1992.09.11 - Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro, USA

Rock with a message

On July 31, Guns N' Roses will be playing at Foxboro Stadium, but the conceit also will include informational booths, including one for the Massachusetts Prevention of Cruelty to Children. According to a recent interview in Rolling Stone, Axl Rose was abused as a child and put in a special request for MPCC representation.

Guns N’ Roses and Metallica
TESTING THEIR METAL

By Jim Sullivan

It’s Godzilla vs. Mothra, the Sharks vs. the Jets, the Penguin vs. Batman, Randy (Macho Man) Savage vs. Ric Flair. Or, maybe it isn’t. Maybe, it’s just the rock ’n’ roll steamroller of the summer.

What it is is this: Guns N’ Roses and Metallica, on tour as coheadlining headbangers, two megawatt bands coursing through the football stadiums of America, making mighty big noises and raising hell entertaining hundreds of thousands of folks who like their hard-rock-and-heavy-metal stew spiked with cathartic rage. The whole shebang, with Faith No More opening, settles into Foxboro Stadium tomorrow evening.

But is it a clash of the Titans, a battle of the superbands?

Not to the players involved.

“We get along,” says Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett. “I mean, there’s no rivalry. Any sort of competition would be friendly. It’s been a long time since we’ve toured with another band, so, you know, this just sort of gives us a big kick to have another act out there on the same stage. And we have to squeeze 150 percent out just to make sure that we leave the right impression on people. We’re going to be playing in front of their fans and they’re going to be playing in front of our fans.”

“I haven't actually watched all of Metallica’s set,” says Guns N’ Roses’ lead guitarist Slash, “because I don’t want to get to a point where there’s any competition at all. Nothing against Metallica — and we’ve seen ’em a million times — but the reason we’re playing together is because they’re a great band. The integrity level is really high and the camaraderie between us is so down to earth that it really keeps you from losing your head over the whole production.”

And lest you think superstar status has rendered Guns N’ Roses blase, consider Slash’s assessment of the tour’s opening night in Washington. “Going into this thing, none of us really knew what it was going to be like,” he says. “We just sort of went in blind. But there’s a certain kind of feeling when you’re walking down the hallway from outside the venue and then the whole stadium opens up to you as you get farther down the hall. The actual doorway opens to this huge stadium and there’s this stage that’s set up — I mean the scaffolding alone is amazing — and it’s a little overwhelming because a hundred some-odd people are putting this together and all of a sudden you feel really humbled by the size of the event. As an individual, as a band member, you feel really puny. It’s hard to see that you’re that significant and this amount of work should be going on in your honor.”

“There’s a certain sort of vibe that goes with playing in front of that many people,” adds Hammett. “The energy level is just incredible, having that many people out there.”

Both Metallica and Guns Ν’ Roses are accustomed to packing 15,000-capacity arenas on their own. What sort of adjustments are required for a joint show in a stadium?

“On our end, it’s very down to basics,” says Slash. “Trying to remember songs you haven’t played in a while. You have to be aware of the size of the audience and the size of the stage. You have to be able to utilize all of it. You have to watch not falling off the stage; you have to pay attention to where the other members are. ’Cause I swear to God, I’m on one side of the really long ramp and I’ll be running down it and I’ll be looking ahead of me trying to figure out which band member it is. That’s how far apart we are. So the whole thing is, like, overwhelming and trippy.”

Neither Guns Ν’ Roses nor Metallica has ever tried to portray themselves as particularly clean and sober bands. The music is rough and hard; ditto the lifestyles. Metallica once coined the nickname Alcoholica for itself. Guns N’ Roses, of course, has been rather public about its various members’ battles with liquor and drugs. But both Hammett and Slash talk about their bands’ tempering excesses as they take on more responsibilities.

“I used to get real crazy,” says Hammett. “On the last tour I was drinking a lot. On this tour, we don’t drink as much in general. I mean, it’s almost to the point where I’m a little, you know, boring. But there’s a certain amount of responsibility you have toward the band. Audiences these days are a lot more demanding. The truth of the matter is you have to deliver every time you walk out on stage. And you want to do your best in any sort of situation. You have to be in shape because you’re jumping around for two hours with a 20-pound guitar. You have to jump around and concentrate and do all of these maneuvers at once.”

