2006.10.25 - St. Pete Times Forum, St. Petersburg, USA

[Soulmonster]

Date:
October 25, 2006.

Venue:
St. Pete Times Forum.

Location:
St. Petersburg, FL, USA.

Setlist:
01. Welcome to the Jungle
02. It's So Easy
03. Mr. Brownstone
04. Live and Let Die
05. Sweet Child O'Mine
06. Knockin' On Heaven's Door
07. You Could Be Mine
08. Street of Dreams
09. Out Ta Get Me
10. Better
11. November Rain
12. I.R.S.
13. My Michelle
14. Patience
15. Nightrain
16. Chinese Democracy
17. Paradise City

Line-up:
Axl Rose (vocals), Richard Fortus (rhythm guitarist), Bumblefoot (lead guitarist), Robin Finck (lead guitarist), Tommy Stinson (bass), Dizzy Reed (keyboards), Chris Pitman (keyboards) and Frank Ferrer (drums).

Next concert: 2006.10.26.
Previous concert: 2006.10.24.

[Blackstar]

Preview in St. Petersburg Times, October 20, 2006:

After spinning wheels, Axl gets back on road

RICK GERSHMAN
St. Petersburg Times

Check out the St. Pete Times Forum on Wednesday and you'll get to experience something few people in the United States have in more than a dozen years: Guns N' Roses playing a full show. Well, you probably will.

See, it's never a good idea to presume much as it relates to Guns N' Roses, especially since frontman Axl Rose assumed control of the hard-rock group and went totally nuts. Not necessarily in that order.

But if everything goes as planned, Rose's resurrected rock band will hit the stage sometime Wednesday night (punctuality: not its strong suit) and crank out the many killer tunes from its brief but phenomenal early-'90s run.

Expect classic cuts from one of the best rock debuts of all time, Appetite for Destruction, not to mention the overambitious but undeniably awesome albums Use Your Illusion I and II. Rock to Welcome to the Jungle, jam to Paradise City and sway to November Rain.

Here's the curve ball: The GNR show likely also will include some new tracks from Chinese Democracy, the long-awaited new album that is scheduled to hit stores Nov. 21. How long-awaited? The band's last full-length releases were the Illusion discs, a full 15 years ago.

Then again, Democracy also was supposed to be released in March. Before that, it was expected in 2005. And 2004. And 2001, and 1998 ... In fact, Rose has been promising a disc with that title for almost a decade, spending millions of dollars, recording and discarding dozens of tracks.

What will this tour be like? Tough to tell. Reviews of scattered shows from earlier this year were surprisingly positive, if not exactly celebratory. At 44, Rose's voice reportedly remains in good shape, which is one reason fans are understandably perturbed he deprived them of it for so long.

And the biggest question is whether it's worth it to see a GNR that retains only one member from its original lineup: Rose. Without founding guitarists Slash and Izzy Stradlin, this crew kinda seems like a solid tribute band that just happens to feature its antecedent's lead singer.

We'll know more soon. The tour is scheduled to kick off tonight in Jacksonville. Tampa's the fourth stop, which is a good sign.

That means the odds are we'll get to enjoy an actual GNR show before Rose breaks up the band again. Or decides to go on a Tibetan retreat. Or gets arrested for biting off the head of a kitten.

Most likely, by the time the tour reaches Milwaukee, we can expect all three.

[Blackstar]

Preview in Creative Loafing, October 18, 2006:

They're back (sorta)

It's been 15 years since the last album of original GN'R material hit the street and nearly 20 since Appetite for Destruction made mainstream rock 'n' roll dangerous again for a little while. Industry insiders say we're only months away from Chinese Democracy. The band features some high-profile names (Nine Inch Nails' Robin Finck, The Replacements' Tommy Stinson, Primus' Brain); and most of the recent shows have gone off as planned, to as many positive reviews as negative. Middling openers -- nu-metal holdover Papa Roach and former Skid Row singer/current pop-TV personality Sebastian Bach -- aside, this evening might not disappoint diehard fans, nostalgia-devourers and those whose curiosity is beginning to outweigh their dismissal of the group as little more than a Guns N' Roses cover band. But make no mistake: There's no going back, and this is not the act that made mainstream rock 'n' roll dangerous again for a little while.

Guns N' Roses w/Papa Roach/Sebastian Bach, 7:30 p.m. Wed., Oct. 25, St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, $76.75/$49.75/$39.75. --Scott Harrell

[Blackstar]

Review in Creative Loafing, October 25, 2006:

A Rose is Still a Rose

Guns N' Roses rock the Forum well into the night.

By Eric Snider

Apparently, this whole being-a-rock-star business is like riding a bike. Axl Rose has been gone for a while -- as you may know -- but during his show Wednesday night at the Forum in Tampa it was as if he hadn't forgotten a thing. The edgy charisma, the watchability, the gobbling up of the stage, the pushing of the audience's buttons -- all there, just like it was 1988.

