2013.06.08 - Governors Ball Music Festival, New York, USA

After the Rain, a Night of Rock
By JON PARELES

Kings of Leon, who would have headlined Governors Ball on Friday before rain ended the night early, gave the event a rain date on Saturday night on Randall’s Island. The band squeezed onto the main stage just before Guns N’ Roses.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” said Caleb Followill, the band’s singer and leader, after joking that Kings of Leon was back to being “just the opening band.” That made rock with guitar muscle even stronger on Saturday’s agenda at Governors Ball.

Kings of Leon, which played its sturdy, modernized Southern rock, is not flamboyant onstage. It just plays through the songs, letting the music — the grain of Mr. Followill’s voice, the breadth and drive of the riffs — carry the concert. It easily did: the unswerving beat (hinting at dance music) in “Knocked Up,” the buildup and U2-like “whoa-oh-oh” singalong of “Use Somebody,” the patient guitar meditation of “Closer,” the springy hint of ska and urgent lyrics of “Sex on Fire.” The band introduced what it said was a song it had never performed that reached back to the frenetic strumming of its early days when it was often compared to the Strokes.

In its performance, Guns N’ Roses brought the rock-star struts, rowdy fashion statements and pyrotechnics of 1980’s-vintage stadium rock. When Axl Rose first remade Guns N’ Roses as a band of sidemen rather than a group that had built its songs and career together, he ended up with sterile technicians. Now he has a band that reclaims nostalgia-enhanced memories of the band’s 1987-1991 heyday by expanding the lineup to hit even harder.

It has three guitarists — Ron (Bumblefoot) Thal, Richard Fortus and DJ Ashba — instead of two. It has two keyboardists — Dizzy Reed, the only link with the 1991 band, and Chris Pitman — instead of one. And its bassist, Tommy Stinson, and drummer, Frank Ferrer, share a wallop, sometimes underlined by fireworks onstage. The three guitarists can reach back to blues and soul, shred at top speed and play wailing hard-rock guitar-hero solos. Mr. Thal hardly lets a lead phrase go by without a pitch-bending wiggle of the whammy bar.

Guns N’ Roses did not reveal new songs. Its most recent album, “Chinese Democracy,” brought together nearly all of the current members but that came out in 2008. Yet they wrung all they could out of the older songs. Mr. Rose, whose high, electrocuted-tomcat wail gave Guns N’ Roses its edge, sounded oddly dulcet during the early part of the set. Then his yowl and screech returned.

The band filibustered the songs a bit — ”November Rain,” with Mr. Rose at the piano, got Pink Floyd and Elton John excerpts as a prelude and “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” had extended guitar passages — and guitarists got to show off while Mr. Rose was backstage changing jackets, T-shirts and hats. Charging through songs like “Nightrain” and “Paradise City,” Guns N’ Roses delivered 1980’s rock excess, rowdy and unrepentant.

Governors Ball on Satuday also had a hip-hop contingent that was as triumphal as Guns N’ Roses. Nas, headlining on the other large stage doubled as the wise elder and current contender. He summed up the life of the urban ghetto with songs from his 1994 album “Illmatic,” and went on to explore pleasure and politics. Kendrick Lamar traded the self-questioning of his recordings for the shouting and cheerleading of live hip-hop; the audience happily supplied words whenever he gave them a chance. Azealia Banks, dressed in a cutout fluorescent garment, rattled off high-speed rhymes that flirted, boasted and picked catfights over throbbing, skittering tracks, while concert-goers pumped their fists.

There were other takes on rock through the day. Divine Fits, the band led by the songwriters Britt Daniel (from Spoon) and Dan Boeckner (from Wolf Parade), played songs in which each note, chord and word sounded chiseled. A set by the sardonic two-man Canadian punk band Japandroids was followed by the three-guitar surge of the Canadian punk band, its name not printable here, that is led by the singer Damian Abraham: flintiness followed by earnestness, sparseness followed by full-bodied blare (Mr. Abraham spent most of the set in the audience).

And there was another track, too: the patterned repetition of Minimalism. Animal Collective, whose set was cut short by equipment failure — the band said it got no sound check — spun its songs into dizzying, overlapping, euphoric incantations. Alt-J, from Britain, dug into the resemblance of folky picking and electronic ostinatos, mingling guitars and electronics. Dirty Projectors’ songs surrounded David Longstreth’s lead vocals with intricate, staggered, Minimalistic guitar and vocal lines. Moon Hooch — two saxophonists and a drummer — played a live version of dance music, with repeating riffs and excursions that always settled back into the beat.

There was more dance music, making Minimalist repetition functional as a physical force: from Icona Pop, two women who switched between harmonizing as vocalists and controlling the synthetic beats that backed them, and from Robert DeLong, a singer, songwriter and one-man band who uses electronic loops and controllers to back songs that are structured with the verses and choruses of pop.

