2017.06.16 - London Stadion, London, England

Guns N’ Roses review – comeback show takes us to Paradise City
5/5 stars

Queen Elizabeth Stadium, Stratford, London

By Sophie Heawood

I wondered if it was silly. Me and a bunch of other fortysomethings going to see Guns N’ Roses, a band we loved in our youth when they seemed so wild and pulsating and decadently masculine. Those singalong-with-Jack-Daniel’s dudes, every song a paean to getting high or getting off – or both. British pop at the time was playing with gender and androgyny, but Guns N’ Roses were just pure, stupid testosterone. I wrote their lyrics on my bedroom wall and secretly loved and feared them for it.
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If we were middle-aged now, though, what did that make the filthy rock bastards of pop? Old? And hadn’t they already done one comeback tour some years ago, when it was just a bloated Axl Rose and a bunch of hired hands turning up late and trying to recreate the magic because all the other members refused to have anything to do with him?

Would we still be entranced, now that we’ve read their memoirs and know what really went on back in the day, including the bit in Slash’s warts-and-all autobiography when he literally does have warts, on his penis, and he has to visit doctor after doctor to get them burned off because they bounce back more times than Boris Johnson?

Well, arriving at the stadium where the 2012 Olympics were held, the first things you notice are the band T-shirts. Everybody looks like a diehard fan, with about a quarter of the male and female crowd wearing the Guns N’ Roses tops they must have owned for 30 years, with old tour dates on the back. Except these T-shirts are suspiciously clean.

When I ask people, one man admits he works in the City and just bought his from the merchandise stand, before shoving his work shirt in his rucksack. Another two beefy blokes just bought theirs from the Primark across the road. “I got that one from Next,” says one woman, pointing at the T-shirt of the bloke ahead of her in the beer queue, “but they had a better one in Top Shop.”

If the clothes are new, the good news is that the band are old: Slash is back (I can’t speak for his genital warts), and bass player Duff McKagan too, both having made up with Rose. This is the first UK show of the band’s classic lineup in 24 years, and they all take to the stage like men who truly, ferociously mean business, going straight in with the hits.

Welcome to the Jungle begins and the crowd surges like a beast. Mr Brownstone, a druggy song that seemed more dangerous 25 years ago, seems strangely poignant now, with Rose singing its winding melody beautifully, perfectly. His face, which bears the agelessness of any Hollywood star who has reached a certain age and perhaps had some help, is as taut as a drum when he sings the highest notes, and you wonder if he might burst.

Then he puts on a top hat with a union jack on it and suddenly looks less Botox, more Brexit. He sings Live and Let Die with twice the bravado and swagger of Paul McCartney, and the thundering drums are so menacing that it’s a real moment for the crowd.

The lyrics to Civil War feel ripe for the political tensions of today, and Rose’s voice is soft like fur at the start, switching to a tightrope in a second. He’s truly in control; the master of range. We start to see more of Melissa Reese, the young woman who joined the band on keys and vocals in recent years, and who gets a mention from Rose as the camera lingers on her blue-and-white hair.

It dawns on me that what seemed overtly masculine in youth seems theatrically feminine in middle age: the camp mannerisms of a rocker grinding around the stage, the falsetto vocals, Slash’s fantastic black cloud of hair. The huge emotional neediness of everything. The passion. The love.

Sweet Child O’ Mine is so intense that thousands of us seem to simultaneously unite our former and current selves while singing along to it. We are all fully whole! I hug a total stranger! Then Night Train, when we all bellow “LOADED LIKE A FREIGHT TRAIN” at the top of our voices, in a hosanna of ecstatic nonsense. It is the most meaningless and also meaningful moment of the night.

By the time they play November Rain, night has fallen, and everyone’s got their lighters out – apart from the man beside me who’s using his bike light “because I gave up smoking 15 years ago”.

“Thank you,” says Rose, to his loving and loved London audience, “from the heart of my bottom.” You can’t blow the roof off a stadium that doesn’t have one, but they damn well tried.

The Guns N' Roses reunion arrived in London and it was big, brash and absolutely brilliant - review
5/5 stars

By James Hall

Of the many people who said this tour would never happen, Guns N’ Roses were among the most vocal. When singer Axl Rose was asked in 2012 about the chances of the Los Angeles band’s original line-up reforming, he replied: “Not in this lifetime”.

