1991.05.11 - Pantages Theatre, Los Angeles, USA

POP MUSIC REVIEW : Guns N' Roses: The Shape of Things to Come
May 13, 1991|ROBERT HILBURN | TIMES POP MUSIC CRITIC

The silliest line in the endless series of Jim Morrison articles triggered by Oliver Stone's recent Doors movie may have been the suggestion that the parallel to Morrison in today's rock world is INXS' Michael Hutchence.

So what if Hutchence also wears black a lot and pouts for the camera? There's no hint of mystery, danger or tortured artistry about the Australian singer.

The contemporary rocker whose music does reflect those qualities is Axl Rose--a young man with a raw, unpredictable edge that helps fuse Guns N' Roses' records and concerts with such electricity.

And it was the chance to tap into that current that lured a full house to the Pantages Theatre on Saturday.

Like a similar show Thursday night in San Francisco, the concert was a warm-up for a Guns N' Roses world tour that begins May 24 in East Troy, Wis., and will include a July 29 date at the Forum in Inglewood. Tickets for the Forum show go on sale Saturday.

Aside from the rare chance to see the hard-rock quintet in an intimate, 2,700-seat setting, the Pantages event also offered the first chance to sample more than half a dozen songs from the group's long-awaited new albums. In an unprecedented move, the band is releasing two albums simultaneously this summer.

Not surprisingly, the concert had the informal, stop-start feel of an open rehearsal during the opening hour as the band members--including new drummer Matt Sorum--got the feel of working together again on stage after a long layoff from touring. In what might have been a rock first, a TelePrompTer-type device was available so Rose could refer to lyrics if needed during some of the new songs.

But about half way into the two-hour-plus set, things started coming together and Guns N' Roses showed why it is not only the biggest selling hard-rock band to come from Los Angeles since Van Halen, but also perhaps the most compelling hard-rock big seller since the Doors.

It's no accident that the group's 1987 debut album, "Appetite for Destruction," sold 12 million copies. Rose and the band frequently explore the same dark themes of Morrison, including fast-lane excesses and consequences. In the "Welcome to the Jungle" single, Rose warns, "You can taste the bright lights / But you won't get them for free."

Yet the songs, stripped of the sometimes poetic or philosophical trimmings of the Doors, have more of a consistently accessible edge--able to reach a wide cross-section of the pop market without sacrificing a convincing street edge. Rose is also a more consistent, engaging performer than the often moody, retreating Morrison.

The question hanging over the band for almost three years now wasn't just whether it could come up with enough good material to keep the momentum going, but also whether the members could survive the widely reported personal tensions in the band.

Saturday's show offered an answer to the first of these questions quickly. The band members--also including lead guitarist Slash, guitarist Izzy Stradlin and bassist Duff McKagan--appeared enthusiastic and relaxed, neither compelled to do something outrageous to reassert the group's long-standing "bad boy" image nor wrap every song with overly dramatic emotion to give the show a false sense of occasion. For a group that has seen as much written about its image as its music, Guns N' Roses was refreshingly down to earth.

All this pointed to confidence in the new material--and the confidence was justified. Instead of "Welcome to the Jungle II" or "Patience III," Guns N' Roses--at least in this sample--has mixed its aggressive and melancholy musical instincts in fresh ways.

The group's songs from the new albums ranged from the rowdiness of "Bad Apple" and the snarl of "Bad Obsession" to the disarming "Don't Cry," which will be the first single from the new albums and served as an especially evocative encore number, sung with uncommon conviction by Rose.

The band also did some of the familiar numbers--including "Rocket Queen," and "Sweet Child O' Mind." But it was the new songs that seemed to matter most to the band and those songs suggested Guns N' Roses is for real.

To keep the $20 tickets out of the hands of brokers, who often sell tickets at five to 10 times face value, fans--who began lining up shortly after the show was announced at noon on radio--had to show photo IDs to buy vouchers. At show time, they were given two tickets after displaying the vouchers and photo ID. They then had to go directly into the theater, apparently eliminating the tickets getting to brokers.

Del James wrote:Pandemonium breaks out again! Using the same formula as before, Slash and Duff called radio station KLOS and announced the "secret" - which, even before 'Frisco, was not much of a secret - and the show was an immediate sellout. Most of the prominent members of the L.A. music community, from industry heads to journalists to musicians, were eager to see what GN'R had to offer, with many skeptics secretly hoping they would fall flat on their faces. Also, the entire Guns N' Roses family of friends was there. Once again Dumpster held their own, reaffirming their claim as on of L.A.'s top club acts. It's only a matter of time before these guys get the record deal they deserve. Then, as the lights dimmed, the Pantages Theatre exploded as the moment everyone had been anticipating arrived.

