2023.06.24 - Glastonbury Festival - Worthy Farm, Pilton, England

Guns N’ Roses need to play Glastonbury, says festival booker Emily Eavis

Emily Eavis says Metallica inspired Glastonbury to book more hard rock acts... and Guns N’ Roses should play the festival

By Paul Brannigan

Guns N’ Roses have created rock history with their hugely successful Not In This Lifetime… / Guns N Roses 2020 Tour productions, which have collectively served up 229 shows worldwide across the past five years, but Axl Rose’s (partially) reunited LA hard rock superstars have yet to put their stamp on one of the world’s greatest festivals, England’s own Glastonbury.

But perhaps that could yet change, as Glastonbury booker Emily Eavis says that Guns “need to play here at some point.”

Eavis, who organises the annual festival in Somerset with her father, Worthy Farm owner Michael Eavis, made the comment during an interview with Metal Hammer’s Eleanor Goodman, centred around Metallica’s 2014 headline appearance at the festival. Recalling Metallica’s triumphant set - “the atmosphere was electric and they came on and slayed everyone” - Eavis says that the quartet’s appearance paved the way for other hard rock/heavy metal artists to perform at the iconic festival: “They definitely helped inspire us to book more heavy rock acts, from Motorhead and ZZ Top, to the Earache Stage over in Shangri-La.”

Asked who is the heaviest band she’s booked for the weekender, Eavis replies, “We had Napalm Death in 2017 and it doesn’t get much heavier than that!”

It’s at this point that Eavis, unprompted, throws Guns N’ Roses’ name into ring, saying, “But I think Guns N’ Roses need to play here at some point, don’t they?” [...]

Guns N’ Roses wow crowds at Glastonbury’s mainstage

The performance was the US rock band’s debut at Worthy Farm

Guns N’ Roses delivered an electric performance on Saturday night at Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage with their highly-anticipated headline slot.

The set was the US rock band’s debut at Worthy Farm and features the original line-up of Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan – who reunited in 2015.

The crowd featured fans dressed in Slash’s trademark top hat, dark glasses and long black hair wigs. The band first launched into It’s So Easy from their album Appetite For Destruction.

The band rolled into Bad Obsession, then struck up a rendition of Chinese Democracy, with Slash swapping to a horned green guitar, and followed up with Slither.

Guns N’ Roses get Glastonbury rocking with epic headline set

Guns N’ Roses have kicked off their highly-anticipated headline slot on Glastonbury’s mainstage.

The performance is the US rock band’s debut at Worthy Farm and features the original line-up of Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan – who reunited in 2015.

The crowd featured fans dressed in Slash’s trademark top hat, dark glasses and long black hair wigs.

The band first launched into It’s So Easy from their album Appetite For Destruction.

Without saying a word, the band then rolled into Bad Obsession, with Rose and Slash strolling around the stage to gee up the crowds.

‘How you doing?’, Rose asked crowds after the song finished.

‘We’d like to thank you for inviting us – thank you.’

Guns N’ Roses then struck up a rendition of Chinese Democracy, with Slash swapping to a horned green guitar, and followed up with Slither.

The band then ramped up the tempo with an explosive performance of 1987 hit Welcome To The Jungle.

The Crowd exploded as Slash struck up the famous opening riff; later the 57-year-old jumped off a stage block shredding his strings furiously.

Switching up the lyrics, Rose sang: ‘Do you know where you are? You’re in the jungle, Glastonbury!’

Guns N’ Roses thank fans for invite as they kick off Glastonbury debut

Mike Bedigan, PA Los Angeles Correspondent, and Naomi Clarke, PA at Glastonbury

Axl Rose thanked fans for “inviting” Guns N’ Roses to Glastonbury, as the US rock legends kicked off their debut performance at the world-famous festival.

The band wasted no time in firing up crowds on Saturday night, playing a selection of hit songs including Bad Obsession, Chinese Democracy and Slither.

The performance featured the original line-up of Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan – who reunited in 2015.

Fans dressed in Slash’s trademark top hat, dark glasses and long black hair wigs, erupted as the guitarist struck up the famous opening riff to their hit song Welcome To The Jungle.

Switching up the lyrics, Rose sang: “Do you know where you are? You’re in the jungle, Glastonbury!”

Addressing crowds, he told them: “How you doing? We’d like to thank you for inviting us – thank you.”