But pent up demand and million dollar pay cheques have a habit of swaying people’s minds. And so the Not in This Lifetime Tour rolled into London for two shows in the Olympic Stadium. And thank goodness for that. On a perfect summer’s night, Guns N’ Roses dished out nearly three hours of meaty rock that was in turns ferocious, preposterous and moving.

Formed in LA in 1985, Guns N’ Roses released the biggest selling debut album of all time before lumbering on and then imploding spectacularly. Rose carried on with the band but without the other founder members it was never really Guns N’ Roses. Not that they have totally reformed. Guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan are back, but guitarist Izzy Stradlin and drummer Steven Adler are not.

On Friday, Rose was lithe, on time and in fine voice, three things that fans have not always been able to rely on. In his uniform of Harley Davidson T-shirt, aviator shades and checked shirt tied around his waist, he attacked opener It’s So Easy with relish. It seems his 2016 stint as AC/DC’s replacement singer has revitalised him. The crowd sensed this was something special. “You’re too kind. How ya doin?” he said. Slash, in his trademark top hat, his orange Les Paul gleaming, hasn’t aged a day.

Guns N’ Roses have never been just a metal band. They transcended the poodle-haired LA scene that spawned them by adding elements of punk, of Lynryd Skynryd and of Elton John and Queen into their songs. The set was peppered with nods to other heroes: The Who, Pink Floyd and Misfits, as well as a tribute to Soundgarden's Chris Cornell, who died last month. Ballad November Rain – no longer cheesy in this context, just suitably epic – segued into Clapton’s Layla. This was a band wearing its influences heavily, and they were all the better for it.

But they still sounded like no-one else. Thirty years since debut Appetite for Destruction was released, it has lost none of its rawness. We got all but four tracks from the album. As well as the sheer heaviness, you were reminded of the songs’ almost perfect structures. Is there a better opening to a hard rock track than the slow build of Welcome to the Jungle? Is there a finer guitar solo than the second one in Sweet Child O’ Mine, before the “where do we go now?” singalong? Is there a riff as groovily menacing as Mr Brownstone’s? I would argue not.

The big stadium rock of Guns N’ Roses has often been derided as overblown. Axl’s multi-octave howl and his habit of never singing “cry” when “cry-ee-ie-ee-ie-ee-ie” will do is almost as ludicrous as a topless Slash playing a wibbly guitar solo in a desert on his unplugged Les Paul, as he did in almost every Guns N’ Roses video. But that’s the point. Big stadium rock is inherently ridiculous. And when played in front of 80,000 people in its natural home – a vast cauldron like the Olympic Stadium – it not only makes perfect sense but transports you somewhere thrilling.

I watched slack-jawed, arms aloft, as the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen leapt as one to final song Paradise City. Not in this lifetime? I’m so glad they changed their minds.

Pop review: Guns N’ Roses at the London Stadium

The band knew the songs were enough to make this vast concert work — there were no special guests and no pyrotechnics

★★★★☆

Really, this had no right to be as good as it was. In 1987, Guns N’ Roses captured every sweaty youth’s rock star dreams with Appetite For Destruction; a preposterous melange of drive-time rock classics, fist-pumping anthems and squealing guitar solos performed by men who were far too familiar with hair products and crimping irons. Needless to say, it all went wrong, with 15-year gaps between albums and the macho diva singer Axl Rose turning up outrageously late to concerts, if at all, while alienating his former brothers in arms as he carried on the band in name only. Asked in 2012 if the original line-up would ever get back together, Rose replied: “Not in this lifetime.” And there we have the title of the inevitable reunion tour.

An inauspicious set-up for a money-spinning nostalgia fest, then, and yet no one can fill a 100,000-seater stadium like Guns N’ Roses. Slash, cryogenically frozen in trademark top hat, curls and shades, played brilliantly, honouring the gods of classic rock by including snatches of Jimi Hendrix’s Voodoo Chile, Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here and Derek & the Dominos’ Layla among homemade classics such as Welcome to the Jungle and Mr Brownstone.

Rose, shinier than he was 30 years ago, but still the sensitive tough guy in a Harley-Davidson T-shirt and a mass of jewellery, looked like a hillbilly Elton John as he sat by a grand piano and belted out the irresistibly sentimental November Rain. Thousands raised their lighters — or, in our healthier age, their iPhones — in homage to the moment.

