GN'R Use Your Illusions Tour Diary - Where did it come from?

Guns N' Roses Tour Diary (May 24, 1991 - April 9, 1992)
Friday, MAY 24, 1991
OPENING NIGHT of the Use Your Illusion tour in East Troy, WI. The venue is Alpine Valley. Skid Row opens the show and does so throughout the year.
Saturday, MAY 25
SECOND SHOW at Alpine Valley in East Troy, WI.

Tuesday, JULY 2
GUNS PLAY their first of two gigs in St. Louis, MO, at the Riverport Performing Arts Center.

Tuesday, JULY 2
SECOND SHOW in St. Louis. In the middle of the show Axl spots someone in the crowd that’s taking pictures. He told the security to remove the person so he jumped into the crowd. When he got back on stage he complained about the security and left the stage. The others in the band followed him. After this a riot broke out. GN’R wanted to continue the show but were told not to. The band lost their equipment and Axl was charged for inciting a riot.
  Slash later about the incident: "We were backstage, watching cops on stretchers all bloody and shit, and it was like, "Fuck! How could this be happening?" I was so scared somebody was going to die. It was completely out of hand. This guy was shooting pictures the whole show. He'd been doing it, and probably having a good laugh. I saw Axl tell the security guard, 'Stop that fuckin' guy!' and the security's watching the band. So Axl went in, and that's when it started. We wanted to go on again. I know there's a certain amount of blame that can be put on us, because if you don't know us, you might say, 'Well, you could've done something to keep it together.' But from our point of view, it all happened so fast, we didn't know what the fuck was going on. The kids had a field day. I lost all my amps, my guitar tech got a bottle in the head, someone got knifed, our stage and video equipment and Axl's piano were trashed. I don't know. It was a fluke. It shouldn't have happened... but it did."

Saturday, AUGUST 3
THE LAST gig before heading for Europe for the first time of this leg. This concert was the longest Guns ever did.

Monday, AUGUST 12
GUNS N’ Roses and Skid Row arrives in Helsinki, Finland. Duff, Slash, Matt, Dizzy and Skid Row spends the night at the Tavastia club where the Black Crowes were performing.

Tuesday, AUGUST 13
THE FIRST of two shows at the Ice Stadium in Helsinki, Finland.

Wednesday, AUGUST 14
SECOND SHOW in Finland.

Friday, AUGUST 16
GUNS PLAY in the Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.

Saturday, AUGUST 17
SECOND SHOW in Stockholm. During their stay in Sweden, when Guns were at the club Daily News, a photographer from Expressen (Sweden’s at that time biggest newspaper (referred by Axl as "your version of the Enquirer") takes pictures of them without permission. Guns bodyguards tried to stop him but they failed and the picture came on Expressen’s first page the next day.

Sunday, AUGUST 19
THE SHOW goes fine until someone throws a fire-cracker up on stage during "Sweet Child O’ Mine". Axl then adressed the audience: "You wanna play games like that, we’ll go home, it’s not a problem". The song went on, but when Axl saw that the security didn’t do anything he stopped the show: "Stop, stop, stop... I didn’t come here for anyone in my band to get hurt or for any people in the crowd to get hurt, because somebody wants to be an asshole." Axl then talked to Izzy before he said: "In fact, we are gonna leave for a bit, until you find the guy". So they went off stage.
 After about 15 minutes they got back on stage and continued with "Sweet Child...".
 On the 21st should Guns have played at Spectrum in Oslo, Norway but it was cancelled.

Saturday, AUGUST 31
A SHOW at Wembley Stadium in London, England. This came to be Izzy's last concert with Guns N' Roses.

Before the tour resumed in December a lot of things happened... On September 17 Use Your Illusion I & II was released, Steven Adler launched a lawsuit against the band in October, on November 17 did Izzy Stradlin leave the band. There were only three weeks to find a replacer, but they made it and Gilby Clarke toured with them for the rest of the tour.

Friday, DECEMBER 6
THE TOUR resumes in Worcester, MA.

Tuesday, DECEMBER 31
NEW YEAR'S eve show at the Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida.

Friday, JANUARY 3, 1992
GUNS N' Roses opens 1992 with a show in Baton Rouge.

Saturday, FEBRUARY 1
A SHOW in Chandler, AZ at the Compton Terrace. This is the last gig before Guns are moving on to Japan.

Monday, FEBRUARY 17
THE BAND arrive in Narita, Japan. They are going to play three gigs here.

Monday, FEBRUARY 17
THE BAND arrive in Narita, Japan. They are going to play three gigs here.

Wednesday, FEBRUARY 19
GUNS KICK off their Japan gigs with 'Coma.' One of three live performances of the song!

Thursday, FEBRUARY 20
SECOND SHOW in Japan.

Saturday, FEBRUARY 22
THE THIRD Japanese show is being filmed for a home video release later during 1992.

Wednesday, APRIL 1 - Thursday, APRIL 2
TWO GIGS in Mexico.

Thursday, APRIL 9
A SHOW at the Rozemont Horizon in Chicago, IL. The next show was going to be held at Rosemont Horizon again, but a prosecutor issued a warrant for Axl's arrest in St. Louis in 1991. Two more shows had to be cancelled (Auburn Hills, MI, Palace on April 13 and 14).

Monday, APRIL 20
THE FREDDIE Mercury Tribute: Concert for AIDS Awareness is held in London, England at Wembley Stadium.
 Guns N' Roses performed Paradise City and Knockin' On Heaven's Door. They were originally going to perform three songs but there had been some technical problems earlier. Later that night Axl joined his heroes, Elton John and the remains of Queen, for an amazing duet version of "Bohemian Rhapsody". He also performed "We Will Rock You" with Queen. Slash played "Tie Your Mother Down" together with Queen and Joe Elliot. The show was shown live around the world via satellite, gathering the largest audience for a music concert in history. In the UK, the royalties from the "Knockin'..." single have been pledged to organizations fighting AIDS.

Guns N' Roses Tour Diary (May 14, 1992 - July 3, 1992)

Thursday, MAY 14, 1992
BAND ARRIVES in Dublin at 7.15pm on their private jet, having been delayed for five hours in Los Angeles because of radio problems on the plane. The crew has already been over for a week. Four stretch limos wait to ferry the band to the luxury Berkely Court Hotel. Despite secrecy surrounding the band's arrival, several fans, one journalist and a photographer are waiting for them. A smiling Axl Rose rewards them.
Friday, MAY 15
AXL'S SMILING, stubbled face makes the front page of the Irish Independent. Other newspapers and magazines, however, are more concerned whether the good Catholic girls of Ireland bare their breasts on the video screens at the concert - a trend at the band's recent American shows.
  While Axl starts his preparations for tomorrow's show, the rest of the band speed through the Irish countryside for a soundcheck at Slane Castle, 30 miles north of Dublin. Set in a natural amphitheater on a curve of the River Boyne, with the castle on a hill to the left of the stage, it's the most beautiful venue on the band's European schedule.
  The soundcheck lasts two hours until everyone is satisfied and then the inflatable "beast" is let out of his cage for the first time. Later that night Slash goes to check out the girls in their ball gowns en route for the Trinity Ball, the social highlight of the Dublin year.

Saturday, MAY 16
THE PRESS reports that 800 police - one tenth of Ireland's force - will be patrolling the Slane Castle site. But, apart from drunkenness and minor drug offenses, they have no problems. The little village of Slane (population 1,200) is totally sealed of to traffic as thousands of bandanna'd fans block the main (and only) street, drinking and dancing to ad hoc bands that seem to spring up out of nowhere.
  U2 send a crate of 40-year-old Irish whiskey and a barrel of Guinness for the band. A 24-seat Sikorsky helicopter brings the band to the site at 4pm, circling around it three times so that everyone can take pictures of the 50,000 crowd gathered below.  
  Local band My Little Funhouse, recently signed to Geffen Records, open the show followed by Faith No More. Matt, Duff and Slash go fishing by the river and have their photographs taken in front of the castle. While waiting for Guns N' Roses kids in the audience amuse themselves by building human pyramids with the top figure giving a quick "moon" before loosing his balance. Meanwhile, the police scour the crowd with binoculars, vainly searching for a bared breasts.
  Later on, Slash says how pleased he is to be in Dublin. "I can always tell a drinking town when the people in the bar get drunk before I do."