“I’d say we’re a little more professional,” says Slash, comparing Guns Ν’ Roses’ present incarnation to its early days. Three core members of the band, singer Axl Rose, Slash and bassist Duff McKagan remain, but guitarist-songwriter Izzy Stradlin exited and was replaced by Gilby Clarke, and drummer Steven Adler was booted out and replaced by Matt Sorum. Dizzy Reed and Ted Andreadis augment the band on keyboards. (On tour, Guns N’ Roses is joined by Lisa Maxwell on horns and vocals, CeCe Worrall on horns and vocals, Anne King on horns and vocals and vocalists Diane Jones and Roberta Freeman.)

“We don’t have as much going on outside of performing right now,” says Slash, “in light of the fact that some of the guys got married and there’s not this huge drug thing going on — we’ve seen this movie so many times. It’s just gotten to the point where we really are just concentrating on the shows. We might go out and have a drink and do whatever [after the show] but the focus is not going out to get laid and [messed] up all the time. There were theater tours where we cared about the gigs, but we were on a [expletive] tightwire.

Staying in shape “is not even a professional responsibility. It’s more a responsibility to yourself: that you want to feel like you’ve given the optimum performance you can give. I take my playing seriously and I know everybody else in the band is the same way. I wouldn’t mind being up there with guitar players like Jimmy Page, so it’s not gonna help if I’m irresponsible to that goal.”

No one ever questioned Metallica’s status as a serious, heavy band. From its mid-’80s inception, the San Francisco-based quartet, fronted by singer-guitarist James Hetfield, brought speed, ferocity and an angry intelligence to the metal genre. LA’s Guns N’ Roses — while regarded as a potent distillation of Aerosmith-styled hard rock and Sex Pistols-like punk, and a band whose debut “Appetite For Destruction” was the best-selling debut ever — has often been perceived as a bunch of miscreants who write gripping, confrontational songs but are lucky to find the stage. Slash begs to differ.

“The band was seen as cartoon characters from day one,” he says, “and it was just one of those flukes because of the way we lived our lives and the way we played — a no holds barred, antiauthority thing that we had going. The business was so stodgy and safe when we came out, we were just this huge contrast and that’s where the hype came from in the beginning. We were all over the tabloids and local papers in LA. I could never understand what the huge buzz was. I didn’t really pay any attention as far as being a rock star was concerned.

“Personally, still having to deal with the logistics of getting on from one day to the next, I feel very normal. The way the public sees me, when I go out, it blows my mind.... If I blow their minds when I come out of a bar, I don’t feel that way personally. I’m trying to find a cab.

“We’re lucky right now ’cause we’re working and doing really well, but we worked hard to get here and there was a lot of stress and loss of band members and physical damage. As soon as we stop caring about the actual art of what we’re doing, as soon as that becomes redundant, all we do is believe our own hype, we’re dead. I don’t wanna even get near that frame of mind. The only time I’m having fun, really, what makes it all worthwhile, is that 2 1/2 hours we’re on stage.”

Jim Sullivan is a member of the Globe staff.

***

FYI

Concert

Foxboro Stadium, Route 1. Telephone 931-2000. July 31, 6:30 p.m.: Faith No More; 7:45: Metallica; 10:45: Guns Ν' Roses.

Why does Metallica always play before Guns?

‘Um, we don’t want to end up going on stage at, like, 3 o’clock in the morning,’ says Hammett, referring to Guns N’ Roses notorious reputation for late starts. ‘You never know when those guys are gonna go out on stage.’

Will Guns Ν’ Roses make it to the stage on time?

Slash says yes. ‘We are trying to be a little more considerate about that. For a while we were going on late because it takes us so long to get mentally and physically prepared, as opposed to just walking out there and going through the motions. We had to get to the point where we were comfortable. We hang out, have a few drinks, see some friends and then go out and kick ass. ’Course it’d be midnight by then. Now, we try to get on as soon as we can.’