Most significantly, the band knew the songs were enough to make this vast concert work. There were no special guests, no pyrotechnics, not even that much of a light show, and few words from Rose. But there was Sweet Child o’ Mine, with the majestically discordant opening riff from Slash that cannot fail to get you excited, and Paradise City, a vision of an adolescent male Shangri-La filled with rivers of beer and accommodating women. It remains the ultimate evocation of rock’s noble goal: to have a good time, all the time. For two hours in a vast enormo-dome in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Guns N’ Roses made that goal seem attainable.

Gig Review: Guns N’ Roses – Olympic Stadium, London (16th June 2017)

It would appear that Axl Rose thrives under pressure; last year he took on the difficult role of filling in for Brian Johnson on the last part of the AC/DC world tour which he did superbly and now he is attempting to produce more of the same with the reformed Guns N’ Roses line-up, the first time they have played together in 24 years.

The anticipation for this was extremely high. There seemed to be an almost nervous energy in the air. On the one hand, we have one of the greatest rock and roll bands of their generation, with a back catalogue that would make any band jealous… yet on the other a temperamental singer who (if put bluntly) has taken his fame, his fans and his position for granted over the years, with no shows, late shows, hired hands painting the hits by numbers. And this is even before we mention those dreadlocks; and in particular, the UK seemed to have received the brunt of this disregard.

The Atmosphere: Pre-gig, with beautiful sunshine, beer gardens overflowing and the open expansiveness of the Olympic Park setting, excitement was running pretty high. For some, this had been a lifetime in happening. So, it was a surprise to me and most people there when at 7.40pm an announcement was made that Gun N’ Roses were going to take to the stage in 5 minutes (Yes, such was the surprise it warranted its own announcement).

What an opening it was as well – “It’s So Easy”, “Mr Brownstone”, “Chinese Democracy” and “Welcome to the Jungle”. If you watched the small video clip of the crowd interaction we posted on Facebook on Saturday you will know that excitement carried through. There was a genuine party atmosphere down in the standing area as these classics were knocked out and this goodwill and great feeling carried throughout the gig.

There is no doubt whatsoever, that this was a gig everyone had been waiting for and there was no disappointment from Gun N’ Roses in terms of impact and song delivery, though I think when it comes to individual performances that’s more open to debate. They killed it at this gig. The singalong on tracks like “November Rain” versus the general all round excitement of hearing the guitar solos kick in on tracks like “Welcome to the Jungle” was testament to this.

Set List: This is always going to be another debate for people. Did they play your favourite song? For me they got it just about right, perhaps too many ballads but then they made their name on them as much as anything else. Whatever your thoughts, one aspect that is not debatable is that they tried to fit your favourite song in with a set that lasted 3 hours 15 minutes.

For me, anything from “Appetite for Destruction” was going to make my gig and they did not disappoint blasting it out with the energy with which it was written. A pet peeve of mine is when bands change to a softer sound as they develop and then play all the songs in their set in that new style – no such complaints here. I was also impressed with their choice of covers with the best being Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun”, greeted with a massive cheer and proving to be a fitting tribute.

Performance: As a full band delivery, you could not fault them. Did they triumph at the Olympic Stadium? Yes, they did, they proved all they ever had to do was turn up (on time) and play their hearts out and most fans would love them forever and this is what they did in London.

The focus, as you would expect though, was always going to fall directly onto Slash and Axl themselves. Did they live up to the expectations? I have heard one of two people mention they did not feel that Slash performed to his best but for me he did the job he needed to do. The expectation for him in this role was always going to be beyond the reality.

And Axl, love him or hate him, he is a performer. What a voice and vocal range he has. He never stopped in these three hours and obviously reveled in the audience singing back. The only comment I would make – and I am not sure if this was because I was not as close to the front as I was at Manchester (because of the Gold Circle Area which for me is just a way to get people to spend even more money and forces the pit and everyone else further back into the stadium) – but his crowd interaction was almost non-existent. I think he may have spoken once in the entire gig. He also was not as relaxed and friendly with the other band members as last year with AC/DC. This could just be down to feeling that pressure and wanting to perform and cement the GNR legacy. If they had fallen at this reunion I feel the negative reputation may outlive the true legacy of the songs.

So, Guns N’ Roses are back. They were everything you could have ever wanted them to be and they played their hearts out. The atmosphere created from the positivity of the crowd was precipitated by effort and performance. I think that legacy is safe (for now).