Sunday, MAY 17
THE PREVIOUS night's show makes three front pages in the newspapers. The Sunday World review is headlined "Burns And Roses" (with appropriate 'mooning' pictures).
  Slash later goes out to sample some traditional Irish hospitality at Howth Island and there's a mass trip to McDonalds to ward off the first signs of homesickness.

Tuesday, MAY 19
BAND FLY to Prague, Czechoslovakia, in the evening for the first of three shows. They have had to change their hotel after their original choice withdrew having discovered who the band was. Various band members venture forth to find one of the first symbols of Western decadence to reach Czechoslovakia - a strip club.
  At a production press conference with the local state promoter, the media is preoccupied with the ticket price, which at 280 crowns ($9) is one of the most expensive ever in Czechoslovakia.

Wednesday, MAY 20
TONIGHT'S SHOW is at the massive Strahov Stadium. 50,000 people turn up for the biggest rock concert in Czechoslovakia since the Rolling Stones played in 1990, just a moth after the country's return to democracy.
  There is a huge military police force present to guard the stadium. This is the first date with Soundgarden on the bill. An MTV crew, headed by Headbanger's Ball host/producer Vanessa Warwick, arrives to interview the band at the show in the afternoon.
  The band come on stage to the introduction, "Okay, you ex-commie bastards, get ready to rock!" The video screens and pyrotechnics are used for the first time and the inflatable beast is joined by its twin brother. The band is clearly pleased with the audience reaction. Slash says: "I guess you guys don't know much English so I'll just say fucking hi!"
  En route from the venue, Axl stops off to admire one of Prague's finest statues in the centre of town. The rest of the band goes out drinking.

Thursday, MAY 21
BAND MEMBERS and entourage go shopping and buy Russian army hats, military paraphernalia and puppets. Throughout the day, a shuttle service is run between the hotel and McDonalds, as the food at the hotel leaves a great deal to be desired.

Friday, MAY 22
THE SHOW at Budapest is at the Nep Stadium, but the band's plane is delayed leaving Prague for four hours by a bomb scare and arrives at Budapest just 20 minutes before scheduled showtime. The band is rushed straight from the tarmac to the stadium with a police escort, at 80 miles per hour, where 70,000 fans are waiting patiently.
  Axl greets the crowd by saying: "I'd like to congratulate you on your new-found freedom. I hope it goes well for you." Three songs into the set the band finds themselves having to compete with a tremendous thunderstorm as lightning flashes around the stadium and driving rain drenches both the the audience and the band. The crowd rip up the plywood they are standing on to construct makeshift umbrellas. Even after the rain ceases the band continues to get wet from the water pouring off the roof of the stadium.
  Midway through the set Axl announces: "This is a song that Freddie Mercury asked us to sing for you. He couldn't be here tonight, he had other plans, so we tried to learn it in the dressing room tonight." Axl and Slash then play the same Hungarian folk song 'Tavasziszel' that Queen performed in Budapest at their show in 1985. After two verses Axl lets the crowd take over for the third.

Saturday, MAY 23
BUSKING MUSICIANS playing outside their hotel wake the band. Tour manager John Reese is ordered to pay them off, which he does with $100 bills. Within minutes other aspiring musicians descend on the square in hopes of a similar pay-off.
  The band fly to Vienna for tonight's show before 70,000 at the Donau Insel stadium situated beside the river Danube. U2, who are due to play in the same venue the following night, are in attendance.
  Afterwards the band is presented with a Golden Penguin Award by magazine Rennbahn Express for the best band of 1991. Later on Axl and Bono, who have been in animated conversation after the concert for an hour, join U2's accountant Ossy Kilkenny for his birthday party at a Viennese restaurant, at which the birthday cake is presented by a naked Adam Clayton.

Sunday, MAY 24
THE BAND returns U2's compliments by going to their concert, which is at the same venue. Axl joins Bono on stage to sing an acoustic version of 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door', which they perform from a tiny circular stage at the end of a walkway-50 metres from the main stage, right in the middle of the crowd. He introduces Axl by saying: "This song could be written for him". Axl's appearance brings an ecstatic response from the audience.
  Later that night, Slash and Gilby find themselves in a very upmarket strip club, were the staff pressures them into buying a bottle of champagne, for which they are later charged $300.

Monday, MAY 25
GUNS N' Roses fly to Berlin.

Tuesday, MAY 26
SHOW BEFORE 40,000 at the Berlin Olympic Stadium, built by Hitler for the 1936 Olympics. In the first unpleasant incident of the tour a bottle is thrown on stage. Axl repeatedly calls the offender a "fucking asshole", but the rest of the show contributes without interruption. One woman goes into labour during the show and security and medical staff makes frantic efforts to find her and take her to the hospital.

Thursday, MAY 27
THE BAND fly from Berlin to Stuttgart for the biggest show of the tour do far - 75,000 people at the Cannstatter Wasen. It's also the biggest rock show Stuttgart has ever seen and the first time that this new site has ever been used for a rock concert.
  The show starts slightly later then scheduled after the band requests an NWA song to be played before the band come on stage. The CD has to be hurriedly ferried through the crowd to the mixing desk.
  The announcer introduces Guns N' Roses with the phrase: "OK you beer swilling, Merc driving mugs…", The band opens the set with 'It's So Easy'.

Saturday, MAY 29
THE BAND fly from Stuttgart to Cologne for another sell-out show in front of 70,000 people at the Mungerdorferstadion. Not even a couple of heavy showers can dampen the crowd's enthusiasm, which is the wildest yet. The band respond by playing two songs - 'Perfect Crime' and 'Rocket Queen' - for the first time on this European tour and 'So Fine' which has only been performed once before. The band's entrance on stage is proceeded by Sid Vicious' version of 'My Way'.
  Axl, whose beard is looking more messianic by the day, describes the crowd as "The biggest wet T-shirt contest in the world", to which Gilby responds: "It's a sea of tits". Axl later reminds the crowd: "This is live, not Memorex".
  Midway through 'Patience' he stops the show, shouting: "Stop, stop, let's get this son a bitch over" and the band replays the song. Unencumbered by an early curfew, the band play for two hours, 42 minutes, with two encores, making this their longest show yet.

Wednesday, JUNE 3
AFTER THREE days off in Cologne, during which the band spent time shopping, fishing and gambling, they fly to Hannover for a show at the Niedersachsen Stadium with another 60,000 crowd. As this was the only concert in Northern Germany, fans have come from all over the region - including many thousands from Hamburg, two hours drive away - clogging the main roads into Hannover. Members of Germany's leading rock band, The Scorpions, also show up at the gig. Slash's girlfriend, Renee, flies in from Los Angeles to join him.

Thursday, JUNE 4
DURING THE early afternoon, band members and some of their entourage play American football on a small patch of grass outside the hotel. Later, the oppressive humidity is broken by another ferocious thunderstorm as the party waits impatiently at the Hannover Airport Holiday Inn to leave for Paris - Axl's favourite city.
  Having checked into the luxurious Hotel De Crillon, overlooking the Place de la Concorde, the band meet up with Jeff Beck, Lenny Kravitz, plus Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith. All of whom have flown in specially for the Paris show, which is to be televised live around the world on Saturday evening. Already, TV and radio networks, who are carrying the show in the US and across Europe, are well installed on site, with satellite uplinks, commentary booths and miles of cable - creating a 'media city' backstage, which is bigger then the band's own compound.