Will a riot be involved?

Probably not. Reports of early  concerts of the tour suggest  Metallica does its no-nonsense  thing and the volatile Axl Rose is keeping his head about him. He's got four counts of misdemeanor assault and one count  of property damage pending against him in St Louis, stemming from a melee there last year. Rose goes on trial in October, following this tour.

Guns N' Roses roll in to Foxboro

By Jim Sullivan
GLOBE STAFF

"The train," says a confident-sounding Wendy Laister, "is absolutely back on the tracks."

Laister is the tour publicist for Guns N' Roses, and the train she refers to is the Guns N' Roses/Metallica tour. This train -- which has been rumbling and rattling through the football stadiums of North America this summer and is slated to stop at a sold-out Foxboro Stadium tomorrow afternoon -- has been derailed twice.

The first time, just before their July 31 date in Foxborough, it was a comparatively quiet derailment. Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose had strained his vocal cords and was advised by a throat specialist not to sing or speak for a week. Two shows were postponed, one was canceled. These shows weren't without their consequences -- it caused numerous headaches and plan changes -- but these things happen. And, remember, July 31 was the night of a major Boston- area deluge.

The second derailment was a bit more spectacular. It happened Aug. 8 before 53,000 fans at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Metallica singer-guitarist James Hetfield suffered severe burns to his left hand and both arms about an hour into their set during a flashpot mishap. Guns N' Roses, still at their hotel, were called to the stadium to start their show early. It was the show's first date since Rose's throat problems. As it turned out the sound mix was poor and Rose again strained his still-tender vocal cords trying to sing through the din. After 55 minutes, Rose and the band bailed.

And some of the fans -- news reports put it at about 2,000 -- went on a rampage. Trash cans and cars were overturned. Store windows were broken. Riot police were called in. Tear gas was employed. Twelve arrests were made. Ten people were treated for minor injuries.

Because of Hetfield's injury, the show went off the road for two weeks. They returned to duty Aug. 25 in Phoenix, with Metal Church guitarist John Marshall filling in for Hetfield, who still sings lead. Coincidentally, it's Marshall's second stint as a Metallica fill-in; he subbed for Hetfield when the singer broke his wrist on an earlier tour.

So what can we expect tomorrow in Foxborough?

"Things are going exceptionally well," says Roxanne Youssef of Guns N' Roses' label, Geffen. "No problems, knock wood. From what I know there have been no problems. On the Guns N' Roses front, Axl's voice is fine. The relationship between the two bands is really good. Metallica waited for us when Axl had throat problems and we waited for them when James got burned."

"Coincidentally, the two-week hiatus gave Axl's voice a chance to heal," adds another Geffen voice, Bryn Bridenthal.

The show, a triple bill, has been moved up because of a midnight curfew imposed by the city of Foxborough. "The reason is the shows have been running very, very late," says Foxboro Stadium general manager Brian O'Donovan. "I certainly think it's unfair to expect the residents to be bombarded after midnight and the town had the same sentiments and they imposed a curfew of 12 midnight. But they also said you can start two hours earlier."

The doors open at 2:30 p.m. Faith No More's set is slated for 4:30-5:15. Metallica is due 5:45-8:00 and Guns N' Roses for 9:15 or 9:30 to midnight. Of note: The hour-and-15 to hour-and-a-half break between the co-headliners' performances is perfectly normal, stresses Laister, because of the time it takes to rip apart and assemble two complete sets.

"Actually," she adds, of the notoriously late Guns N' Roses, "in a couple of places we've been a couple of minutes early. It's really amazing."

At the stadium, O'Donovan says, "Everything is pretty upbeat. We're confident things will go well. We've been tracking them since they restarted in Phoenix and everything has been going smoothly. For us, obviously having set up the stage before, it gives it an advantage."

O'Donovan says the stadium will increase its normal level of security. ''What we hope to have," he says, "is a good concert, but our tolerance for any behavior that will impact the rest of fans is very limited."

The tour, which would have wrapped up Saturday if there had been no hitches, has 11 more dates after Foxborough.

