2006.11.24 - Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, USA

'DEMOCRACY OVERDUE'

AFTER 12 YEARS, FANS WHO HAVEN'T GIVEN UP ARE ANXIOUSLY AWAITING GUNS N' ROSES ALBUM

By Malcolm X Abram
Beacon Journal staff writer

If Guns N' Roses' current production schedule continues, aging rock fans will be able to tell their children someday stories about the band's dozen-years-and-counting-in-the-making fourth full-length album, Chinese Democracy.

The specifics of these legends will probably vary, as the only one who knows the full story is W. Axl Rose, the lone remaining member from the band's glory days as one of the biggest rock machines on the planet.

Some of those rock-loving storytellers will relay "the legend of Axl Rose and the quest for the one album." Others may send their grandkids to dreamland believing that if they stand in front of a mirror holding a copy of The Spaghetti Incident and say, "Chinese Democracy rules, Velvet Revolver sucks!" three times, Rose's ghostly, botoxed visage will appear, wailing the title track before impaling them with his phantom mike stand, forcing them to their na-na-na-na-na-na-knees.

Good night, kids.

Just like those rock 'n' roll fairy tales, in the 12 years since the title was first printed, Chinese Democracy has become sort of a symbol of constipated creativity. It appears to be one troubled man's extended journey to make an album that only he hears but apparently can't find the right combination of musicians, producers and arrangers to re-create it on tape to his satisfaction.

Now, what was once a surefire megahit has become a long-standing curiosity among the music industry and music fans save the most dedicated GNR lovers.

It's those still-enthralled fans who will pay to watch Rose and his new band of (hired) Guns N' Roses version 3.0 as they perform a few of those now not-so-new tunes and the old stuff on Friday at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, with Sebastian Bach and Papa Roach opening.

Earlier this year, Rose swore that 2006 would be the year that Chinese Democracy on the Geffen label would finally bathe in the harsh fluorescent lights of Best Buy and Wal-Mart store shelves, even setting a Nov. 21 release date. But with only five Tuesdays (the traditional record release day) remaining this year, fans may have to continue their personal vigils for an album that can't possibly meet up to 12 years of hype and speculation.

In 2004, damaged pop genius Brian Wilson finally completed Smile, wrenching it from its three-decade gestation and scratching his own creative itch, as well as the itch of many die-hard Beach Boys fans. With that magnum opus finally out of the way, Chinese Democracy has taken its place as not only the biggest yet-to-be released album but also, according to a 2005 New York Times article which quoted "Geffen documents," the most expensive non-available album ever, with production costs exceeding $13 million (a figure disputed by Rose's manager, Merck Mercuriadis).

Nevertheless for Geffen to fully recoup its investment in Rose and GNR, the album would require the kind of amazing sales figures that have become increasingly difficult to achieve in our download it, dig it and discard it society, making it a commercial if not creative failure almost by default.

None of that will matter Friday night, when (or perhaps that should be "if") Axl and the reconfigured eight-piece lineup of Guns N' Roses players take the stage to the famous descending riff that opens Welcome to the Jungle.

The band now features a triple guitar attack of Robin Finck (Nine Inch Nails), Richard Fortus (Psychedelic Furs) and music professor Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, in addition to Chris Pitman and early '90s holdover Dizzy Reed on keyboards, bassist Tommy Stinson (the Replacements) and drummer Frank Ferrer.

GNR has been on the road for much of the year and by most accounts, the 44-year-old Rose sounds and looks healthy -- though he's still sporting those ridiculous braid extensions -- and can still hit most of the high notes and the band has coalesced into the best Guns N Roses tribute band ever.

Of course, it wouldn't be a true GNR tour without some controversy and/or canceled shows. The band's 2002 trek was aborted and this year Rose has already been arrested in Sweden for biting a guard. The North American trek has seen the cancellation of a gig at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Maine because of either the band's legal inability to imbibe alcoholic beverages on stage (according to the venue) or (according to the band) the local fire marshal's pledge to harass both the band and fans throughout the show.

