1991.06.19 - Capitol Centre, Landover, USA

666 wrote:I really should read those notes

Guns N’ Roses debunk rumors, show they care about music, fans

By J. D. Considine
Sun Pop Music Critic

Guns N’ Roses put on concert to please fans

If you believe what you read in the rock press, Guns N’ Roses are genuine rock brats, given to every form of excess and indulgence. Portrayed as petulant pop stars, the Gunners are made to seem like spoiled crybabies, caring little for any but themselves.

Don’t you believe it. The truth is, Guns Ν’ Roses actually care about two things above all — their music, and their fans. And if you find that somewhat hard to swallow, it’s only because you weren’t on hand to see for yourself at the Capital Centre last night.

It wasn’t Just that the band played with passionate intensity, igniting older songs like “Welcome to the Jungle" or “Mister Brownstone” and illuminating newer material like the stormy “Perfect Crime” or the sensitive “November Rain." What really made this show exceptional was the way the band went beyond the hits, showing a solidarity with its fans few groups would dare attempt.

Granted, some of that may have just seemed like lip service, as when singer Axl Rose told the crowd that the reason “Use Your Illusion" — the band’s much-delayed new album — won’t be out for yet another month was because the band did not want to short-change its following. But Mr. Rose showed that there was more to his sentiments than mere talk when, midway through “Civil War," he dove from the stage into the crowd to help fend off a couple security guards he thought were unjustly attacking an audience member.

That this was an unexpected move goes without saying; even the band was brought up short, stumbling to a halt shortly after Mr. Rose made his leap.

It was the music that ultimately showed how great this band can be. With most of the set drawn from unfamiliar material, you’d think the Gunners would have a hard time holding their audience. But from the nasty, bluesy groove of “Bad Obsession" to the gritty, Stones-style rock of “Bustin’ Bones," the group was never anything less than magnificent.

Guns n' Roses only whets the 'Appetite'

By Nestor Aparicio
Evening Sun Staff

Rose really got into last night’s crowd.

Sometimes we can get a little crazy, but we don’t want to see anyone get hurt,” said W. Axl Rose, leader of Guns n’ Roses, the anarchy-led band of rock and rollers from Los Angeles.

In one of the more unique and bizarre concert occurrences in recent memory, midway through last night’s show at the Capital Centre, Rose leaped headfirst, stage left into the crowd during “Civil War” to break up an altercation between security guards and a fan who threw Rose a blue baseball cap.

“I was trying to toss his hat back to him and a girl caught it,” Rose told the crowd afterward. “He came down to get the hat and three guards were beating on him.”

Even though it completely stopped the most impressive number of the evening — as bandmates Slash, Duff McKagan, Izzy Stradlin, Matt Sorum and Ozzy Reed dropped their instruments and came over to assist him out of the huddled mass — Rose obviously scored big points with the crowd.

The incident certainly brought the slumbering sold-out audience of more than 18,000 back into the performance, which had become a tad bit tiring probably because GNR was sticking mainly to material from its forthcoming pair of LPs, “Use Your Illusion” parts I and II. As strong as the music seemed to be, there’s something quite difficult about keeping a hard rock crowd interested in totally unfamiliar music.

Rose, who visually seemed quite out of character, dropping his denim and leather look for a white T-shirt and a pair of white biker shorts with black boots, even warned the crowd early in the set to “leave now if all you want to hear is stuff from ‘Appetite For Destruction’.”

The crowd stayed long enough to hear the Gunners rip through a 14-song, 90-minute set, which appeared to be cut short by time limitations at the Capital Centre. Previous reports from other cities on the tour said the band had been playing at least two hours and had even bordered on three during a couple of dates.

Perhaps the biggest problem was that GNR didn’t even take the stage until 10:15 p.m., and by 11:45, when Rose introduced “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” as the final number, the band seemed hurried by the clock. When the song ended, the band quickly exited the stage, the house lights came up and an enormous chorus of boos came from the crowd, Not for a poor show, mind you, but more because they didn’t get to hear “Sweet Child O’ Mine” (the band’s biggest hit), “Paradise City” or “It’s So Easy,” all popular tracks from “Appetite.”

Between songs early in the show, and before the fight, fans were treated to several installments of
“The World According to Axl.” These sermons served as official statements from the band about the integrity of its music.

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Guns n’ Roses returns to the Cap Centre again tonight at 8 with Skid Row opening the show. Plenty of seats remain.