2012.05.26 - LG Arena, Birmingham, England

ROCK legends Guns N' Roses have announced a comeback tour to mark their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Axl Rose, Slash and the band will storm the stage with hits including Sweet Child of Mine and Paradise City when they play the LG Arena in Birmingham on May 26.

The band's career has spanned more than two decades and they have sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, giving them the title of one of the most influential rock bands the world has ever seen.

Tickets, which cost £40 and £45 plus booking fee, went on sale on Friday.

Boys are back in town when Guns N' Roses play LG Arena Birmingham

LEGENDARY rock name Guns N’ Roses is teaming up with seminal Brit rockers Thin Lizzy to play at Birmingham’s LG Arena.

Axl Rose and his gang of bravura musicians are returning to the venue they rocked two years ago. Back then, with a midnight deadline to get off the stage, and a two-hour show in front of them, with support act Skid Row long gone, the packed crowd was wondering if the famously tardy band was going to appear on stage in time.

News flashed around the venue that a helicopter had taken off from Heathrow and was en route, and just before 10pm the band finally took to the stage. After a rocky start they gave a performance which won the crowd over. This time, on May 26, the LG Arena will see the boys back in town when a Thin Lizzy line-up featuring original members Scott Gorham, Brian Downey and Darren Wharton, all of whom played in Thin Lizzy with Phil Lynott, takes to the stage.

Thin Lizzy’s Scott Gorham said: “To tour with a band the calibre of Guns N’ Roses is an honour and a privilege. It’s like one big family, so can’t wait to see you all out there.” The stellar line-up is completed by guitarist Damon Johnson (Brother Cane, Alice Cooper), Bassist Marco Mendoza (Whitesnake, Ted Nugent) and The Almighty’s Ricky Warwick on vocals and guitar. Just don’t expect an early night.

Guns N’ Roses at the LG Arena, Birmingham

The band that has drummed up more trade for late-night taxi hire firms than any other act in the history of rock’n’roll was not going to break the habit of a lifetime and make a punctual start. But they still managed to catch everyone on the hop, including the sound engineer, when they suddenly began their three-hour show at 10.20pm — late, but not as late as they have been.

The next surprise was how alert and switched-on they sounded. There was a genuine sense of excitement in the air as various spindly guitarists jumped off platforms and scuttled around the stage while fireworks exploded and jets of flame erupted from the floor. Prancing through this carefully choreographed mayhem, like a Village People version of Robert Duvall enjoying the smell of napalm in the morning, came the 50-year-old Axl Rose, sporting a pair of shredded blue jeans, aviator shades and a comically droopy moustache.

Rose is the sole remaining member of the classic GN’R line-up and has been for a while. He gracelessly declined a recent invitation to appear with his former bandmates for the group’s induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His current gang of hired hands looked like a job lot of tattooed rockers straight from central casting, but they knew how to play their instruments. And with Rose in the mood to put on a show for once, this was a reminder of just what a gilt-edged repertoire he still has at his disposal.

For the first hour or so, they blasted through a string of heritage rock tunes for which the description “kick-ass” might have been invented: Welcome to the Jungle, It’s So Easy, Mr Brownstone and a huge rendition of the self-pitying power ballad Sorry. Rose’s voice has grown scraggier with age, and he sounded at times as though he were turning into Brian Johnson of AC/DC, not least when they played a blustery cover of Whole Lotta Rosie.

But it was still an overlong and bloated show with too much grandstanding and other irrelevant contributions such as a casually tossed off version of Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2). And although a considerable improvement on previous lacklustre performances, they are still docked a star for leaving 10,000 or so long-suffering fans tramping through a glorified car park off the M42 at 1.20 in the morning.