2006.12.01 - Hilton Coliseum, Ames, USA

THIS WEEK'S bestbet - GUNS N' ROSES

Cold December rain

Thirteen years. That's how long Guns N' Roses fans have been waiting for "Chinese Democracy," the long-promised follow-up to the band's last album, 1993's "The Spaghetti Incident?" The recent rumor was that "Chinese Democracy" might come out this year, but insiders now speculate the release date (not surprisingly) has been pushed back to 2007. Thankfully, front man Axl Rose's long-suffering followers finally have the chance to see Guns N' Roses in concert with the band in the midst of its most extensive tour in years (even though Slash & co. are long gone, and an all-new lineup is playing alongside Rose).

Get ready to scream along to "Paradise City," "November Rain" and "Welcome to the Jungle" as Guns N' Roses performs at 8 p.m. Friday at Hilton Coliseum on the Iowa State University campus in Ames. Tickets are $77, $49.50 or $39.50 through (319) 363-1888 or www.ticketmaster.com Beware of Rose's new surgically enhanced face!

GN'R BACK AT FULL STRENGTH

Guns N' Roses had a great night in Ames, Iowa last night. It was fantastic for everyone to get back on stage with Axl, on the road to recovery from the ear infection and the strep throat that caused their Milwaukee show to be cancelled. It was also really positive to have Helmet join the band alongside Suicide Girls, Modern Day Zero and Sebastian Bach after the disappointment that was The Eagles Of Death Metal.

Axl and the band would also like to thank everyone for staying extra late in Ames. They left Chicago in the morning but what was supposed to be a 1 hour plane flight turned into a 12 hour bus ride due to the severe weather that hit Chicago and most of the country. The bus was diverted several times by the police due to major accidents and for a time there was real concern that the band would not make it. In the end it was all good and once again they would like to thank everyone for their patience and willingness to stay up late as well as apologise to anyone that had to leave! They look forward to seeing you over the next few weeks and wishing you Merry Christmas!

[...]

Guns N’ Roses misfires with meandering marathon

By KYLE MUNSON
REGISTER MUSIC CRITIC

“Rock ’n’ roll all night” was just a cliché until Friday and Saturday with Guns N’ Roses at Hilton Coliseum in Ames.

Hard rock singer Axl Rose more than lived up to his eccentric reputation by not taking the stage with his band until 12:30 a.m. Then he ground out a two-hour, 18-song set in a shaky voice. Chose ponderous new songs from his forever-delayed “Chinese Democracy” album. Skittered off stage during the many extended solos doled out by his crack seven-piece band loaded with three ace guitarists.

All told the five-act concert lasted more than seven hours and tested the patience of the 5,363 fans to the point that fights nearly erupted on the general-admission arena floor prior to GNR’s appearance.

For fans it wasn’t so much a rock show as a work shift or endurance test.

On stage the atmosphere might have been best described as an Axlpalooza hodgepodge that featured: unknown, nondescript St. Louis rock band Modern Day Zero; the pile-driving riffs and jazz-influenced solos of Helmet from New York, loudly booed by most of the audience; and five Goth strippers from the Suicide Girls burlesque troupe who twirled a flaming hula hoop and slathered each other’s bare chests in chocolate syrup.

And don’t forget former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach. The eager-to-please hair-metal ham and “Gilmore Girls” cast member doled out sing-along ballads such as “18 and Life.”

This surreal marathon arrived after Rose, 44, spent most of the week on hiatus (including a scrapped concert in Milwaukee) to heal from strep throat and an ear infection.

After four GNR songs — three from its landmark 1987 “Appetite for Destruction” debut album plus a cover of Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die” — Rose apologized for his tardiness, then joked about it.

“In the words of David Lee Roth, I don’t feel tardy,” he smirked.

Cute. And so GNR’s first concert at Hilton in 18 years and its first in Iowa since 1993 didn’t lack for drama. (It did of course lack for original band members; Rose has continually retooled the lineup that now includes familiar keyboardist Dizzy Reed and Tommy Stinson of the Replacements on bass.)

Rose not only sang but shook maracas and slid behind a grand piano. He whistled his way into “Patience.” His waistband has widened since the ’80s, but still the pony-tailed singer sprinted back and forth across the stage. And despite his ailing voice he out-crooned Bach on their duet of “My Michelle.”

Instead of repaying fans for their loyalty in the wee hours Rose demanded even more patience during the encore. He trotted out the politically charged “Chinese Democracy” title track, followed by a trippy guitar solo from Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal. The dated electronic rhythms of the worst of the new tunes, “Madagascar,” completed the concert’s transition from oddity to status as the lost chapter of a Lewis Carroll novel.

