Eve, a run through the hard rock touchstones from a 28-million-selling debut album, and the professionalism and honest rock'n'roll bonhomie we've come to expect from Axl Rose.…

But the surprises would mark this as something else, something unexpected: witty musical nods to Elton John, Henry Mancini and the Immigrant Song , a self-deprecating story about being winded, a reference to Kid Rock, sly references to 17 years ago, a masterfully-avoided apology, a song called Sorry, and 2 ½ hours of what can only be described as a likeable Axl Rose earning a barely-qualified win in the Bell Centre.

Let's get to the explosions.

They came early, late and often. Chinese Democracy opened with a guitarist (either DJ Ashba or Richard Fortus) riffing atop the drum/keyboard riser, Axl running out in pin-striped shirt, jeans and fedora as the pyro went off. The stuttering guitar of Welcome to the Jungle brought the crowd up, Rose striking his fire-eater pose with the mic. It's So Easy brought more kabooms, bassist Tommy Stinson taking backing vocals. Still, there was a sense of much to live up to, or live down.

After Mr. Brownstone, Axl said "I think I recognize some of you… yeah, that's right. That's right."

It might be reading too much into the ballad that followed – Sorry – but who can blame us?

During Live and Let Die, you noticed he was beefier (but who isn't?).

During Street of Dreams, his Bruce-anthem move, you could finally confirm that either the screech-yowl had lost some puissance in the lower register, or the mic wasn't picking it up. I'll actually lean toward the latter, because for all Axl's mini-exits during guitar solos (three of 'em, including Ron Bumblefoot Thal's speedfingers Pink Panther) for quick offstage shirt-changes (about six of 'em), his energy never flagged.

And incredibly, neither did his humour. You know what's funny? Those snake-hipped moves and stomps seemed fun rather than angry now.

You know what else is funny? The story Axl told about being chased by cops and mistaken for Kid Rock while trying to get into an MTV Awards ceremony.

At about this point, the pacing seemed off, as Rose began trimming songs from the set list – a good half dozen of them by my sheet.

The late start? Some warning about the Metro closing at 1 a.m.? No idea, but that set list was flipped around. The burbling If the World was a brave choice in this arena/hard rock context, but then, that was the point of all this band-recreation and endless recording, wasn't it?

Better was as remarkable live as on record, revealing Stinson to be the absolute anchor of this band of whiz-bang guitarists. Rose keyed on him, drawing energy or balance from the former Replacements member.

You Could Be Mine brought the first crowd explosion, and justly so.

Sweet Child O' Mine brought the next. And the friendly, lighthearted demeanour proved to be genuine. When he segued from an oblique reference to a ridiculous press rumour about top hats being banned at GNR shows into "You fuckers just like to tear shit up, doncha? That's okay, I get that way myself sometimes," you realized he had just kinda referred to the Big O while somehow bonding with the crowd and blaming no one – including, especially himself. And you were in the presence of stagecraft brilliance.

Naturally, he had to almost blow it. After the whistlin' Patience, after Out Ta Get Me (kablammo!) and Night Train, a ballad-heavy encore had some fans heading for the exits.

When they finally pulled into Paradise City terminus at 1 a.m. (!), all those fans came streaming back to see Axl draping himself in a Fleur-de-Lis flag to the biggest roar of the night, tossing a whistle into the crowd, and kicking and roaring and beaming his way to the front of the stage. The fans had their moment, Axl had his, and it had only taken 17 years and 2 ½ hours.

http://www.canada.co...4249/story.html

Edited January 30, 2010 by SteveAJones

[SteveAJones]

Guns 'n Roses - Bell Centre in Montreal - January 27, 2010

All photos: Vincenzo D'Alto (The Gazette, Montreal)

[SteveAJones]

Guns 'n Roses - Copps Coliseum in Hamilton - Jan 24, 2010

Axl worth the wait

Grand show despite 10:30 start

Axl Rose and the latest version of Guns and Roses put on a powerful - albeit

late-starting - show at Copps Sunday night. Photo Credit: Ron Bernardo

Graham Rockingham

The Hamilton Spectator

January 25, 2010 When the NFC championship game went into overtime, the Guns N' Roses fans standing in the bar area of Copps Coliseum knew it was going to be a long night. They figured Axl Rose was probably doing the same thing they were – watching the game on the nearest TV.

It was already past 10 p.m. and the opening bands – two spirited Canadian cowbell bangers called Danko Jones and Sebastian Bach – had finished their sets a while ago.

When would Guns N' Roses actually take the stage?

The question had been at the back of everyone's mind since the doors of Copps Coliseum opened at 7 p.m. It was a reasonable one, considering Axl's notorious reputation for late starts and occasional no-shows. He has actually developed tardiness into a form of stage schtick. Real fans knew what to expect. But it was Sunday night, after all, and more than a few of devotees had made the mistake of bringing their bleary-eyed children. (What were they thinking?)

Mercifully, the Saints finished off the Vikings in short order. Guns N' Roses fans downed their beers and proceeded back to their seats. It wasn't until 10:30 p.m. that the lights finally dimmed and the rock 'n' roll spectacular known as a Guns N' Roses concert finally got under way.