Friday, JUNE 5
SOUNDCHECK AND rehearsal during the afternoon at the Hippodrome in the Bois de Vincennes for tomorrow's show. The band are joined by Lenny Kravitz, who plays 'Always On The Run' (a song that Slash wrote the guitar parts for), Jeff Beck for an instrumental version of 'Locomotive.' And then Beck, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry for a brainstorming version of the Yardbirds 'Train Kept A-Rollin'', which leaves the stage crew in awe.
  That evening the band's backline is transported to the Elysee Montmartre club where the band continue rehearsing with Kravitz, Tyler and Perry behind closed doors for two hours.

Saturday, JUNE 6
THE BIG day gets off to a bad start when Jeff Beck is woken at 4pm with a piercing pain in his right ear, which recognizes as a recurrence of tinnitus. After Jeff and Slash talk it over, it is decided not to risk permanent damage to Jeff's hearing. Slash says: "Just playing together during rehearsals and bullshitting together off stage was fucking great. I can't see risking your hearing for the sake of a show. He's meant too much to me and rock 'n' roll in general. It was an honor to be on the same stage as him."
  As Jeff returns to London to consult an ear specialist, the band and remaining guest artists make their way to the Vincennes Hippodrome, where 58,000 - including French rock personalities Johnny Halliday, Jean-Michel Jarre and Eddie Mitchell, plus leading French ballet dancer Patrick Dupond and top French actor Patrick Bruel - are in place as the show kicks off to a welcoming: "Oui, Oui Motherfuckers!". The band power through 'It's So Easy', 'Mr. Brownstone', 'Live And Let Die', 'Attitude' and 'Bad Obsession' before introducing Lenny Kravitz, whose 'Always On The Run' stirs up the crowd still further.
  'Double Talkin' Jive' is "dedicated" to movie actor Warren Beatty by Axl, who is wearing a T-shirt that says 'Nobody Knows I'm A Lesbian'.
  The band return for the encores with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry and play the classic Aerosmith hit 'Mama Kin' and 'Train Kept A-Rollin'', before Guns N' Roses close the two-and-a-half hour show themselves with 'Don't Cry' and 'Paradise City'.

Sunday, JUNE 7
AFTER A day spent recuperating and sightseeing, band and entourage dines out at the River Café - a floating restaurant on the River Seine - to celebrate band manager Doug Gouldstein and Jenny's second wedding anniversary. During the day hundreds of fans have gathered outside the Hotel de Crillon and a decoy limousine is parked at the front entrance while the band make good their escape unnoticed from a side entrance. The band's security team then leave in the limo and shake off pursuing cars in a high speed chase around the streets of Paris.

Monday, JUNE 8
THE BAND go shopping and sightseeing in Paris. Axl goes to the Louvre to see his favorite statue, The Winged Victory, after which he takes a boat trip on the Seine. However, he has not been sleeping and by late Monday is in a state of complete physical exhaustion.
  Doctors recommend that Axl takes 36 hours rest, so the band postpone the Manchester Maine Road show, scheduled for Tuesday June 9 until the following Sunday. The band request that the production catering, as it's now not needed for the Manchester load-in be given to a local hospice.

Tuesday, JUNE 9
MAINE ROAD ticket holders are promised a full rebate if they are unable to make the new date. However, most hold onto their tickets for the Sunday show.
  While Axl remains in Paris to recuperate, the rest of the band flies to London.

Wednesday, JUNE 10 - Friday, JUNE 12
DURING THEIR three days off, the band and crew stop, dine out and meet old friends. On Thursday, Axl flies in from Paris and later that day makes a brief shopping expedition to Europe's leading toyshop, Hamleys. That same day, a softball game is organized at the Bank of England sports ground, which all band members (except Axl) and the crew takes part in.
  On Friday night the band's UK booking agent John Jackson organizes a five-hour go-karting championship for the band and entourage, at a specially designed indoor track in West London.

Saturday, JUNE 13
72,000 PEOPLE pack into London's Wembley Stadium for what is generally regarded by the band, critics and fans alike as the 'hottest' show of the tour so far.
  During the show, Axl, in fine form, has one trouble-making fan removed and later stops the performance so that security can help a young girl, who he spots in distress at the front of the crowd.
  For the first encore, the band spring a surprise on the now-ecstatic crowd when they are joined on stage by legendary Queen guitarist Brian May for 'Tie Your Mother Down' and 'We Will Rock You'. The band ends their longest European show yet with 'Don't Cry' and 'Paradise City'.

Sunday, JUNE 14
BAND FLY to Manchester for the rescheduled date before 30,000 fans. The band are almost two hours late on stage after arriving behind schedule then having to wait while lighting difficulties were overcome.
  After the show, while the crew completes a hyper-quick load-out and transport the gear to Gateshead, the band flies back to London.

Monday, JUNE15
DUFF AND Gilby go to the Townhouse recording studio in Shepherd's Bush to work on a track for Duff's solo project. Later, Axl and Dizzy work on another song at a different studio.

Tuesday, JUNE 16
BAND FLY from Luton airport to Newcastle for the show at Gateshead International Stadium before 25,000. It's considered a storming show with just one awkward moment - when Duff had a verbal altercation with one excitable fan. But after Axl's words of warning - "I wouldn't mess with him: he's not had a drink in two weeks!" - the fan piped down.
  GN'R fly back to London after the show to continue their stay at Chelsea harbor's exclusive Conrad Hotel, where fellow guests include Prince and INXS.

Wednesday, JUNE 17
DUFF AND his girlfriend Linda fly to St. Tropez in the south of France for a few days. Slash stocks up on Dr. Marten boots and visits London Zoo. Gilby and Matt go to Kensington Market.

Thursday, JUNE 18
DIZZY'S BIRTHDAY. He celebrates in the evening by having his first taste ever of Indian food at the Bombay Brasserie, with Matt. Later he joins pop-band Deee-Lite at their party in the Zatopce club, south London.

Friday, JUNE 19
KEYBOARD PLAYER Ted Andreadis' birthday. Late afternoon, the band flies to Frankfurt. But Axl is pulled over by a security guard at Heathrow Airport: the second time staff there had singled him out by harassment, following GN'R's visit to London for the Freddie Mercury Tribute.
  Following this latest incident, Axl issued a press statement in which he said: "Having just given what I consider to be the best performance I am capable of at this point in my career, I totally understand why someone in the UK would want to needlessly harass me in this way."
  "I don't expect to be treated any differently from anyone else traveling in and out of Britain and I understand these people have a job to do. However, to be singled out by someone who just wants to score a few points and have a story to tell his friends over a beer is really out of order."

Saturday, JUNE 20
TONIGHT'S SHOW is a two-hour drive from Frankfurt, at an airfield on top of a hill in Wirzburg. As GN'R approach the venue, the weather breaks and one of the worst storms in recent years hits the site. For a while, the local airport is forced to close and the autobahns in the surrounding area grind to a halt.
  45,000 fans witness an astonishing show during which the lightning cannot be distinguished from the onstage pyrotechnics. Within minutes both the fans and the band are soaked to the skin and, for a while, the steam rising from those packed at the front prevents those further back from even seeing the stage. No one can believe that Guns will complete a full set, but two-and-a-half hours later, they've done just that.

Sunday, JUNE 21
THE BAND leaves Frankfurt and fly to Basle in Switzerland for another sold-out show at the 50.000 capacity St Jakob Stadium. Hurrying to the venue through the rush-hour traffic, the band is given a police escort from the airport to the venue. Media and fan response is ecstatic, one DJ proclaiming the show to have been "the most wonderful performance a band had ever given in Basle".
  Whilst some band members venture out sample the local bars, Duff - starting to feel the effects of playing in the torrential downpour in Wurzburg - retires early to bed, with a temperature and signs of flu.

Monday, JUNE 22
BEING IN Switzerland, Axl goes out and buy watches as surprise gifts fro many of the entourage and management - who in the meantime have also stocked up on Swiss watches.
  Duff's condition worsens and so he spends most of the day in bed hoping to recover for the next day's gig in Rotterdam. As evening draws in, Axl is also found to be suffering from a sore throat.