Rose issued an apology on the band's Web site, stating in part, "I agree with, and ultimately take responsibility for, the end decision not to jeopardize the safety of the fans, the crews, the bands and myself as a result of the methods of these particularly draconian authorities."

Meanwhile on other tour stops, the crowds have been smaller than expected, with some reports that arenas are less than 75 percent full, but those present are hard-core fans loyal to Rose and his mutated Davy Jones snake dance.

At this point in the saga, it's arguable that the concept of Chinese Democracy's release has surpassed the anticipation of the music it will contain. Several songs slated for the album have been leaked on the Internet and radio and have been played live by the band for several years, including a 2002 concert in Cleveland at someplace called the Gund Arena, where the group performed Madagascar, the Blues and the title track.

None of those songs was particularly impressive nor had the confident Sunset Strip bar band swagger of Appetite or the grand-scale rock bombast ambition of the two Use Your Illusion albums. But they didn't send fans streaming toward the beer and bathroom lines, either, suggesting that die-hard fans are still willing to listen to new material from a reconstructed band that hasn't put out a new record in 14 years. Perhaps the mere completion and release of Chinese Democracy will be enough for the remaining GNR fans.

Maybe just having the album in their hands or hard drive will satiate those who haven't yet given up on Rose and his artistic vision.

Concert: Guns N' Roses with Sebastian Bach and Papa Roach
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: Quicken Loans Arena, 1 Center Court, Cleveland
Tickets: $39.50, $51.50, $77
Information: Tickets.com at 330-945-9400

Democracy' by another name perhaps would get done faster

By John Soeder
Plain Dealer Pop Music Critic

PREVIEW

Guns N' Roses
When: 8 tonight.
Openers: Sebastian Bach, Eagles of Death Metal, Suicide Girls.
Where: The Q, East Sixth Street and Huron Road, Cleveland.
Tickets: $39.50-$77 at the box office and Ticketmaster outlets, or charge by phone, 216-241-5555 (Cleveland) or 330-945-9400 (Akron).

Rome wasn't built in a day, dude. So cut Guns N' Roses a little slack, even if frontman Axl Rose and a revolving cast of bandmates have been working on their "Chinese Democracy" album for more than a decade. In hot anticipation of the hard-rocking group's concert tonight at The Q, here's a recap of the ongoing saga to date:

1991:
After making a multiplatinum name for itself with the albums "Appetite for Destruction" and "GN'R Lies" and topping the charts with "Sweet Child O' Mine," GN'R releases its last studio efforts of original fare, "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II."

1994:
The band is "in the preliminary stages of preparing material for a new album," says a Geffen Records spokeswoman, quoted in the Chicago Sun-Times. GN'R guitarist Gilby Clarke, a Cleveland native, goes solo. "Guns N' Roses was probably the best hard-rock band ever," Clarke later tells The Plain Dealer. "Axl is probably one of the best hard-rock singers there is. . . . Unfortunately, he's going in this new direction. I don't know if it's going to be as good."

1995:
Rose & Co. are writing songs for their next project, with an eye toward a fall 1996 release, the Los Angeles Times reports.

1996:
GN'R and guitarist Slash part ways. "Things will move faster now, because working out the differences between Axl and Slash has been a major issue," a band insider tells Billboard magazine. "It's reasonable to expect that Guns N' Roses will move along at a quicker pace. Axl wants something out by summer [of 1997]."

1997:
Drummer Matt Sorum and bass player Duff McKagan leave the band.

1998:
Rose and a revamped GN'R hole up in a Los Angeles studio. "What Axl wanted to do was to make the best record that had ever been made," a witness later tells The New York Times. "It's an impossible task. You could go on infinitely, which is what they've done."

