2006.12.17 - Gibson Amphitheatre, Universal City, USA

Guns N' Roses can still heat things up
POP MUSIC REVIEW

It's all Axl's show as the not-so-classic version of the band shakes up Gibson Amphitheatre with its rock theatrics.
December 19, 2006|Greg Burk | Special to The Times

The rockin' Axl Rose experience legally known as Guns N' Roses is like the megabucks movie version of some gritty off-Broadway play. It won't make you forget the original, but its gloss and sprawl are not to be despised.

Looking like an alien mantis, jaws parted as if to bite the head off a giant fly, Rose disdained credibility at the Gibson Amphitheatre on Sunday night while injecting further histrionic fizz into the vocal melodies of turn-of-the-'90s GNR ballads such as the buoyant "Sweet Child O' Mine" and the tenderly overfragranced "November Rain"; if he had ever drawn genuine emotion from his weeper repertoire (doubtful), those days were dust. Still, a creepy artificial buzz always rewards the absorption of Rose's headlong muggery, and when he had nothing in mind but rocking his butt off ("It's So Easy," "You Could Be Mine") and polluting his liver ("Mr. Brownstone," "Nightrain"), he took everybody along on his ambulance joyride.

Pyrotechnic heat you could actually smell fired up a two-plus-hour Rose set calibrated like a Rolls engine. The pistons were a seven-piece backup band, cranked by bearded ax mechanic Robin Finck and calculated to appear even slicker by contrast with a weary and spectacularly out-of-tune Izzy Stradlin, former rhythm guitarist of the "classic" GNR, who was dragged onstage for several songs. Ingenious instrumental breaks served to pace the proceedings and revive demand for additional Axl shriekery.

And a number of impressive unreleased selections -- including the ramped-up "IRS," the drifting "Madagascar" and the chop-riffing "Chinese Democracy" -- augured well for Guns N' Roses' upcoming album, whose endless postponement recently cracked a rift with the band's management. (The group canceled its remaining tour dates after the three Gibson shows to focus on finishing "Chinese Democracy," now targeted for release March 6, according to GNR's official website.)

At the 2 a.m. curtain call, Rose said he'd soldier onward for the fans despite the dirt bag write-ups he always gets. And so he should.

Sebastian Bach, the finest microphone twirler of his generation, warmed up the stage with reckless rockers ("Piece of Me") and prom ballads ("I Remember You") from his Skid Row heyday circa 1990, plus some homicidal new numbers. More than an MTV clown, the lanky Bach is a radiant entertainer; his animalistic screams and party attitude spawned grins while muscly guitarist Metal Mike Chlasciak (formerly of Halford) shredded manfully.

The night's darkest moods were the gift of Helmet, whose "Monochrome" CD this year announced a return to the artistic spikes of its platinum early '90s. Gaunt, buzz-cut Page Hamilton's grating yet melodic singing, contemptuous lyrics, gut-gouging riffs and twisted guitar solos rocked metal-hard and punk-furious.

The L.A. chapter of the nationwide art-sleaze phenomenon Suicide Girls opened, gyrating and undressing to Zep and Prince soundtracks within cinematic conceptual frameworks. The longtime link between metal and strippers: not broken yet.

IZZY JAMS WITH GN'R IN LOS ANGELES

By Doug Miller / GunsNRoses.com

The surprises keep coming for Guns N’ Roses, and the crowd at the Gibson Amphitheatre in the band’s hometown of Los Angeles was in for a big one Sunday night.

For the first time on the North American portion of the latest tour, original Guns member Izzy Stradlin joined the reformed band on stage for five songs.

Stradlin played guitar and sang harmonies with lead singer W. Axl Rose on classics “Think About You,” “Used to Love Her,” “Patience” and “Nightrain,” and he came back for the last song, “Paradise City.”

Stradlin hasn’t exactly been a stranger to GN’R.

He appeared on stage with the band in May in New York shortly after Rose brought GN’R out of the woodwork with a new eight-piece lineup that features three guitarists –- Robin Finck, Richard Fortus and Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal.

Stradlin also played with GN’R on a European swing shortly before they began gigging in the United States.