Rose later reassured fans that he was not trying to “wuss out” by not coming out to interact with them.

“I can only walk so far, because if I walk out here I can only hear the crowd I can’t hear the band. I’m not trying to wuss out,” he said,

Glastonbury viewers make same complaint about Axl Rose as Guns N' Roses headline Pyramid Stage

Original members Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan took to the stage on Saturday night

US rockers Guns N' Roses made their Glastonbury debut as they headlined the Pyramid Stage on Saturday night.

Original members Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan took to the stage at 9.30pm to begin their two hour set. However many of those watching at home on BBC straight away complained that they were struggling to hear the iconic frontman's voice.

Many were left wondering if there was a problem with Axl's microphone. @jadelhealz tweeted: "Did someone forget to turn on Axl’s mic?" while @live_berry wrote: "Someone please sort out Axl’s mic, when you actually hear him his voice is bang on."

@DJ_MRTG also wrote: "Someone turn Axl’s mic up! He’s getting drowned out by the rest of the band" while @richardhorrocks added: "What's wrong with Axl's mic !!!!" and @StephenHaggart wrote: "They need to turn Axl's mic up a smidge, I'm struggling to hear him."

Despite the sound issue others were still in awe of the performance - and loved seeing three of the original lineup back together.

@EJdaRed: "Guns n Roses are still top class. Slash is still as amazing as ever and Axl is going all out, respect the commitment to Glasto". while @pongo1927 simply tweeted: "Guns n Roses....awesome."

@DeathApeDisco also singled out guitarist Slash writing: "Slash. What a guitarist. What an icon. Wow."

Playing at the same time as Guns N' Roses were Lana Del Ray on The Other Stage, Fatboy Slim on The Park Stage and Christine and the Queens on Woodsies.

Earlier in the day there were performances by Rick Astley, Lizzo, Lewis Capaldi and Blossoms. Scottish singer Lewis treated the crowd of adoring fans to a host of hit tracks from his two chart-topping albums as well as taking his shirt off at one stage.

After performing Bruises, he admitted he was having voice issues, telling the crowd: “I’m going to be honest everybody but I’m starting to lose my voice up here, but we’re going to keep going and we’re going to go until the end.

The fourth day of the festival, held in Pilton, Somerset, also saw film screenings, theatre and circus performances, as well as an event by Stormzy’s publishing imprint Merky Books, titled Demystifying Publishing.

Glastonbury review: Guns N' Roses are sporadically brilliant, while Lana Del Rey is cut short

By Mark Savage
BBC Music Correspondent

Guns N' Roses have always been a law unto themselves, and their headline set at Glastonbury was no exception.

The hard rock legends played a meandering, sporadically brilliant set that mixed stadium-level classics with less familiar deep cuts over an endurance-busting three hours.

Highlights included a raucous Welcome To The Jungle and the always-welcome Sweet Child O' Mine.

But they drew a smaller crowd than US pop star Lizzo earlier in the day.

The US band took to the stage at 21:30, opening with the Appetite For Destruction classic It's So Easy, as Axl Rose prowled the stage and Slash peeled off riffs from beneath his trademark top hat.

At 61, Rose's vocals aren't what they once were, but he can still pull off a wolverine yowl when he warms up - and his snarling delivery remains convincingly menacing. (Some TV viewers complained his microphone was too quiet, but in the field he cut through the swathes of guitar like a knife through butter).

The set took a while to get going - front-loaded with songs like the title track from the band's misfiring 2008 album Chinese Democracy; and Slither, a single by Slash's post-GNR side project Velvet Revolver.

It's only when the riff to Welcome To The Jungle rings out across the Pyramid Arena, a good 20 minutes into the set, that they achieve lift-off, following it up with the a fierce rendition of Mr Brownstone.

They pay tribute to Ukraine on Civil War, with Rose wearing the country's flag on his t-shirt, and footage of bombed out homes illuminating the screens.

Towards the end of their set, Nightrain has a pent-up punky energy; and a cover of UK Subs' Down On The Farm is a nice hat-tip to Michael and Emily Eavis, who run the festival.

Occasionally, they veer into choppy waters. Even hardcore fans are split over the merits Use Your Illusion's bondage-themed song Pretty Tied Up; and the 2021 single Absurd feels superfluous.

But they claw it back with the pent-up punk energy of Nighttrain, before bringing out Dave Grohl ("because you can never have too many guitars") for a frenzied, euphoric encore of Paradise City.

