2012.05.17 - O2 Arena, Dublin, Ireland

Guns N' Roses rock Dublin
The band played for almost three hours last night, supported by Thin Lizzy.
The Hot Press Newsdesk, 18 May 2012

All was forgiven in The O2 last night as Axl & Co. played a blinding set, and thanked the crowd for "not throwing shit".

GnR kicked off just over an hour after their expected start time and wowed the audience with a classic collection of songs that spanned close to three hours.

Despite his recent leg injury, Mr. Rose managed six costume changes and appeared in fine form. The band, arriving on stage to Massive Attack’s ‘Splitting The Atom’, blasted through a batch of classic hits including ‘Welcome To The Jungle’, ‘Sweet Child O' Mine’ and ‘Paradise City’, as well as a smattering of covers such as ‘Another Brick In The Wall’, ‘Baba O’Riley’ and the Pink Panther Theme.

Thin Lizzy had warmed up the audience with a stellar set earlier in the night. New permanent guitarist Damon Johnson proved himself a fine addition on classics such as ‘Still In Love With You’ and ‘Emerald’. The Ricky Warwick-led outfit also announced a Dublin Olympia show on December 13. Tickets, priced €35.50, €36.50 and €39.50, are on sale now.

Priceless! Ha!! Only in Dublin! Good times! twitter.com/DjASHBA/status…

— Dj ASHBA (@DjASHBA) May 18, 2012

Guns N Roses Smash Out Three Hour Performance In Dublin
Friday, 18 May 2012 Written by Elliott Batte

Rock legends Guns N Roses kicked off their UK and Ireland tour in style yesterday with a three-hour long show in Dublin's O2 Arena – and they managed to not get 'any shit' thrown at them!

Despite being typically late to their show (an hour and a half late, to be exact), Axl Rose and co. managed to wow the crowd with an epic 170 minute performance from 10:30 – 1:20am.

And, their performance was so top-notch that the crowd, who bottled, booed and berated the band in the same venue in 2010, sang their praises – leaving Rose singing their praises too.

Rose told the crowd: “Thanks for coming out, thanks for putting up with my lame ass and thanks for not throwing shit.” He had earlier talked to the crowd about his latest battle wounds from their performance in Russia, and said: “As you may have heard I had a little accident. I'm learning what I can and can't do. I hope you don't mind me moving less than usual. Although I'm probably moving a whole lot more than I was the last time I was here!”

The incredible performance featured the band performing 21 songs, 6 costume changes, and even a cover of the much-loved Pink Panther theme tune, as well as a cover of 'Another Brick in the Wall' and their version of 'Live and Let Die'.

If you're a fan of Guns N Roses, and the sound of their brilliant performance in Ireland has got you enticed, make sure you catch them at one of their UK tour dates.

Guns N Roses UK & Ireland Tour Dates are as follows:

Sat May 19th 2012 - Capital FM Arena, Nottingham
Sun May 20th 2012 - Liverpool Echo Arena, Liverpool
Wed May 23rd 2012 - Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle
Fri May 25th 2012 - SECC, Glasgow
Sat May 26th 2012 - LG Arena Birmingham, Birmingham
Tue May 29th 2012 - Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester
Thu May 31st 2012 - The O2 Arena, London
Fri June 1st 2012 - The O2 Arena, London

Soulmonster wrote:I don't like Mi Amor. There's something gypsy about the melody which makes it a bit lightweight for a GN'R song.

Guns N' Roses, O2 Dublin, review
By Ed Power
11:26AM BST 21 May 2012

With the charts untroubled by his effervescent shriek, it’s tempting to conclude that Axl Rose’s strategy for remaining in the spotlight has been to annoy as many people as possible. Last month the Guns N’ Roses frontman sulkily snubbed the band’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, widening the rift with the rest of the original line-up. It followed an American tour that saw G N’ R – nowadays essentially Rose and some hired help – going on close to or after midnight, leaving concert-goers torn between worshipping at the altar of old school hair-metal or missing the last bus.

Such antics have become all too familiar. In 2010, Rose exasperated a fair chunk of the 150,000 attending the Leeds and Reading festivals by turning up late and, at Reading, attempting to play through the curfew after organisers killed the power. Several days later he stormed off stage in Dublin when a plastic bottle was lobbed in his direction, presumably in protest at yet another tardy start.

On his return, one question, then, was surely paramount in the minds of G N’ R fans: would Rose come in the guise of rock deity or volcano-tempered prima donna? In fact, the 50-year-old singer, nursing a leg injury, was gracious, good-humoured and almost punctual. Arriving earlier than expected at 10.20pm, he began with a caterwauling Welcome to the Jungle, followed by the frontal charge of It’s So Easy and Mr Brownstone. On Sweet Child o’ Mine, the rollercoaster opening riff was accompanied by ardent mugging from top-hatted guitarist DJ Ashba, while the rest of the troupe, dressed as post-apocalyptic warriors, prowled back and forth, as if bothered by dreadfully itchy underpants.

Wearing a wide-brim hat and ludicrous moustache, Rose, too, got into the pantomime spirit. Shrugging off his damaged hamstring – he joked about his 2010 walk-off (“I hope you don’t mind me moving less than usual, although I’m probably moving a whole lot more than I was the last time I was here” – and chewed the scenery on deliciously over-the-top covers of AC/DC’s Whole Lotta Rosie and Paul McCartney’s Live and Let Die, the latter accompanied by dental-work-troubling explosions.

Still, at moments the near three-hour set felt more like an endurance test than a rock concert. Several tracks from 2008’s turgid comeback LP Chinese Democracy seemed to go on forever, as did a noodling tilt at The Who’s Baba O’Riley by piano player Dizzy Reed. Up in the balcony, at least one attendee had already witnessed enough. Ninety minutes in and with no end in sight, she rested her head on her boyfriend’s shoulder, fast asleep as another interminable solo rumbled past.

666 wrote:I always wondered how Mickey Mouse would sound if he sang Civil War. I can now scratch it off my bucket list