2011.12.17 - Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, Canada

DuffMcKagan Thanks @axlrose. My friend..... A really great couple o nights. Thank you Seattle and Vancouver. And.....good fuckin night! 12 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

For a man with the reputation of being the most belligerent rock star of his, or possibly any, generation, Guns N' Roses' Axl Rose certainly seemed in a charitable mood.

"On behalf of the city I'd like to thank you for not tearing the place up," he said smiling at the very end of a marathon three-hour concert at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver last night. "I apologize for my part in any past affairs."

Rose was referring to the last time his band was due to play in the city, an evening in November 2002 that resulted in an allegedly delayed flight, a cancelled performance and another chapter in Vancouver's less than glorious history of riots.

Of course, for all but the most hardcore Axl Rose enthusiasts, the band on display last night wasn't really Guns N' Roses.

Guns N' Roses, for anyone who actually remembers the 1980s, will always be Axl, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler. Rock fans respect authenticity, which is why a band once unquestionably the biggest rock act on Earth was playing to a three-quarters full Pacific Coliseum while Jay-Z and Kanye West were hosting the first of two shows in the NHL arena across town. And while the line-up on display last night certainly possessed the technical proficiency of their predecessors, and clearly threw themselves into the ethos of larger than life performance, the sensation that this was an Axl Rose-fronted GnR cover band never vanished completely.

That's not to say that there weren't plenty of highlights throughout a concert that made up for in duration what it lacked in subtlety. An early trifecta of Appetite For Destruction classics – "Welcome To The Jungle," "It's So Easy" and "Mr Brownstone" – rightfully charged the crowd out of their seats. Equally thrilling was the introduction of support act front man and original bassist Duff McKagan for banging renditions of "You Could Be Mine" and the always brilliant "Civil War." Was this a major step towards bringing back together the classic GnR line up, still the holy grail of band reunions? Only time will tell.

Despite the determined efforts of his hired hands, the night was always about the performance and behaviour of Axl Rose. And for a rock star whose reputation for primadonnery is second to none, with the exception of the late start and one stoppage to eject an unruly fan ("That's the first person I've had thrown out for 100 shows," he grinned. "Like the good old days."), the Axl on stage last night couldn't be faulted for either his enthusiasm for the fight or the generosity he showed to his bandmates. If anything, his willingness to share the spotlight, literally leaving the stage during almost every song, was responsible for the many moments where time itself seemed to slow to a crawl.

The crowd certainly didn't need lengthy rocked out covers of the James Bond and Pink Panther themes, bassist Tommy Stinson's solo track "Motivation" or Dizzy Reed's piano interpretation of "Baba O'Reilly," an utterly bizarre interlude seemingly unaware of its resemblance to Nigel Tufnell's magnum opus, "Lick My Love Pump."

As the clock ticked towards 2 a.m. after three hours full of highs from the band's epic back catalogue, and more than a few lows of endless guitar noodles, the crowd was divided equally between those cheering their hearts out and those battered into semi-conscious submission by the test of endurance.

The difference between the two groups was a willingness to suspend their disbelief and live in the glorious past, evident in a grand finale of "Patience" and "Paradise City."

In a new millennium where rock stars like Bono and Dave Grohl are personable and cuddly, even the gently mellowing Axl Rose still cuts a ridiculous figure of aloofness and self-enforced petulance. But as Adam Ant wisely pointed out, ridicule is nothing to be scared of. There are plenty more chapters to come in the Axl Rose/Guns N' Roses story. Apology accepted.

axlrose And so it went ... the ghost of no-shows past gets tossed out on his ass.... 7 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite

the show was fucking great.....but long!!!! i am just not that used to staying up THAT late without booze........jesus christ........the drink line up was un-real. i just said fuckit.
i was a staunch defender of the classic line up. i had nothing against the new guys and i did think of them as guns n' roses but just a generic faceless form of the lineup. i was a plus fucking wrong about that. the new guys just fucking slay it. they are bad ass and they are fucked up. they beat the everliving shit out of their instruments. they know what they are doing and they love it. what a job they have! tommy and richard are my favorite. bumble too.......what a fucking mad man!
it was obviously an added treat to see duff at the gig. although he has failed to win me over to anything musical he has done since his gnr days i did find myself bobbing my head a little bit at loaded's little mini anthems. the covers were great. i missed dust and bones because i was in the fucking drink lineup. did he play attitude? what was the steve jones song he played? i dug it when he name dropped D.O.A. randy rampage original bassist from the band was a couple rows beside be and i imagine he was grinning away.
duff was stage left most of the night during the guns watching the show and hanging out with mcbob. it was pretty surreal watching him watch the band play sweet child of mine and other hits of his rock n' roll past.
axl sounded like a million dollars. what a fucking dude!!! i fucking LOVED it when he gave that guy shit for fighting and threw him out!!!! right on axl! and when he gave us shit for rioting when he didn't show up that time. calling us crazy motherfuckers!!!! he was grinning ear to ear!!! what a fucking badass!!!!
musical highlights for me were shacklers, madagascar, civil war, the appetite stuff.....basically all the gnr stuff. i seriously didn't need to hear any of the ac/dc covers or the solo covers or any of that shit......nope....another brick in the wall pt.1????? at least it wasn't pt 2!!!! that who cover that dizzy did sucked. the man has been playing piano for decades!!!! play one of your own songs for christs sake!!!! tommy did!
i won the aftershow party passes from rockstar magazine so i got to go back stage after.......it was awkward......but kinda neat i guess. jarmo took us back. i saw fernando.....bumble showed up for a bit. i sure feel bad for him. he said he was pretty drunk. i didn't bother talking to him about his back or any of the webcasts or anything like that. i also met frank, richard and chris. they were as far as i could tell, not in the mood for a meet and greet. neither was bumble. they were really nice though. they all signed my chinese democracy vinyl. i tried to get fernando to bring the record to axl to sign but he was too busy. he is a busy busy guy....it has got to be alot of work working for those guys.
anyways it was a great fucking show and i cannot wait to go to another one!!

Guns N' Roses Frontman Ejects 'Dumbass Motherf**ker' From Vancouver Concert

Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose ejected an unruly fan during the band's headlining concert this past Saturday night (December 17) at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

"Out, motherfucker! Out! Get the fuck out!" Rose announced over the microphone, mocking the fan who appeared to be confused as to why he was being asked to leave. "Yeah, you! See ya, you dumbass motherfucker."

As security walked the fan through the crowd, Rose and his fellow bandmates stood at the front of the stage waving, as Rose began singing 'Happy Trails.'

"That's the first person I've had thrown out for 100 shows," Rose said from the stage after the fan was removed, "like the good old days."