Tuesday, JUNE 23
THE JOURNEY to Rotterdam is delayed whilst Axl and Duff receive medical treatment to ensure they get through the show. Axl is given further medication by a doctor who is waiting for him at Rotterdam airport. The band finally goes on stage at 10pm, two hours after Faith No More have completed their encore. There is an 11pm curfew at the Feijenoord Stadium and as that time approaches, the local authorities tell the GN'R management that power will be cut at 11.30. Axl is made aware of the moves and, concerned that the fans will be deprived of a full set, announces to the crowd: "You have a right to a complete show. You paid for it… If they cut the power, be my guests, do what you want." After much discussion backstage, the police decide to let the band play on until well after midnight and any trouble is avoided.
  Duff, however, arrives at the night's hotel feeling considerably worse and on medical advice is forced to spend two days resting. Consequently, the following night's show in Belgium has to be canceled.

Wednesday, JUNE 24
FLY TO MILAN, where the entourage is forced to split into two hotels as no one has enough rooms to hold all of them. Whilst Duff stays in his room, the Italian promoter takes everyone else out to one of the city's finest pasta restaurants.

Thursday, JUNE 25
SLASH, GILBY and Ted Andreadis take a small private jet to Munich where they meet Michael Jackson to film the video for his next single, 'Give In To Me'. Shot in a small club, before an invited audience of both Jacko and GN'R fans, filming continues until the early hours of the morning.

Friday, JUNE 26
AXL VISITS the showrooms of top Italian designers Gianni Versace and Armani. In the evening he dines with Versace's sister, Donatella, and her top model husband, Paul Beck. Also at the table are supermodel Naomi Campbell and Axl's girlfriend Stephanie Seymour.

Saturday, JUNE 27
AFTER AN hour-and-a-half drive to Turin, and theme to the movie 'The Good, The Bad And The Ugly' serving as their intro, GN'R take to the Della Alpi stadium to see 65,000 faces looking back at them. With his girlfriend Stephanie watching from the wings, Axl gives the performance of a lifetime. The crowd responds ecstatically, prompting Axl to comment… "They didn't warn me that the Italians were so hot. Now I know!"
  After the show, GN'R and entourage board a 40-seater coach for a four hour drive to San Remo, their base for the next couple of days.

Sunday, JUNE 28
TO CELEBRATE Duff and Linda's engagement, the band rent a 180-foot luxury motor cruiser, called Maxime's, for a party cruise along the Italian coastline. The day is spent swimming, snorkeling, water-skiing, fishing and attempting to master the jet skis. In the evening, the crew lay on a celebratory dinner and make a special cake, iced with the Guns N' Roses logo. Members of the party take advantage of the grand piano on the lower deck, to jam on into the night.

Monday, JUNE 29
STILL ON the cruiser, members of the band wake themselves up by high-diving 60 feet off the top deck into the Mediterranean - whilst Gilby finally manages to get up on the water-skis. Late afternoon, the cruiser returns to San Remo.

Tuesday, JUNE 30
LEAVING THE Italian coast, the band drive two hours to Genova from where they fly to Seville in Spain. The evening's gig has no curfew to obey so the band delay their start until darkness so that the lightshow can be seen in full and finish the set in the early hours of the morning.

Wednesday, JULY 1
SOME MEMBERS take a special private guided tour of the World Exposition site, others go shopping, whilst Slash makes an excursion to a derelict building inhabited by a small herd of sheep and goats for a photo session.
  In the early evening, news reaches the management that the authorities have closed the 55,000 capacity Vicente Caldaron stadium in Madrid where GN'R were to play the last date of the tour on Saturday July 4 because the concrete fabric of the building has been badly affected by aluminosis. A search for an alternative venue begins immediately…

Thursday, JULY 2 - Friday, JULY 3
THE GN'R crewmembers, who had already begun to work at the Vicente Caldaron stadium, are on permanent standby to build a new stage at a different venue, should one be found. Unfortunately, at such short notice, this proves impossible and the gig cannot be rescheduled. In a statement issued Friday, Axl said: "We were looking forward to this last date in Europe, as we love the Spanish audiences and were planning on a wild night to end the tour. We hope that we will be able to return soon and make it up to our fans."

After the disappointing cancellation of the last date in Europe, GN'R returned to the USA to begin their much anticipated co-headline tour with Metallica. Together they were scheduled to play 25 dates, beginning July 17, 1992 at the RFK Stadium in Washington DC. With Guns going on last each night, Faith No More opened the majority of the early shows…

Guns N' Roses Tour Diary (July 17, 1992 - October 6, 1992)

After the disappointing cancellation of the last date in Europe, GN'R returned to the USA to begin their much anticipated co-headline tour with Metallica. Together they were scheduled to play 25 dates, beginning July 17, 1992 at the RFK Stadium in Washington DC. With Guns going on last each night, Faith No More opened the majority of the early shows…

Wednesday, JULY 29
MIDWAY THROUGH the show at Giants Stadium in Rutherford, New Jersey Axl encounters severe pain in his throat but continues to (almost) finish the show. 'Almost', because during the last song, 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door', he is hit in the genitals by a cigarette lighter thrown from the audience with considerable force. Whilst the singer returned backstage to regain his breath, Duff McKagan took over on lead vocals. Axl later quipped: "I got hit in the dick with a Bic!"

Thursday, JULY 30
IN NEW York, Axl Rose is diagnosed having sustained severe damage to his vocal chords, so the tour is temporarily interrupted. Three shows - Foxboro Stadium in Boston, MA (July 31), Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, SC (August 2) and the Metrodome in Minneapolis, MN (August 5) - will be rescheduled in September. Axl is ordered to not use his voice for a week. "My vocal chords have turned to hamburger," he croaked.

Saturday, AUGUST 8
TOUR RESUMES at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Canada. Before Metallica's set, singer/guitarist James Hetfield is warned about some new pyro cues. He stands clear of these but he takes up a position where the old ones detonated, not understanding that these were still in operation. His left arm is badly burnt and Metallica have to stop their show.
  During Guns N' Roses' set, Axl leaves the stage after being hit by a missile thrown from the crowd. He leaves the stage temporarily, but before he and the band return, a riot breaks out.

Tuesday, AUGUST 25
WITH HETFIELD recovered from the burns he sustained on August 8, the tour resumes at the International Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona. Axl has overcome his vocal chord and arytenoid inflammation problems and has been fit to perform for more then a week, but GN'R has waited for their co-headliner's singer to be ready too. Seven gigs needed to be rescheduled as a result of Hetfield's injuries and rescheduling them proved tricky as they were outdoor venues also busy with sporting events. Guns have spent much of the downtime at home in LA shooting a couple of music videos.

Monday, SEPTEMBER 7
RESCHEDULED WILLIAMS-Brice Stadium show in Columbia, SC.

Friday, SEPTEMBER 11
RESCHEDULED FOXBORO Stadium show in Boston, MA.

Tuesday, SEPTEMBER 15
RESCHEDULED METRODOME show in Minneapolis, MN.

Monday, SEPTEMBER 21
HAVING BEEN on the road with GN'R since May of 1992, Faith No More leave the tour to fulfill prior headline touring commitments. Following their tour-debut at shows in Kansas City (before a crowd of 40,000) and Denver (48,000) last week, Body Count are announced to be taking over the slot for two of the remaining five shows. Motörhead are also added to the bill for three gigs.

Thursday, SEPTEMBER 24
SHOW AT Oakland Stadium in Oakland, California - with Body Count.

Sunday, SEPTEMBER 27
SHOW AT Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, CA - with Body Count.

Wednesday, SEPTEMBER 30
SHOW AT The Coliseum in Los Angeles - with Motörhead.

Saturday, OCTOBER 3
SHOW AT the Rosebowl in Pasadena, California - with Motörhead.

Tuesday, OCTOBER 6
SHOW AT the Kingdome in Seattle, WA - with Motörhead.