Guns vs. Metallica: A high-scoring draw

By Jim Sullivan
GLOBE STAFF

FOXBOROUGH - As Metallica was roaring down the home stretch at Foxboro Stadium - evoking a veritable battleground with the pyrotechnic antiwar song “One,” I couldn’t help but

recall the old tale about the time Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry played a double bill and Lewis ripped the joint up, destroyed his piano, and then sauntered offstage, saying to Berry, “Top that!”

Last night’s Metallica/Guns N’ Roses double bill was like that on a grander scale. And did Guns top Metallica? Call it a high-scoring draw. The bands share a love of pyrotechnics and a hatred of war. Metallica is all-out fierce, not particularly rock star-like; Guns N’ Roses has more variety -more mood swings - and is into the rock star thing, every bit the descendants of the Rolling Stones.

The vast majority of these shows has gone off as planned, but the specter of disaster always looms. Last night was rowdy; there were a few fights, and a sizable number of ejections. But according to Foxboro general manager Brian O’Donovan, not much more happened than what was expected. And the notoriously tardy Guns Ν’ Roses was only five minutes late, hitting the stage after the video guys splashed the bare chests of flashing young women up on the screen. Axl Rose and company tore into “Welcome to the Jungle” and the stadium was rocking.

That’s Guns for you: sexist and stupid one minute, and yet capable of pulling off an impassioned “Civil War,” a hammer-down punk rocker called “Attitude,” and a gorgeous medley of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” “Wild Horses,” and “Patience.” They are a bunch of contradictions, but they played a terrific show last night. The Slash and Axl tag-team is a formidable one.

It is possible to make too much of this, but realize this, too: both Guns Ν’ Roses and Metallica got to where they are today - respectively at the peaks of the hard rock and heavy metal mountains - by breaking with the genre traditions of the mid-80s. There’s a lot of show biz and razzle dazzle now, but there remains a no-nonsense attitude about the music. Both bands attached themselves to the spirit of punk rock, and recognized that the once-bright light of hard rock and metal had grown dim.

Metallica - fronted by the leonine singer James Hetfield - is known for their symphonic lightning-fast trash, but their latest music is informed by a growing use of melody, by the odd slower passage, while still being laced with ferocity. Anger and sadness are the emotional cornerstones of what Metallica does in songs such as “Enter Sandman,” “Nothing Else Matters,” and “The Unforgiven.” Last night Hetfield was free of guitar, having been burned in a pyro accident earlier on the tour. And Metal Church’s John Marshall ably filled in. This gave the wiseacre chatterbox singer more opportunity to run about the stage and good-naturedly bait the sold-out crowd with comments such as “They look tired and weak and ready to go home.”

Metallica’s 2 hour and 15 minute set went like clockwork. They’re a top-of-the-line rock machine: consistent, powerful, getting better with age.

Guns N’ Roses is too ragtag to be called a machine - they work without a set list or a safety net - but that’s part of their charm. Rose said, “I wish every night could be this good,” and while you might chalk that comment up to usual rock blather, my gut feeling is he was right. Their 2 1/2-hour set kept building all night and the pensive, poignant songs such as “November Rain,” “Sweet Child of Mine” and “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” packed as much punch as the slam-bam rockers. Rose, often acting like an animal sprung from his cage, must have run six miles and he sang his lungs out.

This is one damn fine rock band, adept at negotiating peaks and valleys. They share a camaraderie on stage that feels genuine. They are a gang and they let you join them for a night.

GUNS Ν’ ROSES

For fans and police at Foxboro, the concert’s well worth the wait

By Traci Grant
CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

FOXBOROUGH - Local police and stadium security forces were prepared for the worst at yesterday’s Guns N’ Roses/Metallica/Faith No More concert at Foxboro Stadium, but things never got quite that bad.

“We were expecting this to turn into a big pit,” said Kenneth Gullens, a security guard for the show. “They started one, but it didn’t get too far.”

The staff of 800 security guards and 100 police officers managed to stay on top of things, but it seemed to be a struggle.