The disc jockeys Paper Moon and Griz also applied dubstep’s cutting synthesizer tones and destabilizing bass lines to the blips of trance and electro (Paper Moon) and even, in Griz’s set, to oldies like “Tequila.”

Governors Ball 2013: Guns N' Roses By the Numbers
Number of people not completely covered in mud from the knee down: 0
by Nicole James / June 9, 2013

Fresh off their secret show at Brooklyn Bowl earlier this week, Guns N' Roses stuck around New York City for a few more days to headline the second day of Governors Ball 2013. Though, I suppose we can't say "fresh."

Thanks to tropical storm Andrea, Gov Ball ended early on Friday—headliners Kings of Leon were rescheduled for an earlier set Saturday—and Randall's Island turned into a complete wash... literally. The entire festival grounds, which usually serve as a golf driving range, were transformed into one giant mud pit. Ill informed festivalgoers were losing shoes left and right (pun intended), and no one was mud-free below the knee. A moment of silence for the really expensive pair of wedge sandals I saw stuck face down in the mud near the Porta Potties.

But a giant field of gross sludge can't stop GnR! (Especially since they didn't actually have to stand in it.) Axl Rose didn't disappoint—he even brought fireworks, and thankfully not the "truck stop revenge" variety he referred to at Brooklyn Bowl. Ew.

In case you missed it, here are a few key facts and figures from Guns N' Roses 90-minute set at Governors Ball.

Number of minutes late GnR went on: 10 minutes early! What! Unheard of.

Number of minutes into their set until "Welcome to the Jungle": 10

Number of fireworks detonated: We counted 6, not including the pyro.

Number of people who bit it in the mud (face first) from rocking out too hard: 2

Number of muddy girls on shoulders: 3

Number of Beatles covers performed: 1 ("Live and Let Die," obvs)

How drunk the audience was on a scale of 1 - 10: 7

Number of hot chick video montages played on the big screens (that looked like they were made in the '80s but were actually current): 1

Approximate diameter of Axl Rose's cowboy hat: 30 inches?!

How sparkly Axl's shoulder pads were as he serenaded us on the piano during "November Rain": 100

Number of band members on stage: 4

Number of shirts they were wearing: 3

Number of Axl outfit changes: 1 (He ditched his white t-shirt for a more sensitive blue mid-set. He also changed out of the cowboy hat into his trusty red bandana.)

Number of guitar solos: 8? 9? I lost count.

Number of muddy couples making out to "Knockin' on Heaven's Door": 1 (People still do that?)

Number of people not participating in their finale, "Sweet Child O' Mine": 1, and I don't know what his problem was.

Gun N' Roses Bring Hard-Rock Theatrics to Governors Ball
Axl Rose and company rise above the muddy field with an arsenal of hits
Dana Distortion
By Stacey Anderson
June 9, 2013 1:11 PM ET

It took an act of God at Governors Ball on Friday – an assailing, miserable rainstorm and frightening flooding – to create a miracle on Saturday night. And yet one happened, it really did.

Axl Rose started a show early.

Indeed, the Guns N' Roses frontman bucked his own proud tradition of intractability – one that has led to countless hours of empty stages and show delays since the band’s 1985 formation – by taking the New York festival’s main stage seven minutes before the headlining band’s scheduled start. What’s more, Rose actually appeared engaged with his surroundings; he and his hard-rock cohorts barreled straight into the largely under-30s audience with a throaty and joyously grandiose introduction of "Chinese Democracy" (title track of the hysterically overlabored 2008 album), unleashing flames from the drum riser as Rose slid into that famed falsetto with impressive ease. From there, the band kept no cards at their chests; their second song was their career-maker, 1987’s "Welcome to the Jungle," delivered with the revelation of their entire arsenal of stadium tricks, the silly staples of the hair-metal era that they rightly make no apologies for: the videos of scantily clad dancers, the double-necked guitars, the liberal stage fireballs and fireworks, even that snake dance.

Guns N’ Roses nonchalantly played all the hits for the mud-caked Governors Ball masses, and kicked in early with a slew of Appetite for Destruction immortals. "It’s So Easy" boasted even more fireworks (those were frequent enough in the set to double as kick drums) as Rose dipped down an octave-and-change with aplomb. (He truly does sound great, still, even if he insists on wearing cheesy t-shirts of women with cartoonish bare breasts. Or perhaps these are his Samson-esque source of vocal strength.) "Mr. Brownstone" slid sludgily into their stalwart 1991 cover of Paul McCartney and Wings’ "Live and Let Die," fireballs roaring from the stage again. Then came the short sprint into "Rocket Queen," which boasted an extremely Eighties video montage of models gyrating in leather and fishnets before a stark white backdrop, and a comfortable spin through "Sweet Child o’ Mine" that was matched by the audience’s rapturous participation. (Lead guitarist DJ Ashba, clad in a familiar top hat, sported a distinct "I crushed that" smirk at the end of "Child." Rose, as always, remained unimpressed.)

