2022.11.18 - Optus Stadium, Perth, Australia

Review: Guns N’ Roses play long, loud show to strangely quiet Perth crowd at Optus stadium

Indigo Lemay-Conway
Sat, 19 November 2022

Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Guns N’ Roses know how to play long and loud.

And for that effort you’d like to think the audience would give back in spades _ sing, scream, shout, roar, rock, rumble. Maybe even riot?

But at Optus Stadium on Friday night the crowd was … quiet.

It wasn’t the band’s fault. They were almost flawless as they played through their array of tunes, kicking off with It’s So Easy, Mr Brownstone and long-time favourite Welcome to the Jungle which instantly caused some members of the crowd to mumble “this was the song from that Thor movie”.

But mumbling was the best the masses did for more than three-quarters of the show as barely anyone sang along or clapped during the songs until the very last few tunes.

They were almost flawless as they played through their array of tunes, kicking off with It’s So Easy, Mr Brownstone and long-time favourite Welcome to the Jungle which instantly caused some members of the crowd to mumble “this was the song from that Thor movie”.

So much so that when the band went off after playing their “last song” _ or, in other words, cue the encore _ next to no one chanted for another tune to be played. Just mere claps and a few shouts.

It could have been that rain drizzled on and off all night, or that the band waited until the last half hour to play their best songs, or that they didn’t really address fans to hype them up.

But either way, when you think of a Guns N’ Roses concert, it’s hard to picture a quiet crowd. And this was despite the hard rockers possibly playing the longest show Optus Stadium has ever hosted.

Next to no one chanted for another tune to be played. Just mere claps and a few shouts.

Rivalling the length of an AFL match, the group kicked off their Australian Stadium tour with a three-hour show as punters braced the out-of-season icy weather (November Rain? Don’t worry, it’s coming).

But many almost missed the opening act as they were sent to multiple spots across the precinct to get their wristbands so they could get in — myself included.

Each band member performed incredible solos which gave 60-year-old frontman Axl Rose a chance to slip off stage for wardrobe changes — which happened at least eight times.

Throughout the show, Axl was dressed in Aussie-inspired attire with the Indigenous and Australian flags sewn onto his jeans, as well as many different shirts with “From the Land Down Under” on it, as well as a good-old jar of vegemite!

The audience did perk up when the band put on a surprise cover of Blackbird by the Beatles, which lifted the vibe dramatically for Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, Sweet Child O’ Mine and November Rain.

And by the end of the mammoth show, the audience seemed more exhausted than any of the over-50 band members, with Slash still knocking out riff after riff until the last strum of Paradise City.

Maybe, having shaken stadiums around the world for almost 40 years, the band can cope with a long night, compared to a Perth crowd not used to ‘November rain’.

Guns N’ Roses
November 18
Optus Stadium
3.5 stars

Guns N' Roses Slash, Axl Rose and Duff McKagan walk out of hotel in FULL SWAG after Perth concert

Guns N’ Roses arrived in Perth on Sunday, November 13 ahead of the massive stadium tour stop

By Shadiya Zubair

PERTH, AUSTRALIA: Guns N' Roses band members Slash, Axl Rose, and Duff McKagan were seen departing their hotel after their massive stadium tour stop in Perth, Australia. The group members were seen walking towards a black car, heading to Brisbane for their next performance, as per GLAM Adelaide.



The American hard rock band arrived in Perth on Sunday, November 13 in their private Boeing 777 Jet with 120 band and crew ahead of the massive stadium tour which began on November 18 and will continue till year-end. With concerts planned in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Adelaide, Sydney, and Melbourne, the band is expected to rule Australian stages in the coming weeks.

Duff McKagan wore a sleeveless black graphic t-shirt showing off his skull tattoo and a pair of ripped jeans as he walked out of the hotel with a bottle in his left hand and some luggage in his right. The rocker completed the outfit with black shades and Nike shoes.



Slash was seen donning a Guns N' Roses t-shirt, carrying his signature black leather jacket and a bag on one shoulder, while his electric guitar was seen on the other. He replaced his trademark top hat with a normal cap and accesorized his whole look with aviator sunglasses, a beaded bracelet, and silver rings along with a nose ring.







The band performed on Saturday night, November 12 at Singapore's National Stadium in front of a record-breaking crowd of delighted fans before their arrival in Australia.

Paul Dainty AM, President & CEO of TEG DAINTY, promoted the Singapore show and said, “GUNS N’ ROSES were on fire on Saturday night, the crowd was insane and loved it! They proved once again why they are one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Australian fans can expect to hear back-to-back smash hits from the band’s astonishing back catalog across the tour,” GLAM Adelaide reported.

The Chats and Cosmic Psychos, two of Australia's most acclaimed punk rock bands, will join Guns N' Roses on tour as special guests. [...]

Guns N’ Roses concert takes middle-aged back to Paradise City

Adrian Barich

Rock legends Guns N’ Roses arrived in Perth on their private Boeing 777, with their crew totalling 120 people.

For five days the Gunners crew worked to transform Optus Stadium as 15 semi-trailers brought in ten tonne of gear.

And when Axl Rose, the band’s lead singer, hit the stage just before 8pm last Friday, he looked remarkably different from his glory days.

Axl, real name William Bruce Rose Jr, wore a black T-shirt and a pair of ripped jeans as he performed alongside fellow rocker Slash.

But his famous long locks were gone, replaced by a sensible haircut with just a hint of a hairpiece. Axl’s trademark bandana was also gone and there was no sign of a kilt either.

For me it was the first time I felt like Father Time was catching up with us all. All the songs were the same but you just had the feeling that something was amiss.

That’s why I really admired the middle-aged blokes who were dancing like no one was watching. OK, the Jim Beam and Coke probably fuelled them but they were cutting loose. Remember that vision on social media of that super old guy who starts to dance and then suddenly throws away his crutches — it was like that.

And it was infectious. Where I was standing it was air guitars at two paces as Slash belted out another guitar solo on stage.

Apparently it’s actually a scientific thing. The combination of music and movement (dancing) releases happy chemicals like endorphins, dopamine, oxytocin and serotonin.

Near me there were many 40 to 50-year-old men prancing around like Axl to songs like Sweet Child O’ Mine and Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.

The only song that seemed to slow them down was when Glen Campbell’s Wichita Lineman was played. Then they were all “hug the missus and be all lovey-dovey”.

And I’m not too proud to admit that I also was feeling a bit concerned for the Wichita lineman who was still on the line despite having no idea where Wichita was or what a lineman did.

To their credit, GNR played for three hours and I stopped counting when they’d sung their 27th song. It was Paradise City and by 11pm I too wanted to be taken down to the paradise city where the grass is green and the girls are pretty.

So in some ways, a lot has changed but nothing has changed if you know what I mean.

Guns N’ Roses’ song You Could Be Mine, which featured in the second Terminator movie, was just as good and in a quirk of fate which no-one predicted for Perth, when it came time to perform the classic hit November Rain — you guessed it — it started raining. There’s a metaphor there somewhere for sure but it’s beyond me.

What I do know is it’s lucky nowadays nobody hold lighters aloft during this song as the weather would have doused the flames. Fortunately in 2022 we use the light on our mobile phones (I know it’s not really the same, is it).