All eyes focused on Axl as the band struck up the opening chords of Chinese Democracy, the title song of the album he inexplicably struggled for more than 15 years to complete. Thank goodness his hair had been freed from the cornrows he had sported on earlier tours. His thinning hair poked out under a black fedora, red kerchief and dark sunglasses. His striped shirt was unbuttoned enough to show a large crucifix guarding his chest hairs.

Axl looked good for a 47-year-old rocker. His trademark falsetto screech sounded even better.

So it was surprising to see only about 5,500 people in attendance for what turned out to be an outstanding two-and-a-half-hour performance. The upper tier of Copps was curtained off and there were empty seats in the back of the bottom tier. This band, in another incarnation featuring a guitarist named Slash, had once been at the top of world. Perhaps 15 years is just too long for some fans to wait.

Naturally, Axl was the centre of attention. All the other original band members have long since fled to other bands. But it didn't take long to realize Axl had assembled a highly skilled seven-piece set of replacements to back him.

Three lead guitarists flashed notes around the hockey rink like there was no tomorrow. Richard Fortus scowled through his greasy hair and slung his guitar low, à la Keith Richards. Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal favoured a double-kneck model, à la Jimmy Page.

The band's newest star on guitar, DJ Ashba, sported a sparkly Gibson and crowned his head with a black top-hat (not quite as tall as the one Slash used to fashion with the GNR, but close). All three were granted spotlight solos, as did piano player Dizzy Reed. Axl seemed to be proving a point. He could get by fine without the old band, thanks.

With the help of a pyrotechnic battery, they burned their way through much of the Chinese Democracy album, interspacing it with old faithfuls like Sweet Child o' Mine, Welcome to the Jungle and Night Train, as well as a couple of covers (Paul McCartney's Live and Let Die, and Bob Dylan's Knockin' on Heaven's Door). Axl pranced and preened, tossing his microphone stand around like it was a drum major's baton. He worked up a big enough sweat to force at least five shirt changes. All the while, the guitar onslaught continued. It was a grand show.

Still, it would have been better if GNR had started a little earlier. The crowd wasn't quite as perky at 1 a.m. for the Paradise City grand finale as it could have been. Maybe it's time for Axl to change his schtick. His fans are growing older, too. And few can keep his privileged hours.

http://thespec.com/E.../article/711289

Edited January 30, 2010 by SteveAJones

[Juliet]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_azqp1799T0

Steve:

Thanks...

I've been checking the GnR Facebook page to assess the comments made by fans who have seen the gigs...there's one for the JLC gig in London...once I get beyond the "f" word I find that no one seemed to object to the late start..so I conclude that I may be too sensitive and/or old...I'll chose the former but in reality it's both descriptors!!!

I notice Axl isn't wearing the same hair style as seen in the promo shot..his stage "do" is loose and unkempt whereas in the promo shot his hair is tied back in neat braids. In the promo pic he looks like he's constipated and/or in pain...sometimes those conditions can be one and the same..

Juliet

PS In any case..I commend the fact that he chose the Canadian band Danko Jones as a suppporting act, he added London to his tour schedule for the GnR fans in this area and he brought his tour not only to Canada but into a snowbelt where last year we had one of the worst winters I can remember...

PSS Have a great show in the nation's capital tomorrow eve..I hope people show up...it's the Grammys tomorrow night,eh?

Edited January 30, 2010 by Juliet

[Juliet]

Hey GnR fans:

I see that it's not as cold today in Ontario...so hopefully Ottawa fans won't be too cold if they go to and from GNR's gig tonight...I believe there's one more gig (Quebec city)before heading to the East coast

Do you know what famous person or should I say animal lives on the East coast?...I'll give you a hint..He I mean it will make an appearance on Feb 2..If he sees his shadow there's six more weeks of winter. If he doesn't he will be 2 hours late for a GnR gig

Juliet

Edited January 31, 2010 by Juliet

[Juliet]

HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY

I was watching the CBC news from Halifax...Shubenacadie Sam saw his shadow....so there's six more weeks of winter...

Even though the band doesn't play tonight...they are on their way if not already in the Maritimes...let's hope Sam and his followers take in a gig...however I assume he's gone back into his warm hollow to wait for spring..

Juliet

PS HAVE FUN MARITIME GNR FANS...

[Juliet]

Steve:

Ahhhhhh that tweet from Axl is so sweet....now if I had only gone to the London show he could have added London to his list...I will never listen to the weather network again and be scared to travel because of an impending Colorado low....however I'm in a snow belt and I know just how fierce snow squalls or storms can be...I just can't risk it...next time I'll charter a limosine or bobsled and let someone or something else do the driving...I'm feeling so sad I missed Axl's show...

In any case I see that tonight is the last Canadian gig then it's off to South America....I wish the next leg of the tour to go well...

Good-bye, adieu, adios Axl, band members and crew...have a great show tonight, a good rest before you take the roof off of the next venue

Juliet xo

[SteveAJones]

The Artistry of Axl Rose: Chinese Democracy

Axl Rose Vocal Track - Shackler's Revenge

http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

Note this rare studio recording contains some brief passages of silence.

Axl Rose Vocal Track - Prostitute

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=GMt9bHiFTIE

Note this rare studio recording contains some brief passages of silence.

Edited February 5, 2010 by SteveAJones