Following the conclusion of the dates with Metallica, Guns N' Roses rested, then flew to Venezuela for the start of a nine date South American tour. The schedule ran as follows…

Guns N' Roses Tour Diary (November 25, 1992 - December 13, 1992)

Following the conclusion of the dates with Metallica, Guns N' Roses rested, then flew to Venezuela for the start of a nine date South American tour. The Schedule ran as follows…

Wednesday, NOVEMBER 25
POLIEDRO, CARACAS, Venezuela. In the absence of a suitable venue, the show is played outside one (!) in a parking lot in front of 45,000. The biggest show ever staged in Venezuela.

Thursday, NOVEMBER 26
THE 80-PERSON party leaves Venezuela in the evening - just hours before the country was thrown into turmoil by an air-based military coup. In the ensuing chaos, only one of the band's cargo planes is able to take off, leaving over half of their equipment and several crew members stranded.

Friday, NOVEMBER 27
GN'R ARRIVE in Colombia for two scheduled shows at El Campin Stadium in Bogota. But without so much equipment, these shows are immediately in jeopardy. After touchdown in the early hours of the morning they research ways to either bring in new equipment from North America, or get their incarcerated cargo released from Venezuela. Neither is possible in time to set up for Saturday's show, so Saturday tickets are made valid for Sunday and the two gigs are rolled into one. GN'R originally offered to reschedule and play a second show on Monday, but local promoters believed that those who had travelled long distances would not be able to stay an extra two days.

Saturday, NOVEMBER 28
WITH MANY fans already camping outside the 60,000 capacity stadium, the wait for gear to arrive from Venezuela ended around 7pm when the first shipment was delivered. As the crew battled to complete the load-in time for the following night's show, a torrential downpour slowed their progress. At 10.15pm, the six tonne stage roof, complete with a lighting rig, crashed to the ground. Hearing the steel buckle, the stagehands had fled and none was hurt. An inspection revealed that the locally supplied structure had been unable to support the additional weight of the rainwater gathered on the roof.
  With no time to build another roof, the set was redesigned so that all lights the fall was repositioned on the stage's side walls, with the band having to perform under the sky and exposed to the elements…

Sunday, NOVEMBER 29
THE MASSING crowds were let in early to avoid clashes with the armed police. At lunchtime, a cloudburst damaged more equipment despite the crew's efforts to protect it. As the day went on, tickets were still on sale. The Columbian promoters had been unable to give the band either accurate ticket sales for either of the originally planned gig, or of returns from the canceled Saturday show. As a result, by 10pm, the stadium was full - with hundreds of ticket holders locked out.
  As the police attempted to disperse the disappointed fans, scuffles broke out, a few people were injured, and some nearby cars and property were damaged before order was restored by the use of tear-gas. Against this background, and with only two-thirds of the sound system operational, GN'R took the stage at 10.30pm with 'Welcome To The Jungle'. 90 minutes later, Axl's ballad 'November Rain' ironically heralded another cloudburst. With no roof to protect the stage, it and the equipment was beneath half-an-inch of water within minutes.
  The band completed the song but Axl pulled a translator on stage to tell the crowd that they would need to take a short brake to dry and make safe all the electrical equipment. 15 minutes later, still in pouring rain, Guns were back on the waterlogged stage finishing the set with 'Don't Cry' and 'Paradise City'. The audience, whose enthusiasm remained undampened by the weather throughout, bid them an ecstatic farewell as the band dashed drenched - and relieved - to the waiting vans…

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2
SELL-OUT SHOW at the 55,000 capacity National Football Stadium in Santiago, Chile.

Thursday, DECEMBER 3
CHILEAN MEDIA reports that Axl was drunk prior to last night's show, and that drugs were discovered in the band's hotel rooms, were categorically denied by the band's manager, Doug Goldstein, and the manager of the Sheraton San Cristobal hotel.
  Goldstein stressed that Axl never drinks before a show and had spent December 2 doing a rigorous physical workout and undertaking intensive voice warm-up exercises. He admitted that representatives of the Chilean Department of Investigation had visited the hotel during the early hours of December 3 and searched some of the GN'R party's rooms - but nothing at all was found. The band spent the rest of the day relaxing by the hotel pool before leaving for a flight to Argentina.

Friday, DECEMBER 4
THE BAND arrives in Argentina. They go to their hotel, Park Hyatt Hotel, where they play a little at the hotel piano. Later Slash, Duff, John Reese, Doug Goldstein and the Argentinian promoter Daniel Grinbak held a press conference. Axl later joined them.

Saturday, DECEMBER 5 - Sunday, DECEMBER 6
TWO NIGHTS at river Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Thursday, DECEMBER 10
FIRST OF two nights at Anhembi in Sao Paulo, Brazil, played despite torrential rain.

Friday, DECEMBER 11
SECOND SCHEDULED show at Anhembi has to be postponed 24 hours owing to the continuos heavy rain flooding both the site itself and access to the venue. In a press statement Axl apologized: "We hope that everyone who was planning to come to the show tonight can make it tomorrow. As we proved, both here and in Bogota recently… none of us are afraid to get wet!" But in this instance, the promoters and local authorities insisted that the conditions would be far too risky for the fans.

Sunday, DECEMBER 13
LAST SHOW at Autodromo in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After it, the band takes a month's break before the next leg of the tour…

Guns N' Roses Tour Diary (January 9, 1993 - February 7, 1993)

Saturday, JANUARY 9, 1993 - Monday, JANUARY 11
LEAVING LA at around 10.30pm, the band and their 80-person entourage set off for Tokyo on a chartered MGM Grand Air jet. After just one brief refuelling stop in Seattle, the plane finally touches down at Narita Airport on the morning of January 11.
  Most of the band members spent the day resting at the Tokyo Hilton before embarking on interviews with the Japanese media.
Tuesday, JANUARY 12
IN PREPARATION for the first of three dates at the Tokyo Dome, the band arrives at around 2pm for a soundcheck.
  Before going on stage, Matt, Gilby and Dizzy meet with the local record company staff, who presents each of them with a platinum disc.
  At around 6.40pm, the band kicks off their performance with 'Welcome To The Jungle'. At the close of the 18-song set, Axl Rose jumps down into the crowd to hand out individually wrapped red roses.
  The band leaves at around 10pm, meeting up later at the Lexington Queen nightclub.

Thursday, JANUARY 14
THE BAND goes shopping in Kiddyland and Toy Park.
  Second Tokyo show starts just before 7.30pm with 'Nightrain'. VIP guests include wrestlers Dr Death and Bam Bam Gordy. Axl dedicates 'Yesterdays' to his brother, and makes band biographer Del James to do somersaults in the pit for the benefit of the crowd! After the show, the band joins Ronnie Wood at his after-show party.

Friday, JANUARY 15
FINAL SHOW in Japan. Halfway through the 19-song set, the Japanese crew backstage is seen watching a live news report of an earthquake that causes the lights on stage to rock! During an extended version of 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door', Ronnie Wood joins the band on stage.
  After the show, the band returns to the hotel where they stay up until 5.15am to catch a flight to Australia.

Saturday, JANUARY 30
THE BAND leaves by helicopter for the Eastern Creek Raceway outside Sydney. A meet 'n' greet has been arranged for 15 handicapped fans. One gives the band a hand-painted wooden splaque.
  The show is delayed for 30 minutes by a faulty power generator. Two-and-a-half hours later, the band returns to Sydney by helicopter. It has been the largest musical event ever staged in Australia.

Sunday, JANUARY 31
THE BAND fly on to Melbourne. Slash, Duff, Dizzy and Gilby spend the evening at a local Rock club, were Rose Tattoo are headlining.

Monday, FEBRUARY 1
THE WHOLE entourage watches the US Superbowl on TV, with minimum bets of $10 riding on the outcome. In the afternoon a storm threatens the stage at the Calder Park Raceway stadium. The show goes ahead in torrential rain and, despite the weather breaks national attendance records.