Sunday’s show at the Gibson was the penultimate performance of the two-month North American tour featuring some of the material from the upcoming album Chinese Democracy, which Rose has slated for a tentative March 6 release.

He's still the top gun

By JEFF MILLER
Special to the Register

I'd never seen Guns N' Roses before, and - though that's usually a statement I'd reserve in a review - that may be the most important part of this one, since the Guns N' Roses playing Gibson three times this week (Sunday and again tonight and Wednesday) is a completely different band than the one my jaded colleague (he calls me Desert Jeff; lets call him ... Suburban Ben) saw last decade. And that also engenders a gap in the take on this comeback show by perhaps the most important rock band of the past two decades: As far as my ears could hear, this Guns N' Roses - while obviously very different - still sounds pretty great.

Suburban Ben saw this Guns N' Roses - composed, other than Rose, entirely of non-founding members - earlier this year at KROQ's Inland Invasion. He walked away disappointed: "Axl," he wrote then, "is just idling in a glorified tribute band."

And so what?

Axl Rose carries with him a history that allows him this. He's shrouded in mystery, having retreated for over a decade to produce the still-unreleased would-be masterpiece "Chinese Democracy," an album supposedly close to done (in an online posting this week, Rose claimed it'll be out in March). At Gibson he only hinted at the album, delivering three lackluster songs that may sound great on record but here were the only lulls in a sometimes-great, often-good, rarely bad set that re-established Rose as a one-of-a-kind frontman, if one who has lost his nerve a little as he's hit middle age.

Yes, now he seems respectable and professional rather than dangerous and unpredictable. But when you're fronting a world-class rock band (special props to lanky, hippie-ish guitarist Robin Finke, an almost suitable replacement for Slash), there's something to be said for respectable and professional. Nowhere was that more clear than during the show's best moment: at a key point in a passionate run-through of Wings' "Live and Let Die" (also a GNR hit), Rose looked out at the packed, occasionally frenetic audience for a second, bewildered, before the breakdown. It was as moving a moment as I've seen in a rock show this year; though that sentiment didn't last the show (it couldn't; at nearly three hours any emotion comes and goes, including both enthusiasm and boredom) it was evident that despite a sometimes croaky voice and an often fast-footed stage presence, Rose wasn't just here for nostalgia. He had come to claim his place as a rock progenitor.

And that goal was justly achieved. What once was parent-baiting is now classic; when the opening of "Sweet Child of Mine" is played, you realize that that song now belongs in the pantheon with "Stairway to Heaven" and "Back in Black." And the hits keep coming: "It's So Easy," "November Rain" and the ballad "Patience," on which Rose and his seven-piece band were joined by an unlikely but welcome guest: former GNR guitarist Izzy Stradlin, who played almost half the set despite Rose's public disputes with him and the rest of his former bandmates.

And though Stradlin didn't do much but strum and preen, it still suggested the possibility that maybe - just maybe - someday I'll see that other Guns N' Roses, the dangerous one, the one I fell in love with.
But for now, this one will do. And unlike Suburban Ben, I'm OK with that.

Guns N' Roses
* Where: Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal CityWalk
* When: Dec. 17
* Next: The band plays the same venue at 8:15 Dec. 18 and Dec. 19.
* How much: $39.50-$75

Live Review: Guns N' Roses in Universal City, CA

By Paul Gargano
LiveDaily Contributor

If there are any questions regarding the return of Guns N' Roses, any cynics who still want to doubt frontman Axl Rose, or any suggestions that the current band is but a shell of the former lineup, they can all be laid to rest after Sunday night's (12/17) performance at the sold-out Gibson Amphitheater, in Universal City, CA.

Lay them to rest alongside grunge, rap-rock and emo, and in the vicinity of every other fad that has come and gone since Guns N' Roses last ruled the planet rock more than a decade ago. From top to bottom, the band's first of three nights in Los Angeles offered a two-hour-and-20-minute primer in rock-and-roll retribution, cementing the return of Axl Rose and showcasing a lineup poised to vault Guns N' Roses back atop the hard rock pantheon.