1999:
A new GN'R tune, "Oh My God," appears on the "End of Days" soundtrack. The new GN'R album's title is revealed to be "Chinese Democracy." "We've been working on, I don't know, 70 songs," Rose says in an MTV interview. "You get a good idea, you save it and then maybe you come back to it later, or maybe you get a good idea and you go, 'That's really cool, but that's not what we're looking for. OK, let's try something new.' "

2000:
"What we're trying to do is build Guns N' Roses back into something," Rose tells Rolling Stone. He describes the music on "Chinese Democracy" as a mix of industrial rock and electronica. Still no finished product in sight, however.

2001:
Band management issues a statement: "To ensure Guns N' Roses fans get the album they deserve, Axl Rose has spent every waking minute of every day during the past five years writing, recording and producing Guns' first album of all-new material since 1991. . . . The good news is that everyone is ecstatic with the album and we will be meeting with our label to schedule its release."

2002:
"Chinese Democracy" will be out by summer 2003, GN'R keyboardist Dizzy Reed assures The Plain Dealer. "There are just a few odds and ends left to do - a couple of finishing touches, a couple of vocals - and we need to mix it," he says.

2003:
The Offspring threatens to title its next album "Chinese Democracy." "You snooze, you lose," says the punk band's singer, Dexter Holland.

2004:
GN'R receives a letter from its record company; alas, it's not fan mail. "Having exceeded all budgeted and approved recording costs by millions of dollars, it is Mr. Rose's obligation to fund and complete the album, not Geffen's," the letter states, according to The New York Times.

2005:
"Chinese Democracy" has incurred more than $13 million in production costs, The New York Times reports, making it "probably the most expensive recording never released."

2006:
GN'R mounts a 36-date North American tour. Besides Rose, the band now includes guitarists Robin Finck, Richard Fortus and Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, keyboardists Reed and Chris Pitman, bass player Tommy Stinson and drummer Brian "Brain" Mantia. The release of "Chinese Democracy" is said to be imminent. Stay tuned. . . .

Better late than . . . oh, yeah! Near vintage GN'R

By John Soeder
Plain Dealer Pop Music Critic

MUSIC REVIEW
Guns N' Roses

There's fashionably late, and then there's Guns N' Roses. It was just past midnight when the hard-rocking band finally took the stage early Saturday morning at The Q.

Showtime was 8 p.m. Friday. You could imagine GN'R frontman Axl Rose boarding a private jet right around then in Los Angeles. He must have told the pilot to take the scenic route to Cleveland.

Three opening acts - the scantily clad Suicide Girls, the scantily relevant Sebastian Bach and the scantily appreciated Eagles of Death Metal - stalled for time.

All was forgiven when GN'R got down to business with "Welcome to the Jungle." Sporting dark shades, Rose promptly broke into a voodoo jig. With his braids in a ponytail, he looked like a Rastafarian Robespierre.

"Hey! [Expletive] you, [expletive]!" Rose ad-libbed in the middle of "Live and Let Die." Apparently, someone in the audience was disrespectful. Rose demanded to have the heretic removed.

Fans licked their chops, sensing one of the singer's legendary meltdowns coming on. Alas, he regained his composure (darn!), although he did go on to berate the soundman. "I was looking forward to this show," Rose told the crowd. He said Cleveland was a bright spot on the 2002 GN'R tour, which ended badly amid riots and canceled gigs.

This engagement felt comically dreamlike, like "Spinal Tap" directed by Fellini. As the opening guitar riff of "Sweet Child O' Mine" reverberated throughout the two-thirds-full venue, one ecstatic dude tumbled down a flight of concrete stairs, only to get up unscathed and flash a devil-horn salute. Rock on!

Rose and keyboardist Dizzy Reed were the only holdovers from the group's glory days in the late '80s and early '90s. Nonetheless, GN'R did not disappoint, thanks to the headbanging contributions of hired Guns such as guitarist Robin Finck (formerly of Nine Inch Nails), bass player Tommy Stinson (Replacements) and drummer Frank Ferrer (Love Spit Love).