Opening with "Right Next Door To Hell," GN'R launched into a set that saw many of the kinks from the previous gig ironed out. The band onstage tonight was a lot more confident and firmly in control of the harder-to-please- yes, stuck up- L.A. audience. "Mr. Brownstone," "Dust N' Bones" and "Civil War" followed. Then Axl said, "This next number is my favorite song of the set, because I don't have to sing, and I can kick back and watch the guys. It features Slash Corleone Guido Sarducci on guitar. This is something we call 'Godslobber'." Slash took his cue and started soloing, then the band slowly kicked in with their interpretation of the theme from The Godfather. "Pretty Tied Up" and an awesome version of "Live And Let Die" followed. "14 Years," a number that features Izzy Stradlin on lead vox, was next. Then came "Yesterdays" and "Double Talkin' Jive," which turned into one of GN'R's heaviest jams. The show continued with "Patience," during which Axl jumped off stage and ran through the audience, winding up at the sound board, where he sang the finale of the song. There is nothing choreographed, nothing planned, and nothing contrived about a Guns N' Roses show. Hell, they don't even have a set list, but rather a "pick list" of 30-plus songs they can choose from each evening, according to whatever mood hits 'em.

Next up, a blistering Matt Sorum drum solo rocked the rafters off the Pantages, with a little help from Duff McKagan on timbals. "The drum solo is great," Sorum explained later. "I never got to do one when I was with the Cult. Actually, I never did one before Rio. Hopefully they'll keep getting better. It's really cool of the guys for letting me do it."

Duff let Sorum cut loose a little longer before returning with his bass, and then the duo got into a funk groove. Slash joined the jam, and pretty soon GN'R had one what no one else would dare: go from "Patience," into a drum solo, into a funk jam, into an all-out, balls-out rock jam that turned into "Rocket Queen."

"Knockin' On Heaven's Door," complete with a sing-along, was next, and right before the last song (before the encores) Axl explained that "Estranged" featured pianist Dizzy Reed. The band then launched into the song, which can only be described as a classic.

Returning after a break, he band got into the first of their two encores. They started up with "Bad Apples," then Axl called up a close friend, Shannon Hoon, from Capitol recording artists Blind Melon, and they sang "You Ain't The First." "It's So Easy" ended the series. The second encore started off with "Bad Obsession," then Axl called Hoon back onstage, and the pair duetted, like they do on Illusion, on "Don't Cry." "Sweet Child O' Mine" ended the evening. After the show Guns threw a party for several hundred of their friends, but I didn't stick around. The two-hour-and-ten-minute show had drained me. Instead, I rang Axl's hotel and left a message: "Getting better. Eight and a half."

SHATTERING YOUR ILLUSIONS: GUNS LIVE IN LA
 
GUNS N’ ROSES
Pantages Theatre, Los Angeles
 
11.5.91
VERDICT: After the muck spreading, they come up smelling of roses.
 
A DRUNKEN message on my answerphone from RAW’S Editor tipped me off that Guns n’ Roses were proposing to play a secret show the next night at Hollywood’s intimate Pantages Theatre (capacity: 2,000). So, the next morning, after hastily downing three Weetabix, I investigated. Outside the theatre an excited mass of people clutching skateboards and ghetto blasters were organising themselves into a queue in readiness for a long day’s wait in the LA sun. In a valiant attempt to deter touts, the method of ticket was complicated and time- consuming. But, for a lucky few, the wait proved to be long but fruitful. For others, the wait was just long.
 
With two new albums (‘Use Your Illusion I’ and ‘Use Your Illusion ΙI') due out on July 1 and a massive tour planned, the enigmatic and volatile Guns are preparing to conquer the world. Though, for a long time it looked like it might not end up in such a victorious flurry. The chronicling of their drug problems has been a thorough and exhaustive pastime for journalists who were keen to feed an audience starved of new material. But, hopefully, with that episode behind them, the band can now get on with what they do best... and that is writing great music.
 
