1988.08.16 - Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, USA

Voice-over: The sky was filled with rockets and flairs but the real fireworks were all on stage. Three generations of hard rock heroes, first Guns N’ Roses, then Deep Purple, then Aerosmith. Rock and shocks on 50,000 fans till the wee hours of Wednesday morning. And did the crowd love it?

Male concert-goer: Then we got Deep Purple that were classic and Aerosmith is, like, all around. Great, and Guns N’ Roses has got potential there. Great new group coming up.

Female concert-goer: My parents came to see Deep Purple and I’m coming to see Deep Purple.

Voice-over: If this one-night-only lineup wowed the fans on hand, it also brought back memories for the bands.

Brad Whitford (Aerosmith): When we were in our apartment in (?), we were listening to Machine Head.

Steven Tyler: Actually, ss a matter of fact, that’s the album that spurred a lot of my writing on the first album. It was that attitude...

Duff: When we were all 12-13-ish, I listened to Aerosmith and stuff. I mean, they were the band.

Ian Paice (Deep Purple): ... really simple in those days. I’m really easy, you know.

Voice-over: And what did Deep Purple make of being the grand old men of this hard rock summit?

Roger Glover (Deep Purple): I always feel uncomfortable when people say that they’re influenced by us or stuff like that. You can see it in music, but to actually say, “Oh yeah, we thought of that first” would be kind of hypocritical, because most of the stuff that we came up with we borrowed from other people as well.

Voice-over: As the hot young band on the bill, Guns N’ Roses were, of course, the object of much fond speculation among their elders.

Steven Tyler: It’s real easy for a band to go out, and buy the image, and watch other bands performing and kind of mimic it and pick it up. But these guys seem to have it, you know, right down the bone.

Roger Glover (Deep Purple): Well, they seem to be doing it all wrong right from the start.

Ian Paice (Deep Purple): (Laughs)

Voice-over: And how about the Guns themselves? Do they ever worry about getting too deeply into the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle and burning out before their time?

Slash: If you worry about stuff like that, then it puts a real damper on just your music, period.

Duff: Yeah.

Slash: You just go on day in-day out and just do it day by day, and just be...  you know.

Duff: Plus, we’re not the type of people to think ahead. Period, I guess, you know.

Slash: That’s why we’re like this (laughs).

Voice-over: The fans seem to agree with that. In the end, these three bands whose careers spanned twenty years, all seem very much of [cut]

They Showed Their Metal

By MATTHEW AUERBACH

IT WAS A LONG NIGHT of raunchy rock n' roll at Giants Stadium Tuesday. Aerosmith, Deep Purple and Guns N’ Roses, three bands practiced at the art of swagger and pounding, rocked the 55.000-plus head bangers who were more than happy to have their skulls rattled.

Opening act Guns N’ Roses won’t be an opening act for much longer. Fronted by W. Axl Rose (who is as uninhibited and charismatic a frontman as you’ll find these days), mixed with the "white noise” playing of lead guitarist Slash to create a piercing wail/ wall of sound. On songs such as "Welcome to the Jungle” and ‘‘Paradise City” (people leapt onto the field to get in on the filming of this particular performance), Guns N’ Roses got to the hard-rock heart of the matter with pure energy and noise.

Appropriately enough. Deep Purple, the band with the longest history of the three, also was the most heavy metal-ish. The crowd loved their set, going nuts for “Highway Star,” "My Woman From Tokyo” and "Smoke on the Water.” The least riveting act of the evening, they nonetheless drew giant cheers as ace guitarist Richie Blackmore pulled out every riff he was famous for.

Top of the bill was Aerosmith, who looked and sounded great. Lead singer Steve Tyler galloped, ran and somersaulted all over the stage, while lead guitarist Joe Perry’s mix of rock, blues and country riffs was wonderfully sloppy. All the hits were played, and despite a bizarre drum solo (drummer Joey Kramer used electric sticks that enabled him to run around and re-create drum sounds from anything he hit, including himself). Aerosmith’s solid drive and loose attitude was a perfect topper to a night of no-nonsense rock and roll.