If high-octane renditions of "Mr. Brownstone," "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and the power ballad "November Rain" (featuring Rose on piano) weren't enough to keep the sandman at bay, explosions rousted anyone who dozed off. GN'R called it a night at 2:15 a.m. with "Paradise City."

When Rose wasn't wailing like a raspy banshee, he frequently dashed behind the stage, festooned with Chinese banners. Maybe he was back there fine-tuning the band's perennially forthcoming "Chinese Democracy" album, more than a decade in the making.

GN'R performed several tunes from the work-in-lack-of-progress, including "The Blues," a mid-tempo stomper titled "Better" and the Led Zeppelin-esque title track of the album. Be sure to tell your grandchildren to pick up a copy, assuming it comes out in their lifetime.

AXL STILL PARTIES LIKE IT'S 1991

BEING LATE BACK THEN WORKED FOR ROCK STARS. NOW IT'S JUST ANNOYING AT GUNS N' ROSES SHOW

By Malcolm X Abram

Dear Axl,

Hey man, how's it going, I hope this little note finds you well. I just wanted to speak to you after attending the latest version of Guns N' Roses in concert on Friday night at (name for sale) Arena in Cleveland.

Well, far be it from me to question the machinations of a rock star (which I guess you still are), but I think you should know it's not 1991 anymore.

I mention this because back in 1991, taking the stage at midnight when most of your then-still-teenage and twenty-something fans were peaking (on drugs, alcohol or just rock 'n' roll fever) was acceptable rock star rudeness, but now it's just thoughtless and kind of mean.

I saw a wide variety of fans, from aging "Tammys" (what we used to call heavy metal girls with the full feathered hair and skin-tight black jeans), and dudes who looked like they were dyeing their mullets, to some young kids who were probably conceived during the coda of November Rain. However, I'd still venture to say the bulk of your audience -- particularly the ticket-buying audience -- are grown folks who have jobs, babies and baby sitters they need to get back to their homes before 3 a.m.

Luckily for us, it was a Friday night, which surely mitigated some of the pain for some fans. But had it been a Tuesday like in other cities, I believe there would have been even fewer people than the 8,000 or so there to see you and GNR 3.0.

In 2002, the place was packed, the crowd's energy level was high and the sense of anticipation was palpable before you hit the stage around 11, if I recall correctly. I know you remember that show because you told us Cleveland and Cincinnati were two of the best of that tour.

Thanks.

But dude, having two opening bands to kill time instead of coming on earlier is simply too many. I missed Sebastian Bach (whoops!) because I was in the bar watching the Cavs blow a 20-point lead in the third quarter, but one guy who sat next to me told me he was "awesome" while another said "he does the best he can, he definitely gives it his all."

I was lucky enough to catch the Eagles of Death Metal getting booed during and after nearly every song. I guess no one told you, but the EODM are a side band of Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme (who didn't make the gig) and his high school buddy Jesse Hughes -- the one with the porn star mustache -- that is one big, ironic, tongue-in-cheek in-joke on rock conventions (their latest album is called Death By Sexy), so someone in your camp should have known that it would not be a good fit. GNR fans don't want rockin' irony, they want to RAWK!

Obviously you didn't like them much either as you referred to them as the "Pigeons of (poop) Metal" and told us it was their first and last night on the tour. The band's response, released Monday, was the following statement: "At first the audience refused to welcome us to the jungle, but by the time we took our final bow, it had become paradise city. Although Axl tried to November rain on our parade, no sweet child o' mine can derail the EODM night train. We say live and let die." Obviously, they're not too broken up about the incident.
The dance troupe Suicide Girls weren't much better, but at least they had hula hoops, sprayed bottled water on each other's breasts and had colorful nipple tape (darn those Ohio nudity laws).