Maybe call Rose the Orson Welles of hard rock — not for the genius tag, but for struggling to live up to the massive success of his debut project through endless tinkering and often serving as his own worst enemy.

The last words Rose sang Friday night — I mean Saturday morning — were “Take me home.”

Exactly what I (and likely a few thousand other hardy souls) were thinking by 2:45 a.m.

Unexplained delay derails Guns-N'-Roses

By Rob Merritt

AMES - When fans buy tickets for a show on Friday, they usually assume that the show will start on Friday.

Apparently not in Guns N' Roses' case.

For reasons that were never fully explained, the legendary band didn't take the stage at Hilton Coliseum until 12:32 a.m. Saturday, more than four-and-a-half hours after the concert's listed start time.

By the time things wrapped up at 2:40 a.m., many in the crowd of more than 5,000 had walked out early.

A shame, too, since once the band arrived, it played a solid set.

Lead singer Axl Rose (who was reportedly recovering from strep throat) found his way vocally after a shaky start, and showed glimpses of the energy he had in the band's late 1980s heyday.

Robin Finck, formerly of Nine Inch Nails, was electrifying in former guitarist Slash's role, offering up a spot-on rendition of "Sweet Child O' Mine."

However, it was too little too late. The damage had already been done, and based on the constant stream of walkouts throughout its set, Guns N' Roses never fully won the crowd back.

Clearly, delays can and do happen. But crowds deserve to know what's going on.

The four opening acts (including strippers and a lackluster 45-minute set from Helmet) were followed by nothing. The crowd waited past 11:30 p.m., then midnight, then 12:30, with no updates or explanation for the empty stage.

That was a mistake, as well as an insult to fans who paid as much as $77 per ticket.

Former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach managed to keep the crowd's spirits up early on. But when strippers from SuicideGirls.com are sent back onstage at midnight to buy time - and the crowd responds with "Refund!" and "Burn the place down!" - you know things are getting desperate.

Upon his arrival, Rose thanked the crowd for its patience but offered little explanation. He made a vague reference to "weather problems" then quoted Van Halen with, "I don't feel tardy."

The crowd - and Van Halen - deserved better than that.

Hard-core fans at the front were still showing enthusiasm by the show's final number, "Paradise City," but one look around at all the empty seats behind them told the rest of the story.

If Guns N' Roses is trying to mount a comeback, this is not the way to do it.

What was Axl Rose thinking?

By Rob Merritt

Days after Guns N' Roses paid a visit, Iowa fans are still trying to figure out what happened.

The band didn't take the stage of Hilton Coliseum in Ames until 12:32 a.m. Saturday. That was five hours after the first opening band started playing.

After sitting through four such openers - one of which was so bad, it was booed off the stage - the audience was kept waiting for an additional hour and a half, with no explanation.

Once lead singer Axl Rose finally showed up, he made vague reference to a "weather problem." That's it.
So what's the story?

The next day, a post appeared on the Guns N' Roses MySpace page, claiming the band had been stuck in a Chicago snowstorm Friday morning. They barely made it to the arena, it says.

Well, that's all fine and dandy (though it does make one wonder why the crew and all the support acts - including Sebastian Bach, Helmet, Modern Day Zero and strippers from SuicideGirls.com - had no similar troubles).

Still, I have to ask: Why did we only hear this after the show?

The crew must have known what was going on. There is no way Guns N' Roses members don't have cell phones. The info should have been passed along to the crowd. Maybe something like, "Their bus just passed Tama, so hang in there, everybody."

Instead, the fans got a wall of silence. And strippers.

People were booing. Fans were walking out. A guy behind me was calling for them to burn the place down.

Still, officials said nothing.

After the show, some of the hard-core fans defended Rose online. A few noted that his band has regularly been going onstage late. (It went on the following night in Minneapolis at roughly 11:45 p.m.)

"The people who couldn't wait one hour longer to see them shouldn't go," one guy wrote.

Ah, but the people waited longer than that. They also suffered through four hours of opening acts, including strippers and a terrible, terrible set by the band Helmet.

The audience didn't pay to see these acts. It paid as much as $77 to see Guns N' Roses, and its patience had already been tested. A further delay, with no explanation, just added insult to injury.

Rose is trying to make a comeback, and fans like me - a decade older and feeling nostalgic - came out to Ames to give him one last shot. This is what we got. I hope Rose took a good, hard look at all the empty seats in Hilton Coliseum by the time he reached his finale.

Rock stars can be wild and crazy, but one thing they must never do is disrespect their fans. I cannot imagine Aerosmith pulling a stunt like this. Or Nine Inch Nails. Or Van Halen. Those acts know that fans who stick by you, years after your prime, are something to be grateful for.

Loyal fans will forgive a lot of things, including delays.

They will not, however, forgive being insulted.