GnR Week – Guns N’ Roses Tour 2017 London Review

So, it happened. I went to a Guns N’ Roses gig. This was the whole reason I have been doing #GnRWeek, to build up some excitement for myself around the gig. I saw them live on Friday night. But let’s backtrack…

When I was 16 years old it was 1992 and Guns N’ Roses were touring the world as part of their Use Your Illusion tour. I was living in Glasgow and the nearest gig was going to be Newcastle (Gateshead to be precise). I was 15 years old when the gig was announced but I would be 16 years and 2 months when the gig in June 1992 would come out. There were a few of us at school that really wanted to go, but the best plan that we came up with was that one of us had a cousin who was 19 who said he would be happy to drive a minibus full of about 8 or 9 of us down to the gig and back. Sounded great to us. Didn’t sound so great to our parents. I was so heartbroken at not being allowed to go. As a parent now I totally get it, but back then I was devastated. Let’s just say I played the Illusion albums extremely loudly for those next few weeks. I would love to have seen Guns N’ Rose live in their prime and it’s a real shame that I wasn’t a year or two older when it happened. It’s always been a regret or a ‘What If’ in my mind.

Fast-forward now to when I heard about this reunion gig. I could not believe it. I never thought I’d see them get back together. I thought I’d missed my chance to see them live. Some people immediately said to me that it’s not the real, original Guns N’ Roses. Well, would they have classified the Use Your Illusion Tour lineup as the real Guns N’ Roses? It’s all semantics. Sure it would be great to have the original five members, but perhaps Steven isn’t quite the drummer he was (and would have to learn about 20 new songs) and I don’t think Izzy could hack a long world tour, so that’s never really going to happen long term. And this line up basically is the Use Your Illusion lineup apart from Matt Sorum on drums and Gilby Clarke on rhythm guitar, and in my opinion those are the least essential instruments to have an original member on for a live GnR gig. Plus the big personalities in the band are Axl, Slash and Duff, to be honest. And with Dizzy on keys you already have 4 of the Illusions lineup. That’s a pretty good number indeed. To be honest, anything with Axl and Slash on stage together is enough for me right there. Them getting along and playing side by side is all I wanted from a reunion, and I would call that Guns N’ Roses any day of the week.

I went to the gig a couple of nights ago on Friday, 16th June with my mate Dan, and it was amazing. Axl’s voice was spot on. Slash’s guitar was amazing. They started bang on time too. They played a mix of songs from Appetite, Illusion, Spaghetti and Chinese Democracy as well as a couple of other covers. They absolutely rocked the place and it was awesome. I really can’t say much more about it as I would just keep saying it was amazing. Loved it. Great night. I really hope they tour again or make more music, because I would love to see them again. Highlights for me included Welcome To The Jungle, Better, Estranged, Sweet Child, Patience, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door and Paradise City.

One thing that I found very strange was that the London Olympic Stadium wasn’t full. It was billed as being sol out but there were loads of empty seats. I would guess it was maybe 80% full. Perhaps a bit more. I kind of felt a bit bad for the band because I’ve seen that all their recent gigs were absolutely mobbed and then they come to London and it’s not full. I can only imagine that some people were staying away after the Manchester bombing. That’s my only explanation. I also had two spare tickets that I just couldn’t sell anywhere. I bought two tickets right when the tickets went on sale, as I grabbed the first two that were available as I thought they would sell out in minutes. But then a few minutes a saw two seats in a better location come back up for sale so I grabbed those too. Then it seemed to sell out. I assumed I would be able to sell them no problem. I even thought I might make a profit on them if I chose to go down that route, but I couldn’t even sell them at face value in the end. I tried every reselling site. In the end I had to sell the £100 tickets to a tout outside the ground for £20 each.

The one thing that I am really fascinated about is how Axl and Slash settled their differences. Who came up with the reunion idea. What brought them together. How did they resolve their issues? Were there money squabbles? They’ve basically not talked about their reunion at all to the media, as far as I’m aware. Perhaps after the tour ends they might open up about it. Maybe they were scared to discuss it in case something went wrong whilst on tour. I know I was really nervous that they might not survive 9 months on the road, before the London gig came around, without breaking up again or one of them having a major health issue. I’m very glad to see that they did and that they totally kicked ass. I really wonder what’s next then. Will they stay together? Will they write new material?

I really don’t know, but the one thing I know is that Guns N’ Roses are alive and well, ladies and gentleman. And they totally rocked.