Anyway, unlike '02 where the pre-show atmosphere had a big party vibe, the natives were restless Friday night. Around 11:30 they really became inquisitive and had some questions for you such as "WHERE THE (heck) IS AXL ROSE?!?" which drew several profane speculative answers including "CRYING IN HIS PILLOW LIKE A (female dog) AT THE HOTEL!!"

When the lights finally went down and guitarist Robin Finck entered the stage playing the opening notes of Welcome to the Jungle, and you screamed "Do you know where the (heck) you are!?!?" you were, of course, greeted with screams of forgiveness.

That good start continued with pretty hot versions of It's So Easy, Mr. Brownstone and Live and Let Die, and seeing you curse that guy in the audience out and get him booted was classic '91 Axl, as was the repeated berating of the sound man who earned our collective ire with a bad vocal mix.

But then you removed the momentum with the first of three truly gratuitous guitar solos, plus '90s holdover keyboardist Dizzy Reed's solo, too. Perhaps it's a way to give your voice a rest, but since we couldn't hear you through much of the show anyway, we probably wouldn't have noticed if you were a little off-key.

Except for the solos, the set list was eerily close to the '02 show with a heaping helping of Appetite for Destruction performed, along with other hits including Patience and November Rain.

A few "new" songs, despite remaining unreleased, aren't aging well. The power ballad The Blues isn't memorable and that Madagascar song with the drum loop simply sucks. But the midtempo Better was pretty rocking; if Chinese Democracy ever comes out I'll be looking forward to hearing that song, assuming age hasn't damaged my hearing.

But the solos, Rosey, oh the solos. Don't get me wrong, I miss guitar solos (solos of any kind really) on pop, R&B and even "alternative rock" radio, but just because you have three technically sound guitarists and a loyal keyboardist doesn't mean the audience who stuck around for four hours should have to endure their extraneous noodlings when you could just play four more songs. Former Psychedelic Fur Richard Fortus jamming on Whiter Shade of Pale? No thanks. Dizzy Reed spinning unimaginative variations on the Stones' Angie? Snooooooze.

In conclusion, Axl, I just wanted to say that you telling us how much you appreciate our continued business and patience at the end of the show was a nice, heartfelt gesture. But, if you really want to show your appreciation to the fans who are still willing to shell out $40 to come see you, how about going on during prime time instead of waiting until late night?

PIGEONS OF &#*! METAL? EAGLES OF DEATH METAL LAUGH OFF AXL'S OHIO RANT
ROSE LOSES PATIENCE WITH IRONIC METAL BAND ON ITS ONE AND ONLY NIGHT AS GUNS N' ROSES TOUR OPENERS.

GIL KAUFMAN
11/27/2006

The Eagles of Death Metal probably hadn't gotten the mustache wax unpacked from their suitcases before their maiden voyage on the S.S. Axl Rose hit an iceberg Friday. On the first night of what was supposed to be a three-week stint opening up for Guns N' Roses, the band was unceremoniously dumped from the bill after a chilly reception from the audience at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

Following a well-received set by tour opener Sebastian Bach, the Eagles took the stage and, according to John Soeder, pop critic for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the band was met with "not deafening boos, but lots of grumbling and grousing and ... indifference."

While a handful of people were dancing along to the Eagles' good-time, sleazy garage rock, Soeder said it appeared as if the majority of the audience was not into it and was even a bit confused by the group. (Queens of the Stone Age singer/guitarist Josh Homme is a member of the Eagles, although he rarely tours with them and did not perform at Friday night's show.)

After a two-hour wait for the headliners, Rose came out and promptly dissed the Eagles, asking the audience, "So how'd you like the Pigeons of Sh-- Metal? Don't worry, that's the last show they're playing with us." And, just like that, the Eagles were tossed out of the nest.