In their chaotic pomp, buying a ticket to see Guns N' Roses was a gamble. You never knew whether they'd turn up and, if they did, Rose had a habit of storming off stage if the crowd so much as looked at him funny.

But there was no sign of that temperamental performer on Saturday night.

"What a lovely evening" commented the former hellraiser, a model of politesse. "We'd like to thank you for inviting us."

The Pyramid Stage audience wasn't as large as it had been for Arctic Monkeys on Friday night, with thousands of fans opting to see Lana Del Rey headline the Other Stage instead,

The US singer was half-an-hour later for her set, starting after 23:00 with an apology: "My hair takes so long to do... super sorry I'm so late."

When she finally began, her set was a lyrical, high-concept performance that featured ballet dancers and contortionists as Del Rey draped herself languidly across the stage.

Sadly, her late arrival clashed with Glastonbury's strict curfew. She cut several songs, telling the crowd: "I'm about to rush this set to death."

But it wasn't enough. Her mic was cut at midnight, with at least six songs left to play. A printed setlist suggested they'd have been some of her biggest songs, including Summertime Sadness and Video Games.

Clearly devastated, the singer tried to talk to her fans, who rewarded her by singing Video Games a capella, while chanting "one more song".

Del Rey sang along with them, then walked to the pit at the front of the stage, so they could console each other directly. After that, she had to leave, clearly devastated. [...]

Guns N’ Roses, Glastonbury 2023, review: I thought crotch-grabbing hard rock was behind us. I was wrong
The band are assured, tight, and slick and their energy is relentless – but you really can have too many white men and guitars
3/5 stars

By Sarah Carson

When the 61-year-old Axl Rose stuck his middle finger up at the audience during the very first song on the Pyramid Stage, it was clear we’d be in for three hours of that kind of childish hyper-masculine rock’n’roll posturing for which Guns N’ Roses are known – and which is best left in their 80s heyday.

He did grab his crotch an awful lot. He did scream four-letter profanities at the audience at regular intervals and say very little else. He did hold the microphone stand over his head like a wrestling belt while singing a cover of “Live and Let Die”. Glastonbury’s most controversial booking in years delivered a high-octane show, sure. It was just in front of the wrong crowd.

When Guns N’ Roses were first announced in the Saturday night slot – between Arctic Monkeys on Friday and Elton John on Sunday – it was not without criticism. Three white male acts – two of them guitar bands – taking the most prominent shows at the most important music festival in the world seemed like a huge step backwards given that recently, those positions have been used to platform newer, more modern acts who span the generations.

The youngest-ever headliner last year in Billie Eilish; the first black British headliner the festival before that in 2019 with Stormzy. The rumour was that Saturday night was supposed to go to the headliner of 2020’s cancelled event, Taylor Swift, but it clashed with her Eras tour (she has a run of London dates with a suspicious gap on the Sunday night of next year’s festival).

The rumour was it was supposed to be Rihanna, but she got pregnant. Was there really no other female act who fit the bill? Did it have to be divisive titans of Los Angeles hard rock who have a patchy record on comments about women and race? It was not an inspired choice – made starker given the acts on the festival’s other stages simultaneously included Lana Del Rey, Christine and the Queens, Rina Sawayama.

Still. Glastonbury is about discovery and going with the flow, so why not head to Guns N’ Roses for the better part of three hours? I might walk out so electrified that I leave converted, in an emblazoned leather jacket. Perhaps, just as Billie Eilish was to educate the Glastonbury faithfuls on a Gen Z sensation, Guns N’ Roses might revive hard rock.

Guns N’ Roses are unapologetically old-fashioned, they can be offputtingly butch but they’re more corny than they are aggressive. As a band they are past their best but assured, tight, and slick. Their energy is still so relentless you wonder how it can have waned since their youth.

On stage, Rose charged up and down as if possessed, bright-white teeth grimacing, sweating through more black T-shirts than I could count. His voice has lost much of its power but it is throaty and soulful at one end and a nasal falsetto snarl at the other; he scrunches his face up when he holds his notes, while thrusting his leather trousers and chain at the crowd.

Guitar legend Slash, though, in a huge black top hat and sunglasses and red tartan shirt, was mesmerising. Extended solos came in almost every song – highlights were “Civil War” and “Bad Obsession” – they are indulgent, but I was glad of every time the cameras zoomed into his hands to get a close up of their delicate agility.