The show was billed as Guns N' Roses, and I'll spare you the gripe that the other original members have not re-enlisted. But this was unmistakably Axl's show. He brought along a small army of guitarists -- OK, three of 'em -- and they did their level best to sip a bit of the spotlight, each one throwing down major histrionics during solos. Axl accommodated them by slipping off stage a few times. Ultimately, though, they were the worker bees, as were the bassist, drummer and two keyboardists, on hand to provide a sturdy musical backdrop for the star.

Axl almost didn't hit until Thursday. It was 11:45 p.m. when the house lights went down. A lone guitarist came out and sprayed some licks around, rousing a crowd that was well short of a sell-out. Axl slid onto the darkened stage, the lights kicked in, and there he stood, his body thicker, his tightly braided hair tied back in a ponytail. He wore shades (which he later discarded), jeans and what looked to be a leather shirt.

They opened with "Welcome to the Jungle," and Axl executed lacerating high notes and stuttering na-na-nas with vim and gusto. The show did not pimp the new, due-any-time-now GNR album. In the first hour or so, Axl and his sidemen performed "Sweet Child O' Mine," "Live and Let Die," "Knockin' On Heaven's Door," and some other old Gunners tunes. Leading a sing-along during "Heaven's Door," Axl remarked to the crowd with mock formality, "I don't think we've reached our full potential;" then after a calibrated pause he lit into a long shriek. Everyone lost it. I smiled. A masterstroke.

Axl stalked the entire stage, and went mercifully easy on that slip-slidey dance that always made me cringe. He spread his arms and stomped around in a circle, like a faux Native American dance. He slung the mic stand around. He bounded and jumped and slithered. You couldn't take your eyes off him.
Meanwhile, I could barely stand to look at Sebastian Bach, the erstwhile Skid Row frontman who opened the evening with a too-long set. It was even harder listening to him. His constant caterwaul -- not to mention his hyper, "fuck"-laced stage patter -- was supremely annoying.

Papa Roach fared far better. As the only contemporary rock band on the triple bill, the guys had the unenviable task of playing for a mostly older crowd that had turned out to see an icon. By the end of a crisp set, it looked as if Papa Roach had won a few converts -- not me; their style, metal laced with rap and a splash of emo, just isn't my thing. Still, I had to respect how they gave it up.

I've gotta come clean and tell you that I left the GNR show after a little more than an hour. My bad, I know, but my days of writing deadline reviews for a daily paper, where you had to stay 'til the last note, are long in the past, so I exercised my right to split. It'd been a long night. Besides, I really had really come to see if weird, reclusive Axl Rose, a dude who seems to have rock star imprinted in his DNA, could still bring it. He could, and did.

[Blackstar]

Review in St. Petersburg Times Blogs, October 26, 2006:

Guns N' Bleepin' Roses

By Sean Daly

TAMPA — If I were Axl Rose (and I thank the lord every day that I'm not), I would do something truly rock-star grotesque on the current Guns N' Roses tour.

Like cancel upcoming Canadian shows due to "sanitary reasons." Or insult Johnny Cash.

Or brain someone with a microphone stand.

'Cause at a time when rock 'n' roll is a safe, solemn universe desperate for a dangerous star, one of the most volatile frontmen in history now seems so...safe, solemn. Xanaxed.

Don't get me wrong: Rose, who brought his makeshift rock band to the St. Pete Times Forum Wednesday, can still be a pain in the tuchus. He disapproved media and photographer credentials at the last minute. His show started at midnight and didn't end until 2, sending many of the 10,522 fans home early. And the attendance was lower than it should have been, mainly because Axl is a classic no-show.
Most glaring of all, I still blame the 44-year-old nutter for breaking up the original lineup: guitar legend Slash, charismatic bassist Duff et al. Instead, Axl has opted for a backing band that can rock and rock hard, but doesn't know the first thing about living on the edge.

And edge — that intangible rock-star quality of instability and excitement — is what Axl and the Gunners are missing these days. (No, his recent scuffle with that dope Tommy Hilfiger doesn't count as edge. That's just good sense.)

Was Wednesday's show entertaining? You bet. When the house lights finally dimmed and Slash replacement Robin Finck (of Nine Inch Nails) picked out the opening lick of Welcome to the Jungle, I felt like I was 17 again, listening to jaw-dropping blues-metal brilliance that is 1987's Appetite for Destruction.

Axl has been famously reclusive for almost 13 years, so he's rather well-preserved in a Howard Hughesian amber. He's a bit thicker in the torso now, and those unfortunate corn-rows make him look like a rasta leprechaun, but the guy can still slither-dance all over the stage and dutifully bring you to your n-n-n-n-knees.

