2012.02.21 - The Fillmore, Detroit, USA

Detroit rock band Sponge has gotten the nod to open for Guns N' Roses Feb. 21 at the Fillmore Detroit, venue officials announced Wednesday.

Sponge's Vinnie Dombroski says he got a call to do the show on Tuesday and immediately accepted the offer.

"I didn't even know they were interested in support for the show," Dombroski said Wednesday. "Be that as it may, we're there."

Dombroski says he has a relationship with Guns N' Roses guitarist Richard Fortus that dates back to the mid-1990s, which helped facilitate the offer.

Last month, Sponge performed its 1994 album "Rotting Pinata" in its entirety at Mount Clemens' Emerald Theatre. The group is planning on playing the album in full at more dates this year.

Tickets for the GNR show, $49.50-$125, are now on sale at livenation.com.

axlrose A flucking Blast!! Thank you Detroit!! I was drowned in the gutter n' u got my motor runnin'!! 10 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

Guns N' Roses locked and loaded at Fillmore show

It was around 2 a.m. Wednesday when Guns N' Roses really started heating up.

The group was two and a half hours into a fiery performance at the Fillmore Detroit when it rolled headlong into "Nightrain," a classic cut from 1987's "Appetite for Destruction." A female fan crowd-surfed toward Axl Rose, and the enigmatic frontman extended his arm, smiled, and directed his next line toward her: "And I can tell you honey, you can make my money tonight."

It was a small moment in a king-size three-hour concert, but it was an example of the intimate connection between performer and fan that comes from a theater show. And it was those kinds of bits that seemed to stoke the band's fire, as it played with a vigor that was missing during Guns' December performance at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

At that half-empty Palace concert, GNR was powerful but aimless, going through the motions of being a gigantic rock band, a post it has long since abandoned. But Tuesday night/ Wednesday morning at the Fillmore, GNR felt much more like a working band, rather than an army of hired guns making rock poses in between loud blasts of pyro. It was almost as if the band had been humbled, and as a result was playing with a renewed purpose.

The band members riffed between songs, entertaining themselves with bits of the Isley Brothers' "It's Your Thing," Jackson 5's "ABC," MC5's "Kick Out the Jams" and Kiss' "Detroit Rock City." And they seemed to go a bit outside the playbook, offering up a bluesy, stripped-down version of "You're Crazy" early on and later easing into "Used to Love Her," which was absent from the December concert.

Then there were the epics: A mighty "Estranged" and a ferocious "Civil War" were full of arena muscle, and "This I Love," from "Chinese Democracy," felt as strong as anything from the band's golden era.

The show was still bloated in parts, full of extraneous solos from the band's guitarists that could have easily been excised. It was unclear why "November Rain" was cut short to allow for guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal to play the "Pink Panther" theme, but it was an awful decision. Likewise with bassist Tommy Stinson's mid-show offering of "Motivation," though it was likely just an excuse to let Axl run off stage and catch his breath for a bit.

Rose tweeted early in the day he was "sick as a dogg!!," and his voice — particularly the high-end — seemed especially shaky during the show. There were times when he went to sing and nothing at all came out, and still other times — such as "Nightrain" — when he was in solid form.

Vocals aside, it was fascinating to simply be that close to Rose, who has existed in a sort of self-imposed isolation for decades. He's long been as inaccessible as rock stars get, but this small venue tour feels like a new leaf. The singer turned 50 earlier this month, and if he's not the lean, serpentine figure he once was, he still makes quite an impression.

GNR wrapped the show with "Paradise City," as bursts of red confetti rained down on the crowd. It was 2:35 a.m. and GNR's nightrain had pulled in for the evening, but it's a ride passengers aren't likely to forget anytime soon.

Concert Review: Guns N' Roses plays long, late at the Fillmore

DETROIT — The question before a Guns N' Roses concert is usually what time Axl Rose will finally lead the group on stage.

On Tuesday night (Feb. 21) at the Fillmore Detroit, it was whether he would make it to the stage at all.

Rose — the sole remaining member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-bound hard rock band's original lineup — raised a red flag early Tuesday evening when he tweeted he was "sick as a dogg!!" He didn't indicate the show was at risk, but a fissure of doubt ran through the Fillmore nonetheless.

The concern was unnecessary, however. Rose and the band — though unconscionably late, as is its habit — rocked the Fillmore well into the wee hours of Wednesday morning, delivering a slamming, 25-song set that had all the impact of an arena show and the sense of event that comes from seeing a group like that in such an intimate venue.

It was, in fact, the smallest place GNR has played in the metro area since it performed at the then-State Theatre in May of 1988. The group's debut album, "Appetite For Destruction," went stratospheric shortly after that, and GNR moved on to places like the Pontiac Silverdome and the Palace, where the group played on Dec. 1.

That Tuesday's show did not sell out in the 3,000-capacity Fillmore was surprising, and it was certainly the one that got away for anyone who missed it — even in a big week for rock shows that also includes Van Halen, Korn and Jane's Addiction. Even if he was feeling "drowned in the gutter," Rose rose to the occasion, his larger-the-life Rock Star persona even more pronounced in the smaller environs and his vocal swoops and banshee wails intact, if a bit hoarse at times.