From the moment Robin Finck's truncated guitar riffs shot through the amphitheater like shards of shrapnel introducing "Welcome to the Jungle," a standing room-only crowd of more than 5,000 hinged on every note. Notes that Rose nailed with increasing--and remarkable--proficiency as the late-night set progressed into early morning.

While the iconic frontman has never been known for his range, his performance Sunday demonstrated a vocal maturity that surpassed even the most optimistic of expectations, running the gamut from the seductive color of "Sweet Child 'O Mine," through the pissed-off vehemence of "Out ta Get Me." While he hasn't transformed into a crystal-esque crooner, there was barely a sour note throughout the 20-song set. Clearly, Rose has markedly increased his command over his voicesince the band's L.A.-area show in September (at the KROQ Inland Invasion, their first So-Cal appearance in more than a decade).

"You Could Be Mine" offered an early highlight, the normally sedate L.A. crowd ripping through every word like it was 1992 and Nirvana never existed. Rose offered ample reason to revel, as he cut through a repertoire of now-classic hits like he'd been rebuilt and recharged in his time out of the spotlight, with his comeback, until now, serving as little more than fine-tuning.

It seemed as if nothing would rival the mid-set, epic build of "November Rain," but the fine showings kept mounting, Rose whistling the intro to "Patience" before putting in one of his more memorable performances of the night, then ripping through set closer "Nightrain" as if he had crossed the Hollywood Hills and returned to the Sunset Strip circa the late-'80s. All but the final three songs on Guns' "Appetite for Destruction" debut were performed.

It can be presumed that the five previously-unreleased songs will be heard on the upcoming and long-awaited "Chinese Democracy," which Rose announced last week will be hitting stores March 6. The encore-opening title track was a turbo-charged adrenaline rush befitting of the heaviest "Use Your Illusion" moments, while the Asian-tinged intro to "Better" and the mid-tempo flow of "Madagascar" demonstrated an understanding that while the punk rock madness of the band's early appetites may have been tempered by time, the residual grit is still resounding.

"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" proved a fitting segue into new ballad "The Blues," while "I.R.S." did the same leading into "My Michelle." Opener Sebastian Bach has become a tour fixture on the latter, but the manic, metallic onslaught of the duo sharing lead vocals was quickly overshadowed by the introduction of original GN'R guitarist Izzy Stradlin, who joined the band for "Think About You," "Patience," "I Used to Love Her" and "Nightrain," then returned for the encore-closing "Paradise City."

Of the current band--which features "Illusion"-era keyboardist Dizzy Reed, ex-Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson, guitarists Finck, Richard Fortus and Bumblefoot, drummer Frank Ferrer and keyboardist Chris Pitman--Finck, Fortus and Reed each received time in the solo spotlight.

Reed manned a center stage piano as he bled a solo run through The Rolling Stones' "Angie" into the new ballad, Finck did a commendable job of making people forget about founding member Slash with a blues-hued solo that led into "Sweet Child," and Fortus merged an arena-rock shredfest into a blues duet with Finck, and finally into "Out ta Get Me." As could be said of the entire band, each paid dutiful respect to the GN'R legacy without sacrificing their individual flair and unique personalities.

In an era where nostalgia would be just fine, Guns N' Roses circa 2006 deliver much more. Sebastian Bach, meanwhile, knows the power of nostalgia and played it to his advantage in an hour-long opening set that was heavy on Skid Row hits.

Opener "Slave to the Grind" was delivered in double-time, and followed by "Big Guns" and "Here I Am," proved more than capable in engaging the packed house. A handful of new tracks fit nicely with the more recognizable material; "Stuck Inside" and "American Metalhead" (think Judas Priest crashing head-on with Accept) embraced his band's heavy metal mindset, while new ballad "By Your Side" fit better alongside "I Remember You," which proved his strongest vocal showing.

Has it been mentioned that Guns N' Roses went onstage on time, to the minute? Don't bet on that becoming an everyday occurrence, but take this much to the bank: Judging from Los Angeles' response to "Chinese Democracy," another era of Guns N' Roses domination is imminent.

All hail, the triumphant return of Axl Rose.