1992.06.06 - Hippodrome De Vincennes, Paris, France

TV REVIEW : Vintage Guns N' Roses
June 08, 1992|STEVE HOCHMAN

"The feel-good band of the '90s," is how Guns N' Roses was introduced in its first pay-per-view TV concert on Saturday.

And, sure enough, half an hour into the band's set came one of those warm W. Axl Rose Moments, as the singer took time to lay into Warren Beatty in a verbal barrage that to most viewers must have seemed like it was beamed in from Venus instead of the Hippodrome of Paris, where the concert took place. (To explain, Rose has been linked with Stephanie Seymour, whose former links include Beatty.)

The thing is, as bizarre as the tirade may have sounded, everyone knew there would be one. There always is from Rose. His once-captivating unpredictability has become that predictable. Which means he's ready for prime time. And reduced to the small screen, the big GNR spectacle was just a step or two short of a rock 'n' roll variety show.

Sure enough, we got guest stars Lenny Kravitz and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry (Jeff Beck, who had been scheduled, was said to be ill) and more outfit changes from Rose than you'd get from Cher.

Guns N' Roses played hard although perfunctorily in a set that didn't differ appreciably from the ones on last year's U.S. tour. The show was shot unobtrusively although unimaginatively and whatever editing that was done was fairly smooth. But it wouldn't have been inappropriate for everyone to gather on stage at the end and sing "Thanks for the Memories."

PolyGram
 
April 29, 1992
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
GUNS N’ ROSES INVADE PARIS!
 
IN THEIR FIRST EVER PAY PER VIEW CONCERT EVENT
 
PRESENTED BY POLYGRAM DIVERSIFIED ENTERTAINMENT
 
GUNS N’ ROSES, one of the biggest bands in the world, will telecast their Paris concert date on June 6 in their first ever worldwide television broadcast. GUNS N’ ROSES INVADE PARIS! will be available on pay per view in the U.S. Millions of fans unable to obtain tickets to GUNS N’ ROSES sold out worldwide tour now have the opportunity to experience GUNS N’ ROSES live.
 
The special presentation will feature SOUNDGARDEN whose album Badmotorfinger has been certified gold. Well known for their flair for the dramatic, GUNS N’ ROSES has a few surprises in store for their fans including unannounced guests.
 
Multi-platinum Grammy Award winners, GUNS N’ ROSES sold over 18 million copies of Appetite For Destruction, their first major release. With the simultaneous release of Use Your Illusion I & II (another first time ever event), GUNS N’ ROSES entered the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart at #1 and #2. GUNS N’ ROSES are the first and only act to enter the charts at those positions. The single “Don’t Cry” went gold, and “You Could Be Mine,” featured in the blockbuster movie Terminator 2: Judgement Day, sold more than 1.5 million CD singles in the first 30 days of release.
 
GUNS N’ ROSES’ Use Your Illusion I & II albums still reigned in the Billboard top ten as of the beginning of the year, with more than 15 million combined units sold in the U.S. and abroad. Both their European and U.S. tours have been sell-outs since they began.
 
Doug Goldstein, GUNS N’ ROSES manager said, “Following the tremendous success of the releases Use Your Illusion I & II as well as completing a sold out tour, GUNS N’ ROSES felt this worldwide television event would enable them to reach millions of their fans who would otherwise not be able to see them in a live show.”
 
PolyGram Diversified Entertainment is producing the event as well as presenting it on pay per view in the U.S. PolyGram Television International is distributing the event to hundreds of affiliate stations in the U.S. and Canada.
 
“This promises to be the biggest rock pay per view event in history. I fully expect this GUNS N’ ROSES telecast to exceed the numbers achieved by the Rolling Stones and the Who,” said John Soher, President of PDE. “The mystique and curiosity surrounding GUNS N’ ROSES concerts of their most recent tour adds a certain element of danger to a live telecast.”
 
“PolyGram Diversified Entertainment is producing this concert as it is meant to be a big event, with one of the world’s biggest bands. We see it as an opportunity to break the 1% buyrate syndrome of pay per view concerts,” stated PDE Vice President, Jeff Rowland.
 
PolyGram Diversified Entertainment, part of the New York division of Polygram, the global entertainment and record company, is committed to producing a wide variety of pay per view events from Sisters In The Name of Rap to the Metropolitan Opera’s 75^th Anniversary Gala at the Met. Their ability to interact with their record labels, marketing, merchandising, promotional services, film and video divisions gives PolyGram Diversified Entertainment the unique ability to create and position pay per view events for maximum success.
 
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