From the looks of the bleachers in the 100 minute interim between the time when Metallica ended its set and when Guns N’ Roses took the stage, all hell seemed to be break loose. The sold-out audience appeared to be throwing everything they could get their hands on - empty cups, full cups, plates, inflated condoms, nachos, rolls of toilet paper, and bras.

The scene fit into an “anything goes” philosophy that appeared to develop suddenly.

“This is unusual,” said Ed O’Leary, chief of Foxborough police. “Not to say there are more arrests than we anticipated, but it’s all happening at a quicker pace. In the last hour or so there’s been a great influx of arrests.” Some may blame intoxication, boredom between sets, or pent up frustration from waiting an extra month after the postponement of the July 31 show because of Guns N’ Roses lead singer, Axl Rose’s, throat condition. There was a point when these fans transformed from a surprisingly docile, pleasant crowd to a screaming, pulsating mob.

More than 100 people were arrested by state and local police. By 11 p.m., 49 arrests had been made by state police, who said no serious injuries were reported.

Police were uncertain as to whether more serious arrests would be made after Rose took the stage.

“Things could become a real mess” when Rose went on stage, said State Police Sgt. Robert McKeon. “We’ve got a lot of extra people on hand to process the arrests efficiently and swiftly.”

McKeon said the arrests ranged from minor drug offenses - possession of marijuana and LSD and in-
tent to distribute - to disorderly conduct.

“A lot were bailed out and a lot of parents came to pick up” the mostly teenagers arrested, he said.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” said Bill Feeney, part of the security staff. “I haven’t seen anything even close since the Stones in ’85.”

A thorough frisking at the gates revealed many contraband items that ticket holders tried to take in.

Rich Eames saw people get caught with pliers, knives and countless bottles. Eames, of the security staff, personally escorted at least 10 people out the door for fighting, damaging seats, slam dancing in the
aisles and urinating in the stands.

It made the security guards wonder what 12-year-old Marc Robillard was doing there all by himself. Robillard, a Foxborough resident sat alone in the field seats yesterday as he has for many other concerts at the stadium, and barring the outbreak of full-scale war, nothing was going to move him.

“I love Guns N’ Roses and Metallica,” Robillard said. “I don’t care what happens out here.”

Mark Shelfhaudt was working at the souvenir T-shirt stand, but would become part of the security contingency crew, if something awful did happen.

“We’ll be psyched if it goes off,” Shelfhaudt said. “But this is Axl Rose, so you never know.”

Cheri Zani, 41, didn’t believe chaos would erupt, as it did last year at a Guns N’ Roses concert in St. Louis.

“This isn’t St. Louis,” Zani said. “It’s Foxborough. The more rabid fans are in the Midwest and New Jersey.”

Zani, of Nashua, New Hampshire, was so confident in the concert’s safety, she brought her 16-year-old son, Jeremy Narbunshardt along

“I’m the fan, not him,” Zani said. “I only brought him along as a favor. I see other moms here, so that makes me feel a bit better.”

Zani was right. Moms and dads with kids in tow were a common sight at the stadium. Perry Wood, 48, was part of the trend.

Wood accompanied his son Mike, 16, to the concert because Mike’s friend canceled. Unlike Zani, Wood is definitely not a fan of heavy metal. He brought earplugs and a few books with him to make the event more tolerable. The Sanford, Maine duo planned to stay in Foxborough overnight.

“We’ll do some bonding, his way,” Wood said. “We’re a good example of family values, you know.”

Wood didn’t believe their would be any civil disturbances either. Kelly Sired, 21, of Waltham wasn’t so sure. She didn’t even believe the concert would actually take place that night, after so many delays.

“With Guns N’ Roses, there’s always room for things to go wrong,” Sired said. “They could always come out sing one song and say ’okay, concert’s over.”

Local police made at least 60 arrests, including two for assault and battery on a police officer. One officer required medical attention at Norwood Hospital, but was treated and released, according to Patrolman Allan Haskell.

Haskell said at least 22 people were brought into protective custody for drunkenness. The lockup in Foxborough police station reached capacity and a number of people were taken to Norfolk County Jail in Dedham, police said.

Contributing reporter Elizabeth Stankiewicz provided information for this report