Post by scurvekano on Jul 20, 2006 20:21:39 GMT
This review can be found on my blog (http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MID=367137231&MemberId=8658671), but I'm putting it here for people to read at their leisure. Enjoy! 
"Last night, I went to see Guns N' Roses in the Metro Arena in Newcastle. Well, I say "Guns N' Roses"- it's not really, it's Axl and the session musicians he's managed to scam into supporting him. Most of whom look young enough to be his sons. Though, to be fair, Izzy Stradlin did make an appearance, and Dizzy's been in the band since the early ninties, so it wasn't a complete farce, but one gets the impression that it isn't really GnR without teh Slash. And the guy replacing him (who's been in the band a grand total of 2 weeks) looks like he escaped from a Masquerade LARP, just stopping to nick Slash's hat...
Anyway, we all know GnR ain't what they were. What about the show? Well, Sebastian Bach opened- I've never heard of him, but he's pretty cool. Very "true". Then we get Bullet for my Valentine. Oh dear. Well, they suck (sufering from Trivium Syndrome- they sound okay untill they open their mouths), and it's the last I'll be hearing from them. They pack in, and the audience waits half an hour for GnR.
At least that was the plan. They were due onstage for 9:30. They weren't on 'til 10:20- nearly AN HOUR AND A HALF after BFMV finished. And of course, this was the hottest day of the year. And it was very warm. Very. Warm. Calls for the band to start followed after half an hour, but even a singalong to TNT couldn't quiet the crowd. Eventually it resulted in booing, and I half expected/hoped for (hehe, "expected.Slash.hoped"...) a riot. Some of the chants were somewhat unkind:
"Axl is a wanker, ooh aah ooh aah!"
"Axlllllllllll is a ginger c***!" (to a well known football chant)
"We want Rose and Friends!"
"Who are ya!"
And some of the were a bit close to the mark. And funny:
"Velvet Revolver!"
"We want Slash!"
Likewise, the theories behind the band's absence amused me somewhat- the common theory being that Mr. Rose was having a shit/wank/wobbler over the colour of his dressing room wallpaper.
But then the lights dimmed, and the opening to Welcome To The Jungle began. And all was forgiven. Seeing Axl appear on stage in a blaze of fireworks and feeling the crowd rush forward, fists in the air, was probably the greatest non-Leila related thrill I've had thus far this year.
Because if you take Slash and Co. out of GnR, and replace them with some (admittedly capable) session players, what's left? Axl Rose, a great showman; awesome pyrotechnics; and one of the great Rock catalogues- Appetite for Destruction is an awesome album, not matter who's playing it. And the audience new every song perfectly, sang along and danced for as long as they could in the heat (most were soon topless- including yours truly).
In case you want to know what the track listing was, here it is as best as I remember:
Welcome to the Jungle
It's So Easy
Mr. Brownstone
Live and Let Die
Solo by Guitarist Who Isn't Slash
Sweet Child O Mine
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Piano Solo by Dizzy Reed
Out Ta Get Me
You Could Be Mine
Patience
You're Crazy
It's so Easy
Solo by Second Gutarist Who Isn't Slash
Solo by Izzy Stradlin
November Rain
My Michelle
Nightrain
Now admittedly I'm not the biggest GnR fan in the world. And admittedly I only have two of their albums- Appetite and their "Greatest Hits" (i.e. Appetite plus November Rain). And okay, I didn't recognise every song, so not each song is up there, but it seems to me that a certain album was somewhat overrepresented, with seven songs (notably Paradise City was absent- maybe Axl's sick of it...). Okay, it's an awesome album, but I shouldn't need one album to recognise most songs at a live concert. it just looks like a band mired in the past, unable to progress- when Axl sings "where do we go know" in Sweet Child O Mine, the question is relevant- where does GnR go now? Apparently Chinese Democracy might get released this autumn (gosh!), and whilst there is no reason to suggest tis time he means it, there are some grounds for optimism: the current lineup isn't terrible- it's been stable since the nineties; at least one former member (Izzy) is willing to be seen alongside Axl; and whilst Rose's voice isn't quite what it once was, he still has awesome stage presence. If only they could convince Slash to come back, one gets the feeling GnR need not be declared dead. They can still put on a truly breathtaking show.
The only thing that seem to sully what was otherwise a truly fantastic night was that Axl doesn't seem to respect his fans- the band didn't really acknowledge the audience- no "hello, Newcastle", or even any attempt to talk to the audeince, apart from an ill-advised joke with a Brown Ale (only tourists drink Brown Ale...) when introducing Izzy, untill the very end, when, halfway through Nightrain, Axl stopped the performance and stormed off stage with the band, declaring the performance over, beacuse someone threw something on stage- you'd think after two decades of rock, he'd be used to things chucked at him, but instead, he threw a hissy fit and only returned a minute later when the audience stamped their feet and apologised for the behaviour of an individual. Despitte the brilliance of his past work and the still considerable potential withn him, it seems that Axl Rose is his own worst enemy- his diva ways just serve to alienate fans and band members, fuel press speculation and confirm everyone's worst suspicions about him. Which is a shame.