(Matthew Auerbach is a frequent contributor.)

‘Monsters of Rock’ meets expectations

By MARK VOGER
Press Staff Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD — While the Republicans were at their convention in New Orleans, the loud, rowdy, long-haired rockers were at their’s last night at Giant's Stadium.

The hard rock triple-bill at the Meadowlands didn’t need to bill itself as the “Monsters of Rock,” but with heavy-hitters like Aerosmith, Deep Purple and openers, Guns N’ Roses, the point got across that this was not an event to take your grandmother to.

“Some time next month,” said Guns N’ Roses lead singer Axl Rose, “you’ll be able to pick out your smiling faces in our next video.”

The band took the opportunity to shoot a music video for their soon-to-be-hit-single, “Paradise City.”

Regular viewers of MTV, will no doubt be reliving last night’s performance of the song three or four times a day.

Guns N' Roses — one of a recent crop of somewhat arrogant Los Angeles bands to make it big in the heavy-metal genre — will say just about anything to live up to their bad-boy image.

“We wrote this one while we were all wasted on heroin,” Axl announced at one point. Later, he told the crowd, “This is the blues jam we did when we took speed.”

Drug references aside, Guns is supposedly “clean,” which means they’re not on dope (at least for the present).

But the bulk of Guns’ audience is in their early teens and cannot be expected to understand Guns’ sarcasm. Glorifying substance abuse is passe in the late ’80s, but nobody seems to have told Guns N’ Roses.

Rose also coyly bragged about throwing a table out of his 11th-story hotel window. Once again, the crowd cheered. As if to emulate their hero, certain audience members hurled lit cigarette butts and empty bottles throughout the evening.

On the field, there were abundant scuffles, injuries, and altercations with security forces. In the stands, there was even a bonfire which occurred while Deep Purple performed their classic “Smoke On The Water.”

Deep Purple’s set was the standard tight collection of recent hits and old standbys that can be found on their latest live album, “Nobody’s Perfect.”

This show was special since it was their first appearance in America after the ’87 tour was cut short because of an injury.

“Actually, they've only done one quick warmup gig a couple of days ago in Baltimore,” said the band’s road manager backstage before their set. “For the first time. I think these guys are really nervous.”

By the time Aerosmith hit the stage, the crowd was suitably primed for the evening’s main event.

Another night of mixed-quality metal

By Barbara Jaeger
Record Music Critic

They’re baaaack!

Those metal monsters invaded Giants Stadium once again.

Earlier this summer, the stadium was the site for the Monsters of Rock, a 10-hour heavy-metal marathon starring Kingdom Come, Dok-ken, Metallica, the Scorpions, and Van Halen.

Tuesday night, Giants Stadium played host to a scaled-down repeat performance — similar music and effects, different bands.

Three groups — Aerosmith, Deep Purple, and Guns N’ Roses — were on the bill. Performed before more than 55,000 fans, the show began at 7:15 p.m., and, after one-hour delays between sets, concluded early Wednesday morning.

Befitting its return to the charts, Aerosmith headlined the bill. Taking the stage at approximately 11:30 p.m., the group concentrated on material from “Permanent Vacation,” the multi-platinum album that remains on the Billboard chart a year after its release.

Aerosmith has been on the road nine months — a press release said the group’s travel mileage would be “the equivalent of a circling the globe some 18 times” — but the band showed no signs of road weariness during its set. The instrumentals were tight (although the drum solo was tedious and gimmicky), and the vocals packed a wallop.

Lead singer Steven Tyler, with his trademark scarves hanging from his waist and his microphone stand, was a whirling dervish as he led the band through high-energy renditions of “Hearts Done Time,” “Rag Doll,” and “Back in the Saddle.” It was when he stopped his antics, however, that Tyler was most effective.

“Angel” was given a moving rendition by Tyler, who stood almost motionless at the mike. His restrained but powerful voice enchanced the pretty ballad that has won new fans for the group.

Aerosmith’s best music has always been blues-based, and the five-man band didn’t disappoint as it turned in a wonderful rendition of “Hangman Jury,” a tune influenced by Delta blues.