He changed instrument as often as Rose changed outfits, one extended instrumental song gave him a chance to display the band’s nods to country and blues, before it led into “Sweet Child of Mine” – their best-known and catchiest song, and the moment that most galvanised the audience.

But the pacing of this show was wasn’t right. The front was loaded up with samey, screamy, heavy rock songs with melodies that got lost; the hits and moments of tenderness reserved for the end, when too many of the crowd had started filtering off. Momentum grew – there were energy lifts for songs like “You Could Be Mine” and “Welcome to the Jungle” – and the gentler moments, when they came, gave glimpses of the variety that we’d been missing.

Rose – now in a white leather to piano for “November Rain”, slamming down the keys, was as mournful as he sounded all night repeating “Do you need some time on your own?/ Do you need some time all alone?” “Patience” was delicate, acoustic, vulnerable, Rose whistling along. The less rocky, the more a connection grew: “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” was of course a singalong.

For “Paradise City”, they brought out a friend to join them, “because there’s no such thing as too many guitars”. Dave Grohl helped them deliver a frenetic final act in a set that delivered exactly what they’ve always promised: unapologetic, testosterone-fuelled rock music. I’m just not sure they were playing the right festival. The guitars are good. But you really can have too many white men and guitars.

Guns N’ Roses at Glastonbury review – a riotous trip into rock paradise
4/5 stars

Pyramid stage
With a beaming Dave Grohl guesting on guitar and hits interspersed with homages to their influences, Axl and co make for hard-rocking – yet surprisingly polite – Saturday headliners

By Alexis Petridis

The most immediately startling thing about Guns N’ Roses’ headlining set is how polite Axl Rose is. He’s the famously unpredictable frontman of a band who, in their late 80s heyday, oozed druggy negativity: their debut album Appetite for Destruction painted such a relentlessly grim and grimy picture of life in Los Angeles that Justin Quirk’s brilliant history of 80s metal Nothin’ But a Good Time posits the theory that its release, rather than the arrival of Nirvana, spelled the end of the hair metal era and irreparably punctured its facade of sleazy glamour. Now, in his 60s, he’s turned into a surprisingly well mannered character. “We’d like to thank you for inviting us,” he offers. “Have you had a good day? Glad to hear it.”

But the current iteration of Guns N’ Roses sound remarkably vital: the twin guitars of Slash and Richard Fortus playing off against each other, drummer Frank Ferrer underpinning the songs with a surprising degree of funk and swing. If Axl Rose’s falsetto sounds a little rougher around the edges than it did thirtysomething years ago, he still hits the high notes. Less weird-looking now than in the years when he sported braids and a goatee beard, he still pulls off the selection of onstage moves identified by the American writer John Jeremiah Sullivan in his superb 2006 essay The Final Comeback of Axl Rose: stalking, cartoonish pugnaciousness; snaky slide-foot dance; dammit just dropped a bowling ball on my foot spin-with-mic-stand dance; prance sideways with mic stand like an attacking staff-wielding ritual warrior between-verses dance.

It’s a set that picks through Guns N’ Roses’ slender back catalogue – amid the tracks from Appetite for Destruction and both volumes of Use Your Illusion, their famously delayed sixth album Chinese Democracy gets a look-in by way of its title track, as does the extraordinarily spiteful 2021 single Absurd – and also makes room for Slither, from Slash’s post-GNR band Velvet Revolver.

But is also pays homage to their influences. Bassist Duff McKagan wears a leather vest emblazoned with the logo of the Heartbreakers’ 1977 album LAMF and takes over lead vocals on a cover of the Stooges’ TV Eye; they work chunks of Jimi Hendrix’s Voodoo Chile and Alice Cooper’s Only Women Bleed into Civil War and You Could Be Mine respectively; they perform a cover of Down on the Farm, presumably the first time a song by second-wave British punk band UK Subs has ever been heard booming out from Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage, on an actual farm.

The set seldom lags for its two hours’ plus duration, although judging by the crowd reaction, people are really here for the Appetite for Destruction-era big hitters: Welcome to the Jungle – its lyrics unsportingly amended to suggest that Glastonbury is the jungle and that everyone present is “going to die” – Sweet Child O’ Mine, Night Train, Paradise City, the latter bringing the set to conclusion with a guest appearance from Dave Grohl, beaming in a way that suggests that Nirvana’s fabled rivalry with Guns N’ Roses was nothing to do with him. The audience go bananas. “What a lovely evening,” offers Axl Rose, like a man exiting a dinner party: unexpectedly charming and polite to the last.