Any chance of forming a band with Dave Mustaine and Jon Schafer? No? Pity..."
"Last night, I went to see Guns N' Roses in the Metro Arena in Newcastle. Well, I say "Guns N' Roses"- it's not really, it's Axl and the session musicians he's managed to scam into supporting him. Most of whom look young enough to be his sons. Though, to be fair, Izzy Stradlin did make an appearance, and Dizzy's been in the band since the early ninties, so it wasn't a complete farce, but one gets the impression that it isn't really GnR without teh Slash. And the guy replacing him (who's been in the band a grand total of 2 weeks) looks like he escaped from a Masquerade LARP, just stopping to nick Slash's hat...
Anyway, we all know GnR ain't what they were. What about the show? Well, Sebastian Bach opened- I've never heard of him, but he's pretty cool. Very "true". Then we get Bullet for my Valentine. Oh dear. Well, they suck (sufering from Trivium Syndrome- they sound okay untill they open their mouths), and it's the last I'll be hearing from them. They pack in, and the audience waits half an hour for GnR.
At least that was the plan. They were due onstage for 9:30. They weren't on 'til 10:20- nearly AN HOUR AND A HALF after BFMV finished. And of course, this was the hottest day of the year. And it was very warm. Very. Warm. Calls for the band to start followed after half an hour, but even a singalong to TNT couldn't quiet the crowd. Eventually it resulted in booing, and I half expected/hoped for (hehe, "expected.Slash.hoped"...) a riot. Some of the chants were somewhat unkind:
"Axl is a wanker, ooh aah ooh aah!"
"Axlllllllllll is a ginger c***!" (to a well known football chant)
"We want Rose and Friends!"
"Who are ya!"
And some of the were a bit close to the mark. And funny:
"Velvet Revolver!"
"We want Slash!"
Likewise, the theories behind the band's absence amused me somewhat- the common theory being that Mr. Rose was having a shit/wank/wobbler over the colour of his dressing room wallpaper.
But then the lights dimmed, and the opening to Welcome To The Jungle began. And all was forgiven. Seeing Axl appear on stage in a blaze of fireworks and feeling the crowd rush forward, fists in the air, was probably the greatest non-Leila related thrill I've had thus far this year.
Because if you take Slash and Co. out of GnR, and replace them with some (admittedly capable) session players, what's left? Axl Rose, a great showman; awesome pyrotechnics; and one of the great Rock catalogues- Appetite for Destruction is an awesome album, not matter who's playing it. And the audience new every song perfectly, sang along and danced for as long as they could in the heat (most were soon topless- including yours truly).
In case you want to know what the track listing was, here it is as best as I remember:
Welcome to the Jungle
It's So Easy
Mr. Brownstone
Live and Let Die
Solo by Guitarist Who Isn't Slash
Sweet Child O Mine
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Piano Solo by Dizzy Reed
Out Ta Get Me
You Could Be Mine
Patience
You're Crazy
It's so Easy
Solo by Second Gutarist Who Isn't Slash
Solo by Izzy Stradlin
November Rain
My Michelle
Nightrain
Now admittedly I'm not the biggest GnR fan in the world. And admittedly I only have two of their albums- Appetite and their "Greatest Hits" (i.e. Appetite plus November Rain). And okay, I didn't recognise every song, so not each song is up there, but it seems to me that a certain album was somewhat overrepresented, with seven songs (notably Paradise City was absent- maybe Axl's sick of it...). Okay, it's an awesome album, but I shouldn't need one album to recognise most songs at a live concert. it just looks like a band mired in the past, unable to progress- when Axl sings "where do we go know" in Sweet Child O Mine, the question is relevant- where does GnR go now? Apparently Chinese Democracy might get released this autumn (gosh!), and whilst there is no reason to suggest tis time he means it, there are some grounds for optimism: the current lineup isn't terrible- it's been stable since the nineties; at least one former member (Izzy) is willing to be seen alongside Axl; and whilst Rose's voice isn't quite what it once was, he still has awesome stage presence. If only they could convince Slash to come back, one gets the feeling GnR need not be declared dead. They can still put on a truly breathtaking show.
The only thing that seem to sully what was otherwise a truly fantastic night was that Axl doesn't seem to respect his fans- the band didn't really acknowledge the audience- no "hello, Newcastle", or even any attempt to talk to the audeince, apart from an ill-advised joke with a Brown Ale (only tourists drink Brown Ale...) when introducing Izzy, untill the very end, when, halfway through Nightrain, Axl stopped the performance and stormed off stage with the band, declaring the performance over, beacuse someone threw something on stage- you'd think after two decades of rock, he'd be used to things chucked at him, but instead, he threw a hissy fit and only returned a minute later when the audience stamped their feet and apologised for the behaviour of an individual. Despitte the brilliance of his past work and the still considerable potential withn him, it seems that Axl Rose is his own worst enemy- his diva ways just serve to alienate fans and band members, fuel press speculation and confirm everyone's worst suspicions about him. Which is a shame.
Any chance of forming a band with Dave Mustaine and Jon Schafer? No? Pity..."