The Eagles took the Rose kiss-off with their usual fistful of salt. "At first the audience refused to welcome us to the jungle, but by the time we took our final bow, it had become paradise city," reads a statement from the band released on Monday (November 27). "Although Axl tried to November rain on our parade, no sweet child o' mine can derail the EODM night train. We say live and let die."

"My impression was, and I don't want to belittle the GN'R fans, but they didn't really get the inside-joke quality of the Eagles ... or the facial hair," Soeder told MTV News about the handlebar-mustache look sported by Eagles singer Jesse "The Devil" Hughes.

"Axl seemed like he was in a bad mood," said fan Nate Harris, who attended the show. "One of the first things he did was kick out someone who was in one of the first few rows during the opening song. He came back to the 'Pigeons of Sh-- Metal' bit all set long." Harris said Rose also turned the sound man into a target, repeatedly glaring at him, and at one point calling him "useless."

"Sebastian Bach ... they ate up his hair metal hits from the '80s and the new stuff, which sounded like the old stuff," Soeder reported. "But the audience seemed to be confused [during the Eagles' set] as to who the joke was on. They like their metal unironic. Numerous songs slipped into falsetto, and if you're a purist heavy-metal fan, falsetto isn't good."

Harris concurred that the crowd bid the Eagles farewell with "a few boos, some spare applause, but definitely no cheering," and added that Axl concluded the night with a graceful thank you to the crowd for bearing with his bad day.

A spokesperson for Guns N' Roses did not return calls for comment and no announcement had been made at press time as to who will replace the Eagles. The band cancelled its Tuesday night (November 28) concert in Milwaukee due to Rose "suffering from an ear infection and strep throat," according to the band's Web site.

Paradise Better Late Than Never

When all was said and done at the Guns N Roses show on at 2:20 AM this morning you wonder to yourself, are you glad that you saw nearly 2 and half hours of Axl and the boys or do you lament to yourself that Axl started the show at the stroke of midnight. Well, with sets like the displayed last night (earlier this morning anyone) I would take the late night start any day. The midnight start was reminiscent of a time that Rolling Stones would pull that stunt regularly. Now that Keef and Mick are senior citizens, Axl and Company has to carry the torch.

When the lights dimmed the anxious (oftentimes-lame) crowd went to frenzy. Strange Orchestral music filled the Quicken Loans Arena as the backdrop displayed various Chinese symbols. A familiar guitar riff soon ensued. As 'Welcome To The Jungle' built up and the party was on. Although the Gunners experienced sound trouble all night (I think Axl told the guy running in a not so joking manner that there was no need for him to come in tomorrow night and added that the sound coming through his earpiece sounded like smashed up AM Radio) they managed to work through it. Playing the catalogue of hits that included 'Patience', 'Knockin on Heavens Door' (both which were singalongs), 'Live and Let Die (pyrotechnic speculator), 'You Could Be Mine', 'Nightrain', 'Out Ta Get Me', and many more including a duet with former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach on 'My Michelle'. As with tradition, Axl also let his supporting band show off their skills with solo's. The highlights were Robin Fink going crazy on guitar (who seemed to be really enjoying himself while doing so) and guitar only versions of 'Don't Cry' and the Rolling Stones 'Angie'. Axl and the boys also managed to play 5 new songs off their new album which all fit well in the setlist. The band closed with 'Paradise City' and a rain of confetti flew through the arena.

Opening for GNR was special guest Eagles of Death Metal. Their set was awful and Axl let the crowd how he felt saying how happy he was that was the last night he had to see them on tour (Axl Rose called them the pigeons of shit metal) .

The Suicide Girls warmed up the crowd after the Eagles of Death Metal and had the crowd entertained with their topless act in variety of ways. As strange as it was it was actually enjoyable. Sebastian Bach started the night off after 8 O'clock but I did not see that because I still have painful memories of sitting through a Skid Row show in the early 90's waiting for GNR to come on stage. Won't make that same mistake twice. All and all a great Rock N Roll night (or was it morning?) in Cleveland.