Guns N’ Roses live at Glastonbury: a solid performance… to the wrong crowd

The rockers received a lacklustre response from most of the crowd, which was tempered with a surprise appearance from Dave Grohl
3/5 stars

By Liberty Dunworth

After months of backlash about their headline slot, Guns N’ Roses finally take to the stage at Glastonbury 2023 and deliver one of their strongest sets in recent years. The only pity? It’s to the wrong crowd.

The controversy stemmed from both the lack of female headliners for 2023 — with acts like Lizzo and Lana Del Rey being pushed onto other stages — and the reluctance of the festival organisers to use bigger slots to support emerging talent. Hell, even Noel Gallagher weighed in and voiced his concerns about the decision and called the set: “crazy shit”. So, fair to say when it came to the final moments before the band took to the stage, there was a sense of anticipation and curiosity in the air.

To any G’N’R fan, the Glasto set undoubtedly marks one of the strongest sets that the rock veterans have given in recent years — completely devoid of sound issues, Axl Roses’ vocals in pretty good form, Slash at the top of his game and, probably the second biggest shock of the night, the band beginning the performance bang on time.

Unfortunately, this is somewhat lost on the Glastonbury crowd, as Guns N’ Roses’ sultry, whiskey-chugging, in-your-face brand of rock felt misplaced when delivered at the hippie nucleus of the world.

For the most part, the majority of the setlist goes unrecognised by the audience, and momentum only really gathers for a handful of songs in their 24-song set. The quiet moments between the band kicking off another song — instead of being greeted by endless applause like seen at their headline shows — become awkward silences, as the crowd waits for them to hurry up and bring out another one of their most famous tracks. Even Roses’ tongue-in-cheek joke of introducing ‘ABSURD’ as a track that “tugs at the heartstrings” fell on deaf ears.

There are some unexpected highlights through the set, however, with the band using the iconic slot to pay homage to some of their heroes: U.K. Subs (‘Down On The Farm’), The Stooges (‘T.V. Eye’) and Wings (‘Live And Let Die’).

While they teased a potential guest cameo from Paul McCartney with the latter: “We’re helping a certain individual celebrate the 50th anniversary of this song”, the only surprise appearance came at the end of the show, as Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl joined the band for a rendition of ‘Paradise City’.

All in all, while the Saturday headline slot may have fallen a bit flat, perhaps it’s fitting. This comes as 2023’s bill  sees a live performance from another music veteran, Elton John, who will play the final date of his farewell tour on Sunday. If Glasto-goers spin the narrative and see this year as a final stint from the icons of the ‘70s and ‘80s, this instalment can be seen as the end of a chapter, and pave the way for new talent to emerge in the years ahead.

Guns N’ Roses At Glastonbury 2023, Reviewed

Revived veteran hard rockers deliver – perhaps even over-deliver – in their Saturday Pyramid headline slot.

by Ian Harrison | Posted5 hours ago

“You’re in the jungle, Glastonbury!” So shrieks Axl Rose during Welcome To The Jungle, a hard-rocking song of low life and dog-eat-dog ruthlessness with a massive riff. Can Guns N’ Roses remake this festival of progressive values and communality into their own down‘n’dirty image?

This is a precision stadium rock show, in a field in the West Country. The screen visuals include trusty hard rock references such as skulls, poisonous snakes, molten rock, and dice. Axl runs about a lot on gantries, and when guitarist Slash plays extended solos on a variety of tasty axes with much ‘guitar face’ to boot, the singer ducks off for shirt changes (Civil War’s top features the Ukrainian flag).

We’re never far from sound and fury, yet the vibe seems off, and the audience response muted. There’s a lot of it too, with 25 songs in two and a half hours. This sometimes errs into areas of width rather than quality, particularly with a song such as 2021’s foul Absurd, which should have a ‘now wash your hands’ warning. There’s also something odd going on with Axl’s microphone initially, with his voice sounding both deeper and higher than normal.

