2010.09.01 - The O2, Dublin, Ireland

Setlist:
01. Chinese Democracy
02. Welcome To The Jungle
03. It's So Easy
04. Mr. Brownstone
05. Sorry
06. Live And Let Die
07. Rocket Queen
08. This I Love
09. You Could Be Mine
10. Sweet Child O' Mine
11. Street Of Dreams
12. Better
13. Knockin' On Heaven's Door
14. November Rain
15. Nightrain
16. Madagascar
17. Paradise City

See video of Axl threatening to leave after bottle being thrown, and the organizer begging the audience to stop throwing items so the band will go on again, after they left. The band returned (!) and continued the set, playing for some time after the light had been turned on.

Always drama.

And, oh yeah, why they started throwing bottles? They were probably insulted by the band starting the show 90 minutes (?) late, by the band not delivering on time and thus not upholding their part of the agreement between performer and audience. Some fans call it "rock n' roll", today's audience call it unacceptable and won't have it. Adapt or die. Axl could get away with it when Guns N' Roses were larger than life, but at this turning point it could be fatal.

Guns N' Roses bassist Tommy Stinson is considering his future with the band after a catastrophic show in Dublin tonight during which the group left the stage for almost 45 minutes at the behest of frontman Axl Rose.

Sputnikmusic witnessed Stinson in a heated argument with road manager Del James following the show, which saw the Los Angeles band take to the stage an hour and a half late before leaving after just four songs.

Frontman Axl Rose had threatened to leave when a plastic bottle was thrown on stage before 'Welcome to the Jungle,' and stormed off stage when a second was thrown at the conclusion of 'Mr. Brownstone.'

Stinson was heard to shout: "That's my fucking family up there and he put us in danger again.

"He can't keep doing this. Nothing happened this time, but next time we might not be so lucky.

"This has to stop."

The band returned to stage after a long hiatus, during which a third of the paying audience left, and performed almost a full set. They finally wrapped up at 1am, an hour and half later than the venue's scheduled curfew.

Source: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/news.php?newsid=15243

98FMdotcom We were at GnR last night, very disappointed at how diva like Axl Rose has become - clearly doesn’t care for his fans. Were u there guys? 48 seconds ago reply

TheStonedRose RT @therealboon: Dear Axl Rose, if you disrespect your fans enough to stroll onstage an hour late (repeatedly), you will piss them off ... 3 minutes ago reply

Tabitha_Lordz RT @bwfcdom83: Looks like axl Rose was in full blown prick mode again last night! Oh how the mighty have fallen! 24 seconds ago reply

rasterman74 Bet axl Rose didn't have to wake up as early as I did this morning, the prick! #gnr 17 minutes ago reply

lindahayden1 Axl Rose =wanker. People paid good money to see you, show them some courtesy you whiney bitch. The customer is always right 24 minutes ago reply

Julian_Lee76 Axl Rose=nutter! Crowd last night shouldn't v been so surprisd @ 1.5hr late arrival. Aftr all we waits 15yrs 4 release of Chinese Democracy! 31 minutes ago reply

Great review by EstangedPaul over at htgth.com:

Overall the gig was great and full of drama, but Axl clearly not enjoying himself put a dampener on the gig. Here's my review:

Danko were actually really good. Why the support act were on so late I have no idea, but perhaps GnR agreed a later starting time with the venue beforehand, I'm not sure. Anyway they came on about 10.30, about 70 minutes after Danko. The techs were setting up all the time, but quite slowly, not rushed at all, so I'm not sure if this was the cause of the delay. A lot of people starting getting angry and some people nearly left I think. Unfortunate, really. A fight broke out in front of me, no idea why.