This familiarity is what allows any iteration of the band to headline a festival 26 years after the release of Appetite for Destruction; the best and worst to be said of them is that they sound exactly, resolutely, safely like their records. There is no experimentation wanted or received from anyone onstage (and it’s not of interest to fans either). Guns N’ Roses is, famously, Axl Rose and whoever he hasn’t fired that month; his iron fist and business savvy in the current lineup is apparent in every note they play. He is the only original member left (keyboardist Dizzy Reed dates the next furthest back as a contributor to 1991’s Use Your Illusion I and II) and the rest of the musicians are, while clearly technically talented, expected to play with note-for-note faithfulness the familiar chords and solos of classic-lineup stars Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan, etc., like a cover ensemble of their own catalogue. "November Rain," one of the many Illusion I offerings, broke down with precise familiarity, from Rose’s soft piano intro to the plaintive Slash guitar solo, to the frenetic coda of foreboding chants and cataclysmic strings. Their glimmering cover of Bob Dylan’s "Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door" (from Illusion II) still sprawled near healthy double-digits; "Nightrain" chugged along right on schedule, without brakes or extra coal.

The highly enjoyable, completely predictable set ended with the group’s longtime finale from Appetite: "Paradise City," an entreaty to the libidinous that Rose remains skilled enough to have already made redundant. At its bawdy, bright close, confetti canyons spread glitter across the crowd and fireworks lit the night, the latest in a healthy half-dozen times in the set. Rose almost seemed to grin back at the crowd, but there was no need – he’s seen this all before, and he knows he will again.

Number of Beatles covers performed: 1 ("Live and Let Die," obvs)

Guns N’ Roses Rock NYC’s Governors Ball – On Time!
June 9, 2013 2:57 PM

After a tumultuous first day filled with consistent storming and canceled sets from Kings of Leon and more, New York’s Governors Ball got back on track Saturday (June 8) with near-perfect weather. That’s not to say there weren’t challenges, of course.

Randall’s Island essentially turned into one giant mud pit, so navigating was a real issue for attendees. Imagine attending a music festival where you have to ice skate from stage to stage. That’s how tough it was in places.

That said, the show went on, and fest organizers even found a way to squeeze in Kings of Leon’s missed set from Friday. In an attempt to make good with festivalgoers, they honored one-day tickets purchased for Friday. Try as they might, KoL couldn’t steal Guns N’ Roses’ thunder.

If you had just landed on earth and ended up at a Guns N’ Roses concert circa 2013, you would most likely have a fantastic time. But for those of us who have any sort of preconceived notions about what GnR was in their prime and what they are now, it’s a slight hurdle to move past. The front rows were populated with those who were either experiencing something akin to a religious experience, or those who were just deeply curious as to what a GnR live show these days is even like.

When he wants to, Axl Rose can really give it to the crowd — and last night, he did. Instead of his usual tardiness, he actually started five minutes early, at 9:25. An inside source tells Radio.com that per GnR’s Governors Ball contract, they would be fined for every minute coming on late. (Remember, this festival is held in a public park — organizers have strict noise ordinances to abide by.)

Rose and his crew peppered far lesser-known material with GnR’s greatest hits, all with the same amount of enthusiasm and stage bravado. “Welcome to the Jungle” was the second song they played, but it would be a while before “Sweet Child o’ Mine” made its way into the set. Those, coupled with Axl’s signature slither, enthralled the crowd in a way that few songs — by GnR or otherwise — do. Their covers were a highlight as well: Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die” had more pyrotechnics than even McCartney has at his shows these days (and that’s a bit, to be sure), while Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” morphed into some sort of hard-rocking jam session. The best cover of all, though, was when the grand piano was rolled out, and Axl debuted the most epic of his numerous wardrobe changes: a maroon formal jacket showered in black rhinestones. The five guitarists on stage crept into Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)” before Axl chimed in with his best Roger Waters impersonation, deep-throated instead of his usual high-pitched wail. After that was done, he teased the crowd with the piano part to Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” before moving right into the highlight of the whole show: “November Rain.” They played for a while longer afterwards, but little else compared.

Though most people would have thought headliners Guns N' Roses would play Diva this weekend, they surprisingly took the Main Stage right on schedule as Queens-native Nas rocked the upper field at the Honda Stage. Fresh off an intimate club show two days earlier at Brooklyn Bowl (read NY Hard Rock Examiner Elliot Levin's review of that show here), GN'R played a set full of classics including "Welcome To The Jungle", "Knockin' On Heaven's Door", "Don't Cry", "November Rain", "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Rocket Queen", singer W. Axl Rose and co. put on an amazing show full of loud guitars, awesome pyro and plenty of metal screams from the legendary frontman. After a confetti storm during the climax of "Paradise City", GN'R sent the crowd off into the night with sore neck muscles from headbanging to a magnificent set from the monster rock band.