Tuesday, FEBRUARY 2
DUFF AND Dizzy visit a spinal injuries hospital on the outskirts of Melbourne. They have been invited by sister of Kenny Maroney, who was involved in a near-fatal car accident at the end of '91. They stay for two hours. On the way home they stop for a McDonalds.

Wednesday, FEBRUARY 3
THE PARTY leaves Melbourne to fly to New Zealand. With the time difference, the band arrive at 5am and are just in time for last orders at the hotel bar!

Friday, FEBRUARY 5
DUFF'S BIRTHDAY. There was a party last night in a restaurant overlooking Auckland harbor for Duff, Axl and Del James as all their birthdays fall over the next few days. In the afternoon, Slash visits a dinosaur exhibition. In the evening he dines at a sushi restaurant Fukouka (because he loved the name!) before he and the other members go go-karting until 2.30am.

Saturday, FEBRUARY 6
AXL'S BIRTHDAY. It is also the final show on this leg of the tour, at the Mount Smart Stadium. 45,000 people are packed into the venue to see the three-act bill - which opens with a local band - Dead Flowers. The crew stop the Guns N' Roses show at the end of 'November Rain' to bring a massive birthday cake on stage for Axl. Everybody sings 'Happy Birthday'.
  After the show the band assembles back at the hotel for celebratory drinks.

Sunday, FEBRUARY 7
IN THE early evening, after a day of shopping and packing, the crew, band and entourage leave Auckland for their journey back to Los Angeles. With the time zones, they arrive three hours before they left New Zealand!

Guns N' Roses Tour Diary (February 23, 1993 - April 29, 1993)

Tuesday, FEBRUARY 23
THE 'SKIN And Bones' leg of the 'Use Your Illusion' world tour kicks off at the 17,000-seater Frank Erwin Centre in Austin, Texas. It sees the Gunners back down to their core of six members, and features an acoustic section in the middle of the set. This tour is expected to run for 26 dates in the US.
Friday, FEBRUARY 26 - Thursday, MARCH 4
DESPITE THE first two dates of the stripped-down tour passing without a hitch, the next four in Ohio, North Carolina, New York and Rhode Island have to be canceled owing to adverse weather conditions. They are rescheduled for mid-April and early May. The rest of the tour takes place without incident. Almost…

Monday, APRIL 12
AXL VISITS a basketball game with the Detroit Pistons. Several cops sits with him to assure his safety.

Tuesday, APRIL 13
GUNS PLAYS at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit, MI. They come on stage in time and they were all in a good mode. Axl talks about the cops of Michigan being nice to him and the band.

Thursday, APRIL 15
GUNS ARE forced to cancel their show at the 17,000-seater Omni in Atlanta. During the band's last appearance there in '87, Axl had been arrested for a scuffle with a security guy who'd been spotted beating up the band's friends in the audience. With Axl on parole for previous offenses and the refusal of the mayor's office to show goodwill, manager Doug Goldstein pulls the show.
  "I'm not willing to be a sitting duck for the police" claims Axl. "I'm familiar with that experience."

Thursday, APRIL 29
GILBY CLARKE breaks his left wrist in a motorcycling accident, while practicing for a celebrity race in honor of the TJ Martell Foundation for leukemia, cancer and AIDS research.
  Clarke is taken to hospital and is diagnosed as having no nerve or muscle damage. The next four shows have to be canceled, all of which are rescheduled from the East Coast leg of the tour.
  The forthcoming European shows, set to kick off on May 22, are initially put in jeopardy, but in a bizarre twist of fate, Axl calls ex-Gunner Izzy Stradlin' - now Stradlin without an apostrophe! - who steps in for the first five shows.
  "Izzy and I grew up together and we're like a family in a lot of ways - including having our differences," comments Axl.

Guns N' Roses Tour Diary (May 22, 1993 - July 13, 1993)

Saturday, MAY 22
SUFFERING FROM jet lag after the flight from LA to Tel Aviv, the band spends a couple of hours around the hotel pool. Journalists go through the garbage outside the restaurant in which Matt ate lunch!
The show is the biggest music event ever held in Israel. At 9pm, Guns N' Roses hit the stage for the first show of the European leg of their 'Get In The Ring Motherfucker - Round II' tour. In the middle of the 19-song set, the band breaks into a rousing rendition of 'Hava Nagila'. Axl wears a 'Guns N' Moses' T-shirt!
After the show, the local record company introduces the 14-year-old son of Israel's most famous male solo artist to the band. The boy faints!
Monday, MAY 24
TODAY MARKS the second anniversary of Guns N' Roses 'Use Your Illusion' world tour, and the band have arrived in Greece.
Halfway through that night's show, in Athen's Olympic Stadium, one of the security team spots an unauthorized film crew positioned in the stands. Throwing them out of the venue, the security team erases the crew's tape.
Whilst Slash remains in the hotel bar, the rest of the band hit the Mercedes Club, with a selection of the world's top models, including Claudia Schiffer.

Wednesday, MAY 26
THE BAND leaves Athens at 10am to fly to Turkey. They are flown to the stadium in a private Lear jet. After three songs, Axl stops the show and says: "If you don't stop throwing lit sparklers at each other, someone will get hurt and the band will be forced to leave the stadium."
Backstage, Matt barters with a local shop owner who has brought a selection of his finest rugs to the stadium! After demonstrating that it is impossible to burn a Turkish rug with a cigarette, the two agree on a price and the rug is shipped back to LA.
The band flies overnight to Stansted.

Saturday, MAY 29
RAIN CLOUDS grow heavier and heavier. Before long, the National Bowl, Milton Keynes is like a mud bath. After a relaxing morning, the band leaves London in a fleet of small helicopters.
They open their show with 'Nightrain'. By the end, couples are reported to be making love in the undergrowth at the top of the Bowl. After an encore of 'Paradise City', Axl throws two dozen red roses into the audience.
Back at the Conrad Hotel, Matt returns to the tattoo artist to add color to the Celtic rose he had designed a couple of days earlier.

Sunday, MAY 30
INJURED RHYTHM guitarist Gilby Clarke and his wife Daniella arrive from LA on a commercial British Airways flight. The whole band leaves London by helicopter for the second sell-out show at Milton Keynes.
With members of his family in the audience, UK-born Slash launches into a guitar solo to celebrate!
Ron Wood and Mike Monroe join the band on stage. Dizzy later plays Ronnie a couple of new tracks that he has just written and recorded.

Wednesday, JUNE 2
TONIGHT'S SHOW in Vienna is Gilby's first since he broke his wrist in the motocross accident. He has flown out a hand specialist from the States to help him with his recovery. Before, during and after the show, he packs his arm with ice to help reduce the swelling.
The band is presented with a 'Golden Giraffe' trophy from the Hungarian record licensee! The cast of 'The Three Musketeers' (the latest film version) arrive backstage, including Rebecca DeMornay and Chris O'Donnel.

Saturday, JUNE 5
MATT'S NEW wife, Kai, arrives in Amsterdam from LA. A Gilby swaps place with the host of Holland's music TV show, 'Countdown', and takes half-an-hour out to interview groups of fans backstage. With a strict 10.30 curfew and the threat of the steepest fines on whole leg of the tour for over-running, the band start their show in daylight at around 8.15pm.
At midnight, the band meets back at the hotel and hit the streets in search of a live sex show. The band and their wives watch several different performances, including one with a lit cigar!

Sunday, JUNE 6
THE SECOND show in Nijmegen is as crowded as the first. Matt arrives in a limo and joins his former band and current support act The Cult on stage for their last number. The rest of the band arrives by helicopter.
To date, Amsterdam is one of the only cities where the band has been able to walk freely in the streets without being hassled by either fans or photographers.