Unfortuately, things with Axl got off to a bad start. He couldn't move during Chinese Democracy, because the chord on his earphone became loose and the technician came on and spent ages trying to fix it. In fact, the technician spent nearly all the first two versus and chorus trying to tie this thing back in place on Axl's back so Axl was stood still which obviously wasn't ideal. I felt sorry for the technician, so much pressure, and whatever he was trying to tie just wouldn't tie. Eventually Axl just broke free and went crazy jumping around the stage, but I'd imagine he wasn't happy with the technician. Apart from that the song rocked. Then Welcome To The Jungle started and after each time he played the intro, DJ Ashba cupped his ear towards the crowd. Embarrassingly a lot of people booed when he did this. Then just before the first verse of Jungle Axl stopped the song and said that if one more bottle is thrown they are going home. He then asked if people wanted them to play or not, and he got a mixed reacton. I just watched the video and Axl responded sarcastically with "subtle." I tried starting an Axl chant but didn't really happen. The rest of the song and the next few songs were awesome. Was great hearing Sorry live, probably the highlight of the show. Then Axl said "On the guitar, Mr. Richard Fortus. Ok, you have a good night, enjoy yourselves, bye". And all the band members walked off stage. He wasn't smiling much in the beginning and the incident with the technician and the boos probably pissed him off, compounded by whatever was thrown. The only time he smiled during the night was when him and Stinson were joking or shoulder barging each other, haha.

Some person at the venue came out and said there were technical issues, and then a member of the GnR crew came out and said they are trying to get Axl back on stage, to get the crowd to stop throwing bottles, etc.

There was a break of half an hour and some people left (nowhere near 70%!! more like 1% or less) anyway this was good for two reasons, firstly I think a lot of the assholes left and secondly, I got to go right up the front haha. After Live And Let Die, Tommy Stinson was joking around with Axl again and then took the microphone and re-assured the crowd and talked about the great time in 2006. I'm fairly sure he played a crucial role in getting Axl back on stage.

The rest of the show was awesome, and the new songs really sounded even more incredible live. But it was clear Axl wasn't happy and wanted to just get out of there. During Knocking On Heaven's Door, he picked up the microphone that allows him to speak to the band members and said something, and then crossed his hand over his neck. Everyone thought that meant the show was gonna end again haha. Actually, he did it just towards the end of DJ's solo and then they went straight into the final chorus, so they left out the call-and-response bit with the audience (I'm assuming they still do that on this tour). In addition the Paradise City outro was much shorter and pretty much went straight into the vocal outro. He also said "baby, please good night" not mentioning Dublin; not sure of thats he always says on this tour. There was also no piano solo before November Rain. Seemed like he just wanted to get of there as quickly as possible. He just stood in one spot throughout the gig (from Live And Let Die onwards), and then during the solos he leaned up against the stage backdrop - he didn't leave the stage during guitar solos (he did leave during the individual guitar player's solo songs, eg pink panther, ballad of death, etc, but stayed on stage for the solos during the GnR songs). On the positive side, his voice sounded really amazing, I guess standing still has its benefits. But clearly if the lead singer isn't having fun and doesn't want to be there (even if its justified) its going to reduce the enjoyment of the gig for the people there. When he wasn't singing, he looked so bored...........I wondered what was going through his head at that point. He obviously done something right, there was a big Axl chant at the end.

Fortunately, the other guys were on top form and won the crowd back on their own. I think they were great in 2006, but now they are much better. Last time people complained about the "boring guitar solos between songs" this time they went down really well and people loved the other band members who were full of energy and enthusiasm. I think I got into one of BBF's photos haha. Remember I said earlier that people booed DJ Ashba when he cupped his ear during WTTJ? He did it again during Ballad of Death and people cheered like crazy. Axl is fortunate to have guys like these backing him up!

The gig went on from about 10.30 - 01.00. Not including the interlude, it was over two hours. A great night, full of drama, excitement and amazing music, just a shame Axl didn't have a good night in Ireland.

Seems like the Axl's voice benefitted from standing still, and the band performed really well. Axl has always thrived in chaos and leeched off emotions, but one wonders how long the band can take many evenings like this. And apparently, Axl was not enjoying himself either.

Guns 'N'Roses walk off stage - from IrishTimes.com
Guns ‘N’Roses front man Axl Rose stormed off stage last night after somebody threw a bottle of water at one of his bandmates.

Rose had earlier frustrated the capacity crowd at the O2 by turning up an hour and a half late.

He stopped the band during the intro to the second song Welcome to the Jungle when a bottle of water was thrown on stage and told the crowd: “Here’s the deal, one more bottle, we go home. We want to stay. If you don’t want to have fun just let us know. We’ll be on our way."

Rose made good his promise after another bottle was thrown as guitarist Richard Fortus was about to start a solo and took his band off stage to a cacophony of boos and cat-whistles at the end of the fourth song Mr Brownstone . Guns 'N'Roses had been on stage for 22 minutes.