When they’re good, though... Riffage and rock screams meet in perfect harmony on Sweet Child O’ Mine, while November Rain gets Queen’d up with Axl at the piano. Bassist Duff McKagan, who’s wearing a stylish blouson with a Heartbreakers’ L.A.M.F. logo on it, sings a cover of the Stooges’ T.V. Eye, which is followed by the band’s a propos cover of UK Subs’ Down On The Farm. Closing blows Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door and Nightrain culminate in Paradise City, where we’re treated to another surprise appearance from Dave Grohl, this time on six-string. “You can never have too many fuckin’ guitars,” says Axl, who may howl like a banshee at other times, but when speaking to the audience is all smiles. “We’d like to thank you for inviting us,” he says. “What a lovely evening.”

In parts, it was. While we were watching, MOJO remembers photographer, friend and Glastonbury trouper Mick Hutson, who passed away in May, and who would have loved this show.

Guns n Roses issue explanation for Axl Rose sound issues at Glastonbury and say it was BBC's fault

Viewers of the BBC's coverage of the band's performance on Saturday complained that Rose's vocals kept dropping out

By Reem Ahmed

Guns n Roses have issued an explanation for the sound issues BBC viewers noticed during their headline performance at Glastonbury. On Saturday night, the LA rock legends took to the iconic Pyramid stage at 9.30pm for their first ever set at the Somerset festival.

It is 36 years since Appetite for Destruction became the biggest-selling debut album in history in 1987. The band had been separated for years before reuniting. And fans at Glastonbury could not have been happier. With frontman Axl Rose, guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan in full flow, the seven-piece band sent festival-goers wild, delivering classics such as Sweet Child O' Mine and Welcome To The Jungle.

But many Glastonbury viewers watching the BBC coverage on TV repeatedly complained that Rose's vocals appeared to keep dropping out. While the rest of the band's sound appeared perfectly pitched, the singer's vocals seemed to come and go.

The problem appeared to have resolved itself at times as the set went on, but at other times it appeared worse than ever, like during the performance of Rocket Queen. Disgruntled viewers noticed and took to social media. Writing on Twitter, Ricky Davidson said: "Seriously, it looks like Axl is singing his heart out but the mic is not having it." Rix Hendersen wrote: "Watching GnR on an OLED with Ambilight and in UHD is great, but I wish they’d stop cocking about with Axl’s mic. The mix is all over the place." Another wrote: "They’ve set that microphone lower than my current bank balance."

In an email to WalesOnline on Sunday, the agency representing the band said it has "dug deep" into the problem and discovered there were problems with the broadcast being streamed on certain TVs, resulting in poor sound quality. This would explain why at times Axl's voice sounded as powerful as ever while at others he could barely be heard. A review of Guns n Roses' performance by the BBC's music correspondent, Mark Savage, suggests that there were no such sound issues for those there in person. Praising Rose's "wolverine yowl" and "snarling delivery", Savage said: "Some TV viewers complained his microphone was too quiet, but in the field he cut through the swathes of guitar like a knife through butter."

A spokesperson from the agency representing Guns N' Roses said: "Axl was in top form last night. We have dug deep into the matter, and it appears the broadcast had issues being played on certain TVs like UHDs. This was an unfortunate issue that the mix played through these TVs sounded so poorly; however, it was not the band’s fault but the BBC’s."

A spokesperson for the BBC said: "This year the BBC is bringing audiences amazing live performances straight from Glastonbury’s stages, with 40 hours of TV coverage, 85 hours of live radio and multiple streams on BBC iPlayer." On Sunday night, Elton John will headline the Pyramid Stage.

Guns N’ Roses on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury – old school rockers triumph with timeless anthems
The biggest surprise was Axl Rose, Slash and co turned up on time and did what needed to be done

4/5 stars

By Hamish MacBain

The irony: over on the Other Stage it was Lana Del Rey – who once recorded a song called Axl Rose husband – who was late and had her headline set cut short. Meanwhile, former perpetual latecomer Axl Rose turned up bang on schedule and did what needed to be done reliably.

You have to feel slightly for Guns N’ Roses. In her pre-festival interviews, Emily Eavis made no secret of the fact that they were last minute subs for a headliner (rumoured to be Rhianna) who pulled out at the 11th hour. They continue a not-so-grand tradition of hard rock/metal on Worthy Farm: a musical genre that has long been underrepresented here.

