1989.09.23 - Record Mirror - Shooting to Thrill (Slash)

AXL ROSE, the colourful vocalist for Guns N' Roses, is relaxing backstage an hour before the band is scheduled to kick off another concert on their lour. He's sprawled out on a table top outside the band's dressing room while two attractive and extremely underdressed young ladies eye his prone body with lustful looks.

"He's so cute," one fair-haired vixen whispers to her friend as they continue to ogle Rose's bod. "Yeah, and do you notice how he really fills out his pants?" the other sighs with a gleam in her eye.

With that, the pair burst into laughter and slowly stroll away in pursuit of more awake victims. But they can't resist a last little practical joke, and as they get about 40 feet from the snoozing Axl, one of them picks up a nearby garbage can lid and drops it as noisily as possible on the cement floor. While the racket seems enough to wake the dead, Rose continues to sleep like a baby.

"Hey, I'd like some of what he's on," one of the two remarks as they saunter off.

Axl needs his rest to keep up with the hectic lifestyle Gulls N' Roses have created for themselves. Perhaps he's also taking time to reflect on the heavy criticism he's received is the wake of his avowedly anti-gay statements. One thing you could never accuse Guns N' Loses of is lilly livered liberalism.

Since the release of their debut LP, 'Appetite For Destruction', the LA wildmen have emerged as one of the hardest working, hardest living, and now most successful, bands on the lace of the planet.

Their tales of excess with women and assorted liquid and powdered substances has already become part of rock folklore, and their hard-hitting songs, often touching on such subjects as cocaine and street life, have hit a responsive nerve within America's — and now the UK's metal masses. All in all, vocalist Rose, guitarists Slash and Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steven Adler, have a lot to look back on.

"It's been really good the way things have gone, " says Slash, who was born in Stoke-On-Trent before moving to LA as a boy, as he tunes up before the start of the show. "We didn't get into this just to become well-known. We heard all the talk about how we could be big, but we really didn't listen to any of that. We all grew up on the streets. That's where we feel home at home. What are we gonna do with a lot of money?"

Hitting the stage to the full-blast fury of 'It's So Easy', the band proceed to tear through a set that doesn't even give the capacity crowd a chance to catch their breath.

With Axl moving about the stage in his inimitable slinky style, the Guns present such hits as 'Night Train', 'Sweet Child 0' Mine' and 'Welcome to the Jungle' in rapid-fire order. Sweat pours as the band confirm their status as the new leaders of the heavy metal pack.

"Hey, we're loud, obnoxious guys, and that's the kind of music we really like," says Slash after the show, and it certainly seems that success hasn't taken any of the rough edges off the GN'R rock machine. But no matter how hard they've worked over the last few years, the Gunners hare still found plenty of lime to partake in their own bizarre form of rock hedonism.

OF COURSE, their lustful antics have caused more than their fair share of problems, with stories about inner-band turmoil and breakups filling the US music press last year. But if you confront these happy-go-lucky rockers about their reported problems, you're met with a wall of indifference.

"What's the big deal?" Axl asks in his raspy voice. "Yeah, we like to hang out with friends and party when we get the chance, but who doesn't? I don't think it's really anybody's business what goes on inside this band. If we give the fans the best show we can, and we give 'em everything we've got on the albums, then there's nothing more they should care about."

"We've had some things we've had to live through and overcome," adds Slash. "The stuff you've read about in the mags is basically true, but it's nothing that serious. We all have always gotten along pretty well, and when there's a problem we confront it. That's the only way to make sure it doesn't grow into something more serious."

Now, with their notoriety insured, the time for the band's next career move is at hand. It's not something they're rushing into. Last year, instead of following up the success of Appetite For Destruction' with another dose of raunchy, rockin' numbers, the band decided to but together a compilation EP, `The Drugs, The Sex, The Violence, The Shocking Truth' (Or G N' R — Lies' as it was abbreviated to in the UK) and capitalise on their slow-burn rise to access. Their increasing army of fans have had to be content with this and three year old UK singles like 'Sweet Child 0' Mine' and the current 'Patience', until they manage to finish their next LP.

"It's gonna be a cool album," Slash says. "We just like to keep people guessing about us - that's what makes Guns N' Roses tick."

I wonder which show the article is referring to.

Blackstar wrote:I wonder which show the article is referring to.

Yes, same here. I was thinking about if I should try to figure it out based on the songs they played, but starting with Easy was very common.

Record Mirror is a UK magazine, and this was out in September 1989. That alone means the show must have been in 1988 (since they didn't play any shows in 1989 before October), and going backwards from December 1988 looking for a show starting with Easy and then having Nightrain, Sweet Child and Welcome in order, doesn't provide any results to May. I could continue going backwards but I don't really see the purpose since I am not entirely sure I should trust the magazine and the song order, nor that it couldn't have been one of many shows from after May 1988 where we don't have the setlist. It is also a bit strange that they would report from a show that took place more than a year earlier.