Frantic efforts were made to get him back. A woman came out on stage and was booed when she said they were experiencing “technical difficulties”.

MCD promoter Denis Desmond came on stage and asked the crowd for patience, which is also Guns ‘N’Roses song title.

“We’re trying hard to get Axl to come back on stage. I’m trying hard to get Axl to come back on stage. I’d ask you please to refrain from throwing items at him. I promise a great show, but you have to calm. I’m sorry about that,” he said.

After short interval the lights came on and thousands of fans left the arena.

To the surprise of remaining fans, the band appeared back on stage half an hour later to complete their set.

Rose said to the crowd: “Let’s try this again”. The band played until 12.52am by which stage more fans had left.

Last night’s concert is the latest in a long line of issues involving Rose who has a reputation as one of rock music’s most unpredictable stars with a penchant for turning up late and storming off stage.

The European leg of his Chinese Democracy tour is turning into a disaster. The power was cut on the band’s performance at Reading when they went on stage an hour late and also at Leeds where they were 35 minutes late.

Of late, Rose, who is the only surviving original member of the band that was once of the biggest in the world, has been communicating with fans by Twitter. They will eagerly await his next tweet.

Source: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0902/breaking12.html

An employee at the venue was then forced to apologise to the crowd, telling them to "calm" down.

“We’re trying hard to get Axl back on stage,” he said. “I would ask you to refrain from throwing items at him.”

An O2 spokesperson told Gigwise that Rose was restrained from leaving the venue. The band later returned to play a brief set for the remaining audience members, who continued to jeer them.

Source: http://www.gigwise.com/news/58179/Guns-N'-Roses-Bottled-Off-Stage-At-Dublin-Gig

From Dj's facebook:
Many thx to all of you who stuck it out with us last night, turning a negative night into a positive one, and for not allowing a few bad apples in the crowd to spoil our fun! Here in Rome, this place is in-f%$#ing-sane!!! Wow, it's beyond beautiful here. Got to get some zzzzzzz...... ttyl.

Review from Conor at mygnrforum.com:
There was a collective groan from the audience as Del James pokes his head from behind some amps to tell the bassist from Danko Jones to keep playing. Now, Danko Jones weren't awful (they weren't anything special either), but the clock had just struck 9pm. This was the time Guns had arranged the starting time for Guns N' Roses, that was promised by the venue. And it's not lke the band wasn't around. Ashba had greeted the fans a mere two and half hours before, and could be seen waiting backstage to go on.

Following the Jones set, which started at 8pm (roughly), and lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes, DJ and Bumble could still be seen at the side of stage, both tapping their imaginary watches to the members of the crowd that noticed them. We then waited for well over another hour. And don't give me this shit about "that's how long the turn around takes", because that's a lie. They had everything ready in Belfast in close to 30 minutes. The sound of booing echoed through the arena, broken by the occasional Mexican wave. As the waiting went on, so did the booing, but it was suddenly drowned out as the lights went down. Axl was ready, apparently.

As Ashba played the opening riff of Chinese Democracy, and the band finally exploded on stage, much of the crowd was jumping and singing along, or at least head banging to the music. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. No more than two minutes into the song, Axl has some issue with his microphone pack, and was grounded in one place whilst a roadie desperately tried to fix it. I got the feeling he was rushed on stage. Perhaps his solid stance was an omen for the rest of the night. He ripped out his earpiece in ager, and stormed off.

There are still some boos by the end of the title track, but I got the impression it was still a notification that we weren't happy with the lateness. As Ashba tore into the legendary Welcome To The Jungle, the cheers were deafening. The wait may have been long, but it looked like we were about to see a hell of a show. Of course, before Axl even sings a word, he stops the song because a plastic cup or bottle was thrown on stage. Sure, whoever threw someone was a bit of a dick, but that's perfectly reasonable after making an audience that has paid pretty hefty prices to see your show, wait that length of time. This isn't South America, Axl's on his last legs here, he's already been slaughtered in the press for Reading/Leeds, he can't get away with this. It's just pure arrogance. He gives us the now catchphrase like warning, and jumps back into the song.

I can't quite remember exactly when this part happened, but there was a pretty long time in one of the opening tracks (I think it was Jungle, I haven't watched the video) were Axl was completely out of time with the band, throwing them and the crowd totally off. Axl gets pissed again, and storms off stage.