Tuesday, JUNE 8
THE BAND takes a short flight to Copenhagen. With one of the band's favorite pinball machine perched at the end of stage-left runway, Axl interrupts the opening song for a few quick flicks of the ball. Halfway through the show, members of the entourage is found watching the nightly news on a small, hand-held TV set - on which images of the show are being broadcast from a zeppelin flying overhead.
Dizzy spends until 9am the following morning playing pool at new friend's bar, after which he takes the owner and his pregnant wife out for breakfast.

Wednesday, JUNE 9
EARLY EVENING sees the band flies to Norway. On the band's day off, the jet is crisscrossing Europe ferrying U2 or Bruce Springsteen to their respective shows.

Thursday, JUNE 10
ANOTHER SELL-OUT show, at Oslo's Hoying Stadium. That afternoon, Duff pays a visit to a local dentist, where they remove a back tooth which has been giving him problems for some time. The bassist as a trophy keeps the tooth.
In honor of the nation's heritage, all of the crew don plastic Viking helmets for the show - much to the amusement of the band and crowd.
Before the show, the band is presented with Platinum discs. So far, they have sold 300,000 records in Norway - no mean feat in a country whose population is only a little over 10 times that size!

Friday, JUNE 11
THE LOCAL mayor calls Matt to invite him and his wife Kai to visit his ancestral hometown of Sorum. On arrival the party are greeted by a mass of photographers and TV film crews. The band's own documentary film crew records the drive around the town with the mayor and a visit to the town hall where Matt is presented with a map of the area, the town's coat of arms and a commemorative scroll.
Back in Oslo, Gilby and Duff go out to a private screening of the new Sylvester Stalone movie 'Cliffhanger'. In the evening Matt and Slash go watch Blues guitar legend John Mayall at a club. Mayall later invites Slash up to jam.

Saturday, JUNE 12
FLYING INTO Sweden during the afternoon, the band is transported with a police escort straight to Stockholm's Olympic Stadium. Having rained all day, the crowd is soaked.
As the show gets under way, Axl pulls a banner out of the crowd and suggests to the other band members in a mock-Swedish accent that they could all "make lots of Swedish babies"!
As they leave the stage, Slash tells the audience that there will be an aftershow party in Dizzy's room back at the Sheraton Hotel. Luckily, only a few people understood what he was talking about!

Tuesday, JUNE 15
SLASH DOES a live on-air interview on Swiss national radio DRS3. He chooses favorite tracks by bands including The Beatles, Aerosmith, Rose Tattoo, T Rex and Jimi Hendrix whilst the building is besieged by fans. During off-air breaks he signs autographs on everything from T-shirts and guitars to tiny scraps of paper. On leaving the radio station, Slash's van is followed by a convoy of fans, many with video cameras, on motorbikes and in cars.

Wednesday, JUNE 16
BLIND MELON and The Quireboys open tonight's show at the St Jakob Fussballstadion. GN'R arrive early to rehearse a new song - which in the end they don't play. Midway through the set, which includes 'Dead Flowers', a naked Shannon Hoon (of Blind Melon) walks on-stage during the acoustic set to deliver a pizza then sit down beside Matt to play the congas…

Thursday, JUNE 17
IN THE evening, Duff, Slash, Gilby and Matt go to the movies to see 'Alive' whilst Dizzy revisits a tattooist for some shading and Axl takes a long sauna.

Friday, JUNE 18
DIZZY'S 30TH birthday. The band flies to Bremen for the first of five German shows, at the 50,000 capacity Weserstadion. The band play Rose Tattoo's 'Nice Boys' for the first time on this leg of the tour after which Axl invites the audience to sing 'Happy Birthday' to Dizzy.

Saturday, JUNE 19
UNABLE TO find an open restaurant in Cologne, band members once again settle for a McDonalds!

Sunday, JUNE 20
ANOTHER DAY-OFF, sightseeing in Cologne. Slash and Gilby have dinner in an Italian restaurant next to the city's famous cathedral. The owner is unaware of the guitarist's sense of humor and so is delighted when Slash, unimpressed by the meal, signs the visitors' book:
"Of all the restaurants in the world, this is one!"

Monday, JUNE 21
FLY TO Stuttgart. Later, at the hotel, whilst some of the band members congregate in Matt's room to play cards, Slash records new material on a portable studio in his room. Tuesday, JUNE 22
GIG AT the 50,000 set Wildparkstadion in Karlsruhe. Support band Suicidal Tendencies fail to show up because they have been double booked and are in Italy to support Metallica! Brian May gets stuck in traffic but eventually plays a longer set to compensate. Guns N' Roses' helicopter pilot gets lost during what should have been a 20-minute flight to the stadium. They eventually take almost an hour to reach their destination and hit the stage beneath a pouring rainstorm.

Wednesday, JUNE 23
SLASH SPENDS most of the day chatting with Axl and playing pinball in his room on the machine that was delivered to the hotel yesterday.

Thursday, JUNE 24
THE BAND travels - some by coach, some by plane - to Frankfurt. At 3am that evening, Del James and Axl takes a walk on their own without the usual security team. They find themselves in a seedy part of town confronted by junkies and drunks. After a few tense moments, they manage to extricate themselves before retiring to an all-night dinner. They return to the hotel as the sun comes up.

Friday, JUNE 25
DUFF AND the GN'R documentary film crew gatecrash at a Geffen German sales conference in a nearby hotel. Duff commandeers the meeting, giving them a sneak preview of his solo album.
The gig that night is at the 55,000 capacity Waldstadion. On arrival Slash and Dizzy meet a teenage fan who is terminally ill with cancer. For the first time since this leg of the tour started, the band play 'Estranged'…

Saturday, JUNE 26
FLY TO Munich and are rushed to the 70,000 capacity Olympic Stadium with police outriders. Two songs in the set, Axl spot a Red Cross worker sporting a white waistcoat with the Red Cross emblem on it. He asks to borrow it but initially the worker refuses. The promoter offers to organize compensation for the temporary loss of part of his uniform and the man says yes - if his superior agrees! Eventually, the deal is done and Axl wears it for the rest of the show.

Sunday, JUNE 27
SLASH'S WIFE Renee and Duff's wife Linda fly in from LA.

Monday, JUNE 28
DAY OFF in Munich before flying to Bologna, Italy. In-flight movie is 'This Is Spinal Tap'.

Tuesday, JUNE 29
FOLLOWING A successful show at the Stadio Braglia in Modena - which included a first rendition of Todd Rundgren's 'Dust In The Wind' - Axl is rushed by three freelance photographers. As security try to get through the crowd, a young police officer arrives at the scene and fires his gun into the air to break them up. Calm is immediately restored.

Wednesday, JUNE 30
TONIGHT'S SHOW opens with 'It's So Easy', but departs from the usual format when three members of the band's security team bring out Axl's assistant, Robert Finkelstein, bound with his hands behind his back and his legs tied together. They dump him in front of the stage, where he remains throughout the entire acoustic set!
At around 3am, the GN'R plane takes off from Bologna airport for Barcelona.

Thursday, JULY 1
DUFF'S SIGNING session in the Barcelona Virgin Megastore attracts over 3,000. The crowd spills out into the surrounding streets and brings traffic to a standstill before the National Guard are called to restore order.
In the evening, Gilby and his wife Daniella go to dinner with Skid Row drummer Rob Affuso and his girlfriend - band masseuse, Sabrina Okomoto.

Friday, JULY 2
HAVING OBTAINED special permission from the authorities, Slash and photographer Robert John are interviewed by a BBC film crew on the roof of one of celebrated Catalan architect Gaudi's buildings. Gaudi's most famous building, the unfinished modern cathedral Temple Expiatori Sagrada Familia, is their next point of call but eventually they have to leave when GN'R fans mob the guitarist.
Dizzy, his wife Lisa and their one-year-old daughter Skye go shopping before Dizzy accompanies Slash and some crew members to a massive beer festival two blocks from their Hilton hotel.
Axl, still in Verona, goes to watch U2.

Saturday, JULY 3
AXL AND party travels to Venice for a day's sightseeing then on to Barcelona - where most of the GN'R party returns to that beer festival!