Seated next to guitarist Joe Perry, Tyler wove his gritty voice through the song and added a bit of harmonica play for spice.

Now that Tyler and Perry have cleaned up their acts (they were once dubbed the “toxic twins” because of their drug and alcohol excesses), they seem to be playing with renewed vigor, and it was a delight to watch them work off each other.

Aerosmith has been together for nearly 15 years, but in that time it has had its share of ups and downs. After filling the charts in the Seventies with such hits as “Dream On” and “Walk This Way,” the group found itself without a recording contract four years ago. Now the band has come back stronger than before and finds itself being cited as an influence for a number of up-and-coming bands.

One of those groups is Guns N’ Roses.

The band, which rose out of the Los Angeles club scene, showed plenty of spunk and a bit of musical originality (a big plus these days when so many new metal groups seem intent on imitating Led Zeppelin).

During its 45-minute set the group played “Welcome to the Jungle,” “It’s So Easy,” “Out Ta Get Me,” and other songs from its debut album, “Appetite for Destruction.”

Lead singer W. Axl Rose, whose vocal chords sound as if they’ve been soaked in cheap whiskey, proved himself a charismatic front man, working the stage and its ramps. Meanwhile guitarist Slash used razor-edged play to convey the raw energy of the songs.

What can’t be overlooked, however, is the band’s attitude. While rock has been — and should be — a bit irreverent, this foul-mouthed bunch is irresponsible. Cursing the security people, who were just trying to do their jobs, was stupid and malicious, and stirred up an already highly-charged audience.

Sandwiched between Aerosmith and Guns N’ Roses was Deep Purple.

The British band’s brand of heavy metal is ponderous, plodding, and punctuated by piercing shrieks (courtesy of lead vocalist Ian Gillan). And with no new songs to promote, Deep Purple had to reach back for such past hits as “Smoke on the Water,” “Highway Star,” and “Hush” during its 90-minute set.

It was the combination of the familiarity of the music and the stilted delivery that made for a tedious listen. Someone should have pulled the plug on these guys after an hour.

Heavy metal fans take tune to heart

By Rocco Cammarere
Staff Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD - Rock fans at the five-hour, triple-bill rock concert Tuesday night gave “Smoke on the Water."

As the band was strumming its classic tune, some of the 55,000 fans in the stadium set toilet paper on fire in the lower level bleachers, sending hundreds of fans scrambling for safety and security guards in search of fire extinguishers.

State Police assigned to the stadium also arrested 25 people for unruly behavior. Many fans jumped from the lower level onto the field to catch a closer glance at Guns n’ Roses, Deep Purple and Aerosmith.

“A lot of them were injured when they jumped onto the field," Lt. Richard Ryan said.

Of the 25 arrests, six were for malicious damage, three for simple assault, two for possession of narcotics, one for theft of movable property, one for trespassing, one for resisting arrest and 11 for improper behavior, Ryan said.

The narcotics arrests included small amounts of PCP and cocaine, he said. Some of those arrested for malicious damage tried to pry off water caps to spray a cool stream of water onto floor, he said.

A spokesman for the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority said Tuesday night’s rowdiness was nothing out of the ordinary and no serious injuries were reported.

“Nobody got hurt that badly last night," said Paul Wolcott, the spokesman for the authority. "The way the staff discussed it with me, last night was not that bad."

At the Monsters of Rock concert June 28, a New York man suffered a spinal cord injury when another man fell on him from a few rows above. Wolcott could not confirm reports that a fan also fell from the mezzanine level Tuesday night onto some seats below.

Many of the fans began to vent their feelings during the first 45-minute intermission. A loud explosion rocked the mezzanine section.

Don’t believe those stories about a riot at the Aerosmith show last week at Giants Stadium. The only bit of rowdiness was a tent on a refreshment stand being pulled down.

However, insiders report that Guns ’N’ Roses had a bit of a time in the dressing room after their hot, hot, hot set. The new bad boys of rock ’n’ roll reportedly didn’t have much time to hang out after the show; their contract required them to be packed up and off the premises three songs into Aerosmith’s set.