Tonight was the second dress rehearsal for the tour proper, which began on May 24 in Alpine Valley, Wisconsin. Or as Axl put it: “This warm­up show is because I can’t seem to make it to rehearsals. I guess I need some poeple in front of me to get me going.” Indeed the setting was more like that of a rehearsal, with a barren stage, no set and functional, rather than flamboyant, lighting. Tonight was LA’s first glimpse of the new line-up, one that debuted in January at the Rock In Rio festival. Following the painful and drawn-out saga of drummer Steven Adler’s departure, the drum stool has been more than amply filled by ex-Cult man Matt Sorum. And, the Roses have become a six-shooter with the addition of Dizzy Reed on keyboards.
 
Axl, looking relaxed and sporting a studio tan, was dressed in a black net see-through shirt and black/white tights as he charged frantically across the stage during ‘Mr Brownstone’. But, the tour is primarily to promote the new albums and, with each one sporting 18 tracks, they had a wealth of new material to draw on. First out of the hat was ‘Dust And Bones’. Introduced by Slash with a sarcastic “most of us are still alive” quip, before Axl took over for the rest of the Rockin’ Blues number.
 
Axl’s shirt and the audience’s shackles came off for the adrenalin-fuelled and hard kickin’ ‘Civil War’, a track that the crowd are familiar with thanks to its inclusion on last year’s Rumanian benefit LP ‘Nobody’s Child’. The band’s gift of being able to switch effortlessly between tenderness and power with ease and conviction has always been their strength and ‘Civil War’ blends both perfectly.
 
“‘Use Your Illusion’ is a cross between Led Zeppelin’s ‘Physical Graffitti’ and Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’.” claims former Guns manager Alan Niven and that strange comparison is borne out somewhat by the forthcoming albums choices of several quite different cover versions, not the least bizarre being an interpretation of Wings’ ‘Live And Let Die’, which was next up. Duff McKagan led the way with his low-slung bass and defiant pose, before Slash scythed his way in and Axl’s sugar-free vocals gave the song new perspective and harder edge.
 
‘Yesterdaze’ kept the tempo up before Axl introduced the quaintly- titled ‘Double Talking Jive Motherfucker’ as an “Izzy Stradlin song from hell”. What followed certainly lived up to its introduction. Throughout the evening Axl kept wandering offstage just to confirm to the audience that this was just a glorified rehearsal, and every song was followed by a brief discussion to decide on the next number . One other device not normally seen at a show was the autocue that Axl used on more unfamiliar material, though he didn’t need it on the next song as the band dusted down ‘Patience’ to a rousing cheer, Stradlin and Slash having a Blues duel, while Axl went for a stroll through the audience.
Sorum relished his moment in the spotlight as he, Duff and Slash did their solo spots before converging on ‘Rocket Queen’. And, Dylan’s ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’ has rarely been done with such dynamism, as Axl’s voice soared and stirred. For the first encore they plucked ‘Bad Apples’ from the new material and ‘It’s So Easy’ from ‘Appetite For Destruction’, before embarking on one of their new epics, ‘Estranged’. They returned a second time to show off yet more new material with the slow, moody beginning of ‘Bad Obsession’, a glimpse of forthcoming single ‘Dont Cry’ (due on ‘Use Your Illusion I') and a spirited yet strained ‘Sweet Child O’Mine’.
 
As a spectacle, the show was undoubtedly flawed but, remembering that this was only a rehearsal, they were still able to achieve moments of great cohesion. The evening was a mouth-watering appetiser for the new albums and appeared to show that, out of the ashes ot the Guns n’ Roses who shared an LA stage with the Stones in late ’89, a phoenix has arisen. Perched between self-destruction and greatness the odds were once on the former but, as Axl confessed on a recent interview following a visit to Jim Morrison’s grave: “I decided I was going to live for myself, not die for Rock ’n’ Roll. That was Jim’s way; it didn’t have to be mine. I just saw I was lucky. I saw I had a choice before it was too late.”
The cemeteries are full of heroes.
 
The Rock world is desperately short of them, so let’s hope Guns n’ Roses hang around a while longer. We need them.
 
KEVIN MURPHY

PERFORMANCE

GUNS N' ROSES at the Pantages Theater, May 11

If you're ever down on L.A., just think how fortunate you are to live in a place where you can be the beneficiary of "special event" gigs played by important bands — like last Saturday’s sordid homecoming for the kings of Hollywood at the Pantages. Tickets were unscammable, but the true hardy punters lucked out. inside it wasn't too star-studded, so a regular Joe and Jane crowd filled the small theater.