And although his high-holy wail took a little while to warm up (the band was playing over him at first, perhaps on purpose), on the final chorus of Knockin' on Heaven's Door, he reared back and fired a doozy, a rageful, punky shriek that time-traveled two decades.

It's weird to accuse someone of being professional, but that's what Axl Rose has become: an efficient showman. After an explosive cover of Live and Let Die, he greeted us like a game-show host: "Hello, Tampa. It's very, very, very nice to be here." He gave faithful, loving renditions of all the hits: Sweet Child O' Mine, You Could Be Mine, Patience and an epic November Rain, the latter of which he played on a baby grand.

Throughout, he was efficient and sweet and normal. When bassist Tommy Stinson (of the Replacements) made a whispered request, Axl even obliged with "a love ballad": the murderously funny Used to Love Her. His new songs from the umpteen-years-in-the-making Chinese Democracy album (out any day now....really!) were even tame, save for Better, which has legit switchblade edge.

It was all perfectly fist-pumping and ear-ringing. But I must be honest: When Axl invited opening act Sebastian Bach to duet on My Michelle, I was secretly hoping he'd bash the Skid Row singer in the head.
You know, just for old-time's sake.

[Blackstar]

Tampa Tribune Blogs, October 26, 2006:

Waiting For Axl: The Post-Mortem

By Curtis Ross

For the record, the wait was 55 minutes between the end of Papa Roach’s set and the lights dimming for Guns n’ Roses. Which means Axl and the boys were just finishing opening number “Welcome to the Jungle” as Wednesday night became Thursday morning.

I mean, what the hell? It may not be particularly rock ‘n’ roll to want to pack it in early but Axl, give the crowd a break. You’re not playing for the children of the night on the Sunset Strip anymore. Most or at least a big portion of the crowd appeared to be in its 30s and 40s and you know what that means. Jobs to go to. Kids to get to school. I’m typing this on 5 hours shuteye and that’s a lot more than many in the audience are functioning on today.

Rose’s whole “keep ‘em waiting ‘til I’m good and ready” shtick reeks of contempt for his audience. Which is in direct contrast to the performance he gave once he finally took the stage, which was genuinely exciting, well-paced and presumably aimed at giving the crowd a great show.

Sorry, Axl, but the concert-goers at Wednesday night’s show weren’t likely to riot, just leave before the set’s over because they had real lives to attend to. There were far fewer than the reported 10,522 in the arena when the lights went up after “Paradise City.”

It’s the sort of behavior that suggests someone living in a bubble, surrounded by toadies who tell him only what he wants to hear and whose grip on reality may be tenuous. C’mon, Axl, do you really want to wind up the hard-rock Michael Jackson, blaming everyone but yourself when your popularity wanes? Release “Chinese Democracy” already. And buy an alarm clock.

[Blackstar]

Review in The Tampa Tribune, October 27, 2006:

Rose Is Late, But Guns Worth The Wait

ONLY AXL REMAINS, BUT REPLACEMENTS ROCK

By CURTIS ROSS
The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - A concert review isn't really the place for a lecture on tardiness, but good grief. Guns n' Roses' set didn't start until almost midnight Wednesday night-Thursday morning.

Is singer Axl Rose that unfamiliar with the real world that he isn't hip to the whole job-responsibility-up-before noon lifestyle? Or does someone need to point out that the youngsters who bought "Appetite for Destruction" in 1987 now are in their 30s?

Whatever. If you can get past the time element, the show was about as good as one might have hoped and at times considerably better.

The two-hour-plus set relied heavily on songs from "Appetite," and it's likely few in the crowd of 10,522 would have complained about that.

Few seemed bothered by the fact that Rose is the only member of the "Appetite" lineup in the band. That took away some of the potential excitement, since the old Guns was a band of loose cannons. Now it's one loose cannon and eight hired guns.

Excellent hired guns, mind you. Most of them got solo spots that gave Rose a chance to catch his breath, change his shirt and do whatever else he needed to away from the spotlight.

Rose remains a natural frontman, sprinting across the stage, howling and expressing all the rage and fear that made the band so intriguing when it appeared 20 years ago.

His voice, though, was erratic, mostly strong and true but occasionally pinched and thin.

In contrast to his old rabble-rousing image, Rose unfailingly was polite between songs, telling the crowd it was "very, very nice to be here" moments after telling them they were in the jungle, baby.

Such is the dichotomy of Axl Rose: charming and possibly insane.

The band was almost too reverent of the older material, replicating each solo and fill with a classicist's touch. Only on "Out ta Get Me" did the players make the song their own, and that one left the original in the dust.

However, new material, from the oft-delayed "Chinese Democracy" album, sounded vibrant and raised hopes that the disc may one day be released.

In the end, despite any longing to see the original lineup back together, Rose established his new Guns as a vital, exciting force and threatened once again to inject some excitement into a stale mainstream rock scene.

If only he could do it a couple of hours earlier.

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