2017.02.10 - ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia

Will AC/DC's Angus Young Join Guns N' Roses On Stage In Sydney?

AC/DC guitarist Angus Young is rumored to be making a guest appearance with Guns N' Roses at their shows in Sydney, Australia Friday and Saturday night.

GUNS N' ROSES bassist Duff McKagan tweeted earlier today that Angus greeted him and his bandmates when they arrived in Sydney. In addition, Fernando Lebeis, who is part of GN'R's management team, posted a photo on Instragam of a nice flower arrangement with a "Welcome to Sydney!" card signed by Angus and the guitarist's wife Ellen. "I have missed these two, Angus and Ella. AC/DC Family," Lebeis wrote.

Further fueling the speculation of a Young-Guns N' Roses jam is the revelation that fans who attended Guns N' Roses' Brisbane show earlier this week told the Australian GN'R fan page Guns Over Oz that the band played some AC/DC songs during its Brisbane soundcheck.

Guns N’ Roses Not in This Lifetime Tour (Sydney Olympic Park)

By Benjamin Woods

The core of the original Guns N’ Roses line-up have reformed for a massively successful world tour. The measure of its success was seen in the packed Olympic Stadium last night – one of two shows in Sydney with another concert scheduled tonight.

Once the most popular rock band of the late ’80s and early ’90s, the band then faded out as band members quit the band before volatile front man Axl Rose inexplicably won a legal battle to continue to tour and record under the Guns N’ Roses banner as the sole, original band member.

Axl toured intermittently in the 2000s with a rotating line-up of band members and eventually released the poorly received Chinese Democracy album in 2008. Things continued to drift for Guns N’ Roses until original band members, guitarist Slash and bass player Duff McKagan, were persuaded to join Rose this tour. The Not in this Lifetime tour has now arrived in Australia after touring around the world for several months.

I confess to being a massive Gunners fan as teenager in their heyday. I waited patiently for years for the follow-up to their huge debut album Appetite for Destruction and was mostly impressed when the Use Your Illusion albums were released. As a mate who accompanied me on Friday and who saw the band’s Eastern Creek show as I did in 1993 remarked, they played much the same set last night as they did back then.

As in 1993, they began with a one-two punch of rockers from Appetite for Destruction with It’s So Easy and Mr Brownstone, both still good songs despite some horrific lyrics in the former. But unlike the ’93 show, last night they played several tracks from Chinese Democracy. They weren’t set highlights but a fair proportion of the huge audience seemed to enjoy them.

The show included extended jams and solos that seemed to there to give Axl a rest and change of t-shirt. One of these bore a peace sign as the band played Civil War from Use Your Illusion II. They played faultlessly and with vigour and Axl was remarkable. Some of his vocal performances in the ’90s were a bit off kilter and his voice scratchy at times, but he was note perfect on Friday. Perhaps he’s had lessons, quit smoking or his thickened frame has helped?

The highlight of the show was an unexpected visit to the stage by AC/DC’s Angus Young. Axl has taken on vocal duties for AC/DC due to Brian Johnson’s hearing loss so was well-rehearsed for belting out Bon Scott era classics, Whole Lotta Rosie and Riff Raff. It was the first time I’ve seen Angus play out of his school uniform.

The pre-encore set concluded with a hard and tight rendition of Nightrain and the final song of the night was Paradise City — both tunes from Appetite for Destruction and sending the unashamedly unfashionable and bogan masses home happy.

(City Rail did its job getting fans to Homebush and back in an orderly and relatively painless manner and finding your seat in the stadium was easy too. But the overpriced and mid-strength beer? Undrinkable and un-rock n roll.)

[LIVE REVIEW & PHOTOS] GUNS N’ ROSES, ANZ Stadium, Sydney 10 Feb 2017

Written by Greg Smith

I’m one of the lucky hundred thousand or so people who saw Guns n Roses at the peak of their powers at Eastern Creek back in 1993. Today, just like that day twenty four years ago, the heat was stifling, and legendary Sydney band Rose Tattoo was supporting. It was like history was repeating itself, but would this evening’s show reach the same dizzy heights?

If we’ve learned anything from ACDC, it’s that gritty pub rock is transferrable to large arenas, and the bluesy, hard rock sound of Rose Tattoo seemed right at home at the large venue. While the crowd was relatively small at the beginning of their set, it grew steadily throughout, and Angry and the boys charged through the songs that made them great, such as Rock n Roll Outlaw, Scarred For Life, and Juice On The Loose. They also payed tribute to the late Stevie Wright, with Black Eyed Bruiser. The sound was big, the band tight, and Angry’s vocals were spot on.

There wasn’t a lot of banter between Angry and the crowd. Although, he did get a little philosophical before playing 1854, but, I think they were aware that the crowd weren’t going to expend all our energy on the support act in such fetid heat. We had bigger fish to fry! They closed with a medley of Bad Boy For Love and We Can’t Be Beaten, which brought the crowd to life, particularly the “old rockers” in the house.

With the anticipation building, the big screen flickered, with the words “Not In This Lifetime” emblazoned upon it. We had to endure a bit of overkill with visuals and sound samples, and then, with a thunderous roar, the band once dubbed the most dangerous in the world was in our face with It’s So Easy, and Mr Brownstone. The crowd was going off, you could hear every person around you singing….SCREAMING! The band sounded great, Slash was ripping, and Axl’s vocals, while not perfect, were proficient enough to keep the punters enthralled.

Chinese Democracy, and the songs from that album didn’t really get much reaction from the fans, but all was forgiven with the opening riff of Welcome To The Jungle, which was one of the many highlights. The Use your Illusion albums got a workout as well, with Live And Let Die, You Could Be Mine, Estranged, and November Rain all getting big cheers of approval.

Crowd favourites Civil War and Sweet Child ‘O Mine bookended a blistering guitar solo from Slash, and just when we began to think the rumours of a “special guest” were not going to come true, Axl welcomed Angus Young to the stage. The ACDC axeman got a huge ovation, and approximately 55,000 people collectively lost their shit when he began playing the opening riff of Whole Lotta Rosie, followed by Riff Raff.

We had the usual call and response during Knockin On Heavens Door, and then the lads took us for a wild ride on the Nightrain.

They came back for three encores, Don’t Cry, The Seeker (The Who cover), and they brought the house down with Paradise City, complete with pyrotechnics, smoke, and huge blasts of confetti.

Tonight proved that the classic era Guns N Roses songs are timeless. While we’re all a little older, those great songs will never, ever, get old.

AC/DC's Angus Young Joins Guns N' Roses On Stage In Sydney

AC/DC guitarist Angus Young made a guest appearance with Guns N' Roses Friday night (February 10) in Sydney, Australia.

Young joined the band to perform the AC/DC songs "Whole Lotta Rosie" and "Riff Raff".

"We're gonna bring out a friend of ours," Guns frontman Axl Rose told the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, Angus Young!" Rose then poked fun at Young's T-shirt and jeans, quipping: "Here's something you never see. He didn't have his school uniform, but I'm wearing a school jacket."