With expectations running well past fever pitch for their new Use Your Illusion, a two-record release sold as two individual albums, a test of tunes was needed. Sticking mostly to new material and getting the kinks out for this summer's stadium tour, Guns' set was uneven at best and dreadful dull at worst. Operating with no set-list and Axl Rose reading lyrics off a TelePrompTer. Guns were aiming for informality and got it. Putting on airs at home would've been too uncool. But diddling around incessantly can wear down even the most fanatical fan, and folks were seen rubbing their aching backs by encore time. Out of the garage for better and worse they are.

Axl himself was in fine voice and seems the picture of serenity when compared to the petulance of yesteryear, a slower Pussycat. Hard to say how well this new maturity will wear, but the level of danger that G N' R once presented seems over. (The show's musical highpoint was a torrid version of “Civil War,” a song which sounded stillborn on the radio last year—the band reared back ferociously for the number.) Suddenly the main culprit isn't the singer, but new drummer Matt Sorum, who's just too damn slick for this one-time raunchhouse; wiggy faves like “It's So Easy" and “Mr. Brownstone" approached Bon-Joviland at the Pantages. Yes, it's honest that G N' R don't cling to their "we are street urchins form hell" stance when they motor home to Bel Air mansions in Ferrari's, but that doesn't mean that they had to drain the juice out of their potent sound. Say it ain't so.

Guns N' Roses are the only band of the decade that can call its own shots, radio and MTV-wise; but it looks like they're trying to hang on to their clout rather than push the envelope, as evidenced by the choice of "Live And Let Die" as cover song over any of the punk classics promised in the press releases. The most novel thing about Use Your Illusion, Parts 1 and 2, judging by the 10 or so songs the band played from the records, will probably be its unique marketing strategy. Having whetted their appetite for destruction, it seems like complacency might be the dessert.

(Johnny Angel)

ALMOST AS OUTRAGEOUS AS THE PANTAGES

Madonna on Monday; Dice on Friday; the last member of the week’s unholy trinity to appear was Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose, who, from what we gathered from his onstage remarks Saturday night, has been having just a teensy hit of trouble making rehearsals for the band’s upcoming major tour. So what’s a mother to do? To motivate even the brattiest of,bad boys, the powers-that-be booked the band a rehearsal hall. Hollywood’s stately Pantages Theater, where the supergroup played a surprise show. The audience was unexpectedly docile, though most chose to remain standing in their assigned seats throughout the entire two-hour-plus show, which showcased old and new material and a couple of covers (in their hands, Paul McCartney and Wings syrupy “Live & Let Die became a death-rock anthem).

There was no pre-arranged set list, and most everybody got a chance to sing; Axl, the Patrick Swayze of the rock world, showed again that real men do go-go dance, with or without a tambourine; there were drum, bass and guitar solos, during which Axl kept busy with enough costume changes to constitute a mini fashion show; and the final encore, “Sweet Child o' Mine, ” coincided handily with the last of Axl’s voice. As the lights went up, the audience engaged in that long-standing industry parlor game — assessing each other’s juice level by the location of their seats — as the paying customers were herded out and the VIPs remained inside the theater sipping champagne and club soda while the lobby was set up for a lavish midnight snack. We’ve seldom encountered a jaded industry crowd to unanimously pronounce a show such a resounding success, particularly a band’s new material, but everyone seemed to love it.

Also a hit was the after-party, for which the Pantages’ exquisite Art Deco lobby had been lavishly decorated with thousands of red roses reaching in columns nearly to the ceiling; after eating and drinking their fill, the remaining guests took to mining the flower arrangements, toppling all those within reach. We assume guns numbered far fewer, owing to the thorough body search that had been conducted on each entrant.

Blackstar wrote:From RIP Magazine:

Del James wrote:The show continued with "Patience," during which Axl jumped off stage and ran through the audience, winding up at the sound board, where he sang the finale of the song.

lipeguns wrote:

Blackstar wrote:From RIP Magazine:

Del James wrote:The show continued with "Patience," during which Axl jumped off stage and ran through the audience, winding up at the sound board, where he sang the finale of the song.

Could you, please, upload the scans of Rip Magazine? Thanks in advance!

Blackstar wrote:

lipeguns wrote:

Blackstar wrote:From RIP Magazine:

Del James wrote:The show continued with "Patience," during which Axl jumped off stage and ran through the audience, winding up at the sound board, where he sang the finale of the song.

Could you, please, upload the scans of Rip Magazine? Thanks in advance!

I don't have them, unfortunately. I just got the text from an old GnR fan site.