Predictably, It's So Easy, Mr. Brownstone and Sorry without fault, showcasing the bands talent and showing signs of a show as good as the one in Belfast the night before. But oh no... Axl introduces Richard Fortus, then suddenly says "Have a good evening", holds up an empty plastic bottle and storms off yet again, this time what looked like for good. Funny that the bottle was thrown at Fortus (I don't think it hit him, I'm not sure), who seemed happy enough to keeping on rocking into the James Bond theme, but Axl decided enough was enough. I got a very strong sense that he'd been looking for an excuse to stop the show and leave. Some woman comes out, talks about technical difficulties, I couldn't really hear her from where I was. It was pretty much inaudible.

The boos and "what the fuck"s are taking over the arena, broken by loud chants of "We want Slash!" I should note, this was certainly not a dig at Ashba, who impressed a load of people so far, even at this early stage. Everyone I talked to found it hard to take their eye off him, he was great. The lights are still down, but there's a collective feeling in the atmosphere "They're not coming back." After another ten minutes, the promoter comes out on stage and apologises, promising us a good show and telling us not to throw things. Soon after this, the lights come up, and a load of people simply leave the show, and go to collect their refund. Even more left when a surge to the barrier in an attempt to storm the stage resulted in a mini-riot/fight between security and angry fans broke out, leaving many pretty bloody. I noticed a security guard knocking the shit into some random fan, and the security guard was actually held back and thrown out by other security guards.

About thirty/forty minutes after the leaving the stage, the lights go down again. I've no idea what was said backstage, but from what followed, I got the impression the band had heavy words with Axl, and he was told that he would not be paid if he didn't finish the show. I'm not sure the band and Axl have made eye contact since, and we respected the Guns for it. One man who had lost the entire audience, was W. Axl Rose. The guys came back out, it's about 11.30pm now (roughly), and they kick into Live & Let Die. The band looks pumped, ready to give the show the crowd deserves. Why should the show be ruined for everyone else because of some drunk prick? He should've been kicked out, and that's that. That's what gives me even more backing in my theory that Axl was looking for an excuse. If it was a glass bottle, I could understand, but anyway... on with the show. Axl picks his spot in the middle of the stand, leaning against the frame for most of the show from then on (Better at Download 2006). From this point on, they increased the volume of the guitars, and it felt like a unity was established of crowd and music once again. Tommy came and said something, I don't remember it much. He just mentioned the show in 2006 and said not to let them down or something... Throughout the show, some of the biggest cheers I heard from where I was was the various solo spots. They rocked, and the fans from where I was were really into them. Again, it seems a unity was established of "Fuck Axl", and the crowd and the band went on.

Two men stole this show. Ashba and Bumblefoot. To be fair, the entire band was fantastic, and what started as The Axl Show turned into the Better Off Without Axl Show. It really made Axl appear the weak link, and that he is holding the rest of them back from writing some killer music themselves. The "Hired Guns" looked and sounded like a tight and kick-ass rock and roll band, putting on a hell of a show. To anyone who says "This isn't a band", yes, you're right, but that's down to one, Axl Rose. These other guys fucking rocked the crowd.

Despite everything from intros/solos/singalongs being cut short (Axl whistling to the band like dogs when he decided to play November Rain as they were doing Another Brick In The Wall Intro/Axl cutting the Paradise City and possibly Nightrain solos short/Cancelling the Knockin' On Heaven's Door singalong) to Axl's cardboard cut-out stance, it was a fantastic night. I got the Guns N' Roses experience. That said, had I not seen the Belfast show the night before, I might not feel that way. I was extremely impressed by the band, and it's interesting to wonder what could come of them with a different frontman. It's funny, I said to my friend "I'll be happy if there's at least one difference between this show and the Belfast one". They couldn't have been more different. The contrast from Axl winning over a crowd of 14,000 with his world-class performance in Belfast, to leaning on the stage for two hours only 24 hours later. And speaking of that, 24 hours earlier at the Belfast show, Axl was hit with a backpack which he put on, smiled and laughed with the crowd during Knockin' On Heaven's Door. It was an experience I wouldn't change at all. It was memorable to say the least.

Guns rocked Dublin last night, but we could've done without the Rose.