Sunday, JULY 4
DUFF AND Matt and their wives return from a few days spent relaxing in Ibiza and Malaga respectively.

Monday, JULY 5
GILBY, SLASH and other members of the band return from their days off and drive straight to the spectacular 60,000 Olympic Stadium. Tonight, band biographer Del James takes to the stage dressed in a Domino's Pizza uniform, and plays congas on 'Used To Love Her'.
They fly out for Madrid at 3am.

Tuesday, JULY 6
WITH LATE curfews in Spain, tonight's 22-song set doesn't start until 11.15pm. Matt and Duff swap instruments during 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door'. Later they comb the city's nightclubs.

Wednesday, JULY 7
DUFF AND photographer Robert John tour the city finding locations to take potential publicity and album cover shots for the bassist's forthcoming solo album.

Thursday, JULY 8
FLY TO Nancy, France for a gig at the 20,000 capacity Zenith arena. Rob Affuso joins them on congas during the acoustic set - sporting the now familiar Domino's pizza uniform! After the gig, the band flies direct to Lyons.

Friday, JULY 9
SHOW AT the 20,000 capacity indoor Halle Tony Garnier boosted by the arrival of tour manager Bill Greer playing congas on 'Used To Love Her'. Much later that night, members of the GN'R entourage, the Brian May band and the flight crew from the plane, throw a party in the hotel bar - encouraged by a barman dancing on the bar in between mixing killer cocktails.

Saturday, JULY 10
DAY OFF, shopping and sightseeing. Slash buys a collection of small tables, each individually made in the shape of a Walt Disney character.

Sunday, JULY 11
LEAVE FOR Belgium at 5pm. A police escort takes them straight from the airport to the 60,000 capacity open air Werchter gig. Their vans arrive as Suicidal Tendencies finish their last set supporting the band. Then, after Brian May, GN'R play a 19-song, two hour 10 minute set. Back at their Brussels hotel, Duff and his wife Linda celebrate their first wedding anniversary with friends in the bassist's suite.

Monday, JULY 12
SLASH, GILBY and a few of the entourage get a special guided tour of the dinosaur exhibition at Brussels' natural history museum - by the curator who has opened the museum especially for them on a day when it is normally closed.
Brian May's manager John Reese and Gilby buy a Cartier watch for May's birthday. Like Matt and his wife Kai, May has already traveled to Paris where he enjoys a surprise river boat birthday party. Guests include the GN'R drummer.

Tuesday, JULY 13
THE REST of the party flies to Paris. This will be the last European concert on the two-and-a-half year 'Use Your Illusion' world tour. As they celebrate a successful two-hour show in the hospitality room after the gig, the Gunners say a fond farewell to long-term friend Brian May, who has opened for them on the last leg of the tour.
Returning to the Royal Monceau hotel at around 1am, the band congregate in the hotel bar, where they stay until the early hours before flying to Buenos Aires the day after.

Guns N' Roses Tour Diary (July 15, 1993 - July 18, 1993)

Thursday, JULY 15
THE BAND arrives in Buenos Aires where the temperature is near zero. A convoy of vans drives them to the Park Hyatt Hotel where a group of several hundred fans has already gathered. Being woken by the screams of the crowd around mid-afternoon, Slash and Duff sign autographs, which they make into paper darts and launch from the 10th floor. At 2.30pm, assorted band members in heavy disguise leave the hotel for a nearby cinema, where they sneak in to watch 'Jurassic Park'.
Despite an altercation later that night, where Dizzy gets a silver chain and a crucifix snatched by an eager female fan (it's later retrieved), Dizzy, Gilby and Slash end the night in the bar, entertaining fans on the piano.
Friday, JULY 16
TRAPPED BY the increasing amount of fans, the band spend the day stuck in the hotel.
Around 5pm, as the Gunners are getting ready for the show at the 70,000 capacity River Plate Stadium, a group of 50 police officers from the city's narcotics division descend on the hotel. Looking for a large amount of cocaine which has allegedly been stashed in one of the band member's rooms, they force their way into Axl's top floor suite, where he is eating dinner.
Finding nothing after a two-hour search of his and other band member's rooms, they drop the allegations. Just as the band's hotel is being invaded, drug squad officers arrive at the stadium and search through equipment and instruments. Finding nothing, they too abandon their quest.
Immediately afterwards, Axl calls a press conference (only the second one of the whole tour) so that the truth can be disseminated. At 8pm, an hour-and-a-quarter behind schedule, the band leave for the stadium.
The penultimate set of the world tour opens with 'It's So Easy' and closes 21 songs later with 'Paradise City'.
The band and crew return to the hotel to celebrate the approaching end of the tour together.

Saturday, JULY 17
THE LAST night of the tour. The show is going to be broadcast live on TV in Argentina and Uruguay.
The set kicks off at 9.30pm and begins with 'Nightrain', followed by 'Mr. Brownstone', 'Yesterdays', 'Live And Let Die', 'Attitude' (with Duff on vocals), 'Welcome To The Jungle', 'Double Talkin' Jive', 'Dead Flowers', 'You Ain't The First', 'Used To Love Her', 'Patience' (featuring an acoustic segment of Lennon's 'Imagine'), 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door', 'Dust N' Bones', 'November Rain', 'Dead Horse', 'You Could Be Mine', 'Sweet Child O' Mine', and 'Paradise City'.
The show over, Axl, Dizzy and Slash return to the hotel bar where Axl plays the grand piano, and the festivities end at 5.30am.

Sunday, JULY 18
GILBY, DUFF and Matt leave for the airport to head for home at 6.30am. Later in the day, Slash, Dizzy and Del James sneak off to see 'Jurassic Park' again, before catching a 7.45pm flight home.
By 9.30am, everyone is back in LA. The longest tour in rock history has ended.

Blackstar wrote:

Soulmonster wrote:

at least according to the sneak preview I’ve had of the tour diary.

Tour diary? TOUR DIARY? We NEED that.

I've seen a couple of tour diaries (there were more of them, probably different for every tour leg) sold on ebay, but they're very expensive.

The content is probably the one in this Polish fan forum:
http://gunsnroses.com.pl/forum/guns-n39-roses/guns-n'-roses-tour-diary-1991-1993/

Soulmonster wrote:
On HTGTH.com Jarmo talks about a tour diary that a member of the GN'R tour management crew (Melissa?) wrote in 2002 tour (http://www.heretodaygonetohell.com/tour/tourdiary-na.html). Maybe she (or someone else) did the same in 1991-1993. But what was the purpose of it? Was it personal or meant for release? How did the guy in RAW magazine get his hands on a copy?

Blackstar wrote:There are two things to be noticed about the diary:

1. It becomes more detailed in 1992. There isn't much about the 1991 shows, other than the dates, the St. Louis riot and a couple of other things.

2. It contains more details about the international shows - especially the European ones - than about the NA shows. For example, there's nothing about the shows with Metallica, apart from the dates and the Montreal riot.

So I'm thinking that maybe it was the work of their international publicity team (Wendy Laister), and it was intended for the international press - or possibly to accompany the international release of the documentary.

Blackstar wrote:

Soulmonster wrote:
On HTGTH.com Jarmo talks about a tour diary that a member of the GN'R tour management crew (Melissa?) wrote in 2002 tour (http://www.heretodaygonetohell.com/tour/tourdiary-na.html). Maybe she (or someone else) did the same in 1991-1993. But what was the purpose of it? Was it personal or meant for release? How did the guy in RAW magazine get his hands on a copy?

Who is Melissa?

ludurigan wrote:awesome detective job! axl should be paying you guys

ludurigan wrote:You are correct!
Do you have any Paypal or Patreon account where people can help fund your work?

Soulmonster wrote:

ludurigan wrote:You are correct!
Do you have any Paypal or Patreon account where people can help fund your work?

Wow, that is very kind of you. The short answer is: We don't. The longer answer is: I don't think I want to do that. I like to be completely financially independent, from both fans and bands The costs are also acceptable as is.