GNR's production jammed a flashy, arena-sized light-and-sound rig into the Fillmore, with a short ramp jutting out from the front of the stage so Rose could press the flesh with fans beyond the front row. Guitarists Richard Fortus, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal and DJ Ashba — the latter sporting a top hat ala original GNR guitarist Slash — exchanged lead and rhythm roles smoothly, while the set list, nearly identical to the December show at the Palace, wove together hits such as "Welcome to the Jungle," "Sweet Child O' Mine," "Patience," "Don't Cry" and the show-closing "Paradise City" with six selections tracks from GNR's 2008 album "Chinese Democracy" and covers of Wings' "Live and Let Die" and Bob Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door."

The only damper on GNR's electric, and electrifying, show was, as usual, the hour. Rose's penchant for late starts and long shows is pretty much accepted at this point; certainly a chunk of the Fillmore faithful didn't even bother showing up until homeboy opener Sponge was into its 25-minute set. But plenty of folks also trickled out GNR's show wore on, and by the time the confetti flew during "Paradise City" a good one-third, and probably more, were already out the door. Could be why GNR only drew 8,000 to the Palace and still had tickets left to sell on Tuesday.

It truly was, as Rose tweeted afterwards, "a f***ing Blast!!" But it would be a better time for more of the faithful if his unique internal clock could become a bit more fan-friendly.

OH WOW, holy fuck, shit goddamn, what the shit................ALL of that and more.

Let me start by saying this; last night was my 11th time seeing Guns N' Roses and it was HANDS DOWN THE BEST show I've ever seen. Prior to this, the first Hammerstein show in 06 was #1 with GN'R/Skids in 91 being a close close second. Both of those shows bent over, took it in the ass from last nights show, smiled and said "Thank you, may I please have more".

When we got to The Fillmore, we went to say hit to ereeper who was there to be first in line. About 2 minutes after we got there, Ron came right up the front door to hang with all of us. He was super cool, hung out with the fans for a while, etc. We all got pics and we made his CrowdStream app too. He let me hold he guitar while we took a pic which was cool as hell. After he left, we went to get cocktails and met up with more friends.

In hindsight, I'm upset I didn't attempt to record the show but I'm glad I didn't attempt it in a way. Security were A S S H O L E S on the way in and there's no way I would've been able to bring in the recorder. Stacey got beyond hassled by security for bringing in a prescription because she had it in a different bottle than it came in (long story, but whatever). After all that BS, we walked in and got a table directly behind the sound board which was awesome.

Sponge (the opener, a has been/never was Detroit band) opened and was awful. They played 5 songs and of course closed with their "biggest hit" which they drug out for far, far too long. Everyone in the crowd openly making fun of how long they drug it out.

When the lights went down for Guns, something else played before (or instead of) Dexter. I don't know what it was, but it wasn't GN'R, it wasn't Dexter and I've never heard GN'R play it before a show. I honest to God can't remember if Dexter even played after that, I think CD started right up (again, I honestly can't remember so no one lose their mind at me if I'm wrong, lol). After Welcome to the Jungle, Axl pointed at the crowd and said "You guys are fucking bringing it. GOD DAMN". He kept mentioning how awesome the crowd was through the entire show.

As others have said, they did some awesome jams. The band kept trying to start Detroit Rock City, they did the Jackson 5 "I Want You Back" jam, they jammed on "Kick Out The Jams" by MC5, etc. Axl was having such a good time that I think he completely fucked up the end of NR. I really think he had no idea they didn't play it. He was SO into killing it on the piano and when it got to the end before last solo, he got up, came around the piano, introduced Ron and left! The rest of the band looked shocked but went with the flow. Ron worked in some of the end solo in the intro to Panther which was cool of him. He did a little more right before Don't Cry too.

This show absolutely destroyed Chicago but a long, long, long shot. The crowd, the band, Axl, the sound.... everything was perfect. What a class act Axl was/is for not only going to work sick, but out doing every show I've ever seen him perform prior. Goes to show what a great crowd can do for a performer if you ask me. Axl was joking through the entire show and told a bunch of great stories. One was about his "eBay tweet" he said some girl yelled at him later in the day for an autograph and goes "I CAN'T SELL MY FUCKIN' LEG ON EBAY!!" and he laughed real hard. He was also talking about how the porn industry is talking about boycotting California soon and he said they should move it to Detroit. That was we can have the "motivation industry AND the automotive industry" haha.

After the band bow, Axl gave a little longer speech than usual explaining that he was in fact beyond sick but that he really wanted to come give us a great show and he hoped he did that. The place erupted when he said that with many, many people doing the "We're not worthy bow". The funniest thing was at the very very end Axl said "Goodnight, take care, we love you and DON'T TAKE NO SHIT FROM THE PO PO!" and laughed his ass off. It was so fucking funny. No one knows why he said it but if it was just to make himself and us laugh, it worked! Haha.

Astounding. Top notch. (Literally) Once in a lifetime. Stellar. Amazing..... none of those words or phrases come close to describing the night.