And it was clear from the word go that this was a band who knew this and were very much here to please. For all of his ostensible menace and badassery, Rose was a polite, almost affable presence at odds with the persona presented in the likes of opener It’s So Easy. Said song – “Turn around bitch, I got a use for you” – was not the only lyric he sang exhibiting wildly outdated, late-Eighties-in-Los-Angeles style misogyny.

But though Guns N’ Roses may have sounded and looked like a band out of time – the heavily ripped denim jeans , cut off shirts... Slash – they also have a fistful of songs that are truly timeless. When Welcome To The Jungle arrived five songs in, it sounded absolutely titanic. Ditto Live And Let Die – sadly not featuring, as the rumour mill had it, Paul McCartney – and Sweet Child Of Mine and November Rain and a closing, epic Paradise City’

The problems came in-between these anthems. Too often when not playing a song that even their detractors couldn’t resist, Guns N’ Roses descended into guitar noodling of the type that time has forgotten. Nobody on planet earth does this kind of thing better than Slash, but part of the reason this is true is that in 2023 it’s an obsolete artform. Songs such as Velvet Revolver’s Slither thus tested the patience somewhat

Still, while drawing a huge (if not as huge as Lizzo’s) crowd and providing Glastonbury with its first bona fide anthems, Guns N Roses was a triumph of sorts. You sense that they made some new admirers here, which was surely the point of them doing this show. The older people who loved them from the start, meanwhile, were well served.

Dave Grohl’s arrival on Paradise City – for two years running now he has contributed to the Pyramid Stage headline set on Saturday Night – provided a reminder of how much has changed since said glory days. Long ago, long before many people here were born, he was playing drums in Nirvana: a band whose main purpose was to bury the hair metal of Guns N’ Roses. Tonight though, he, Axl, Slash, Duff and some other fill-ins were together, united as old school rock and rollers in a world and at a festival where that kind of thing doesn’t really exist anymore. They were outsiders once again. It suited them.

Guns N' Roses rock Glastonbury: a fun, energetic headline set in unfamiliar territory
Guns N' Roses might be an odd fit for Glasto, but you wouldn’t know it from how much fun they were having
4/5 stars

By Merlin Alderslade

They might feel a slightly odd fit for Glastonbury, but that isn’t stopping Guns N’ Roses giving it everything they’ve got tonight. Axl Rose sprints around the stage with the gusto of a man half his age; Slash is a spinning, soloing, stomping ball of energy; Duff McKagan hammers at his bass like he’s playing a grotty punk show in front of five hundred people rather than main eventing the world’s biggest music festival. It all makes for a riotously fun Saturday night on the Pyramid Stage, the LA hair metal titans clearly in no mood to entertain the notion that they have no business being here.

Admittedly, it takes a little while for things to get cooking; kicking off with two relatively deeper cuts in It’s So Easy and Bad Obsession misses an opportunity to get the more casual fans in attendance immediately onside, Chinese Democracy’s title track dropping soon after to little fanfare. In fact, it’s not even a Guns song that draws the first major singalongs of the evening: a rollocking take on Velvet Revolver’s Slither earns that accolade. Then, however, there’s a major gear change: Slash begins teasing Welcome To The Jungle, the atmosphere immediately kicks up a few notches and we are officially off to the races.

Guns N’ Roses might not have quite the same pop culture footprint as fellow Pyramid alumni like the Rolling Stones or Paul McCartney, but when the big moments come, they do so emphatically: the singalong to Sweet Child O’ Mine’s lead riff is louder than Slash himself, while his November Rain solo draws spades of enthusiastic air guitar all over the joint.

Well-worn covers of Wings’ Live And Let Die and Bob Dylan’s Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door also go down a treat, as does a jovial cameo from Dave Grohl, who comes bounding out on stage to ecstatic cheers as the Guns kick into a rapturously received Paradise City.

Axl’s voice has undoubtedly seen better days, but there are more than enough glimpses of greatness to carry him through, and when you’re throwing yourself as enthusiastically into everything as he is, some occasional squeaks and squawks are easily forgiven. Plus, even if they’re a little out of their comfort zone, there’s something undoubtedly special about seeing he and Slash shoulder to shoulder on such an iconic stage.

“Thank you for having us,” Axl courteously beams near the end of the band’s set. Guns N’ Roses were never gonna steal the show this weekend, but sometimes, a couple of hours of earnestly played hard rock bangers on a Saturday night is all you need. Job done.

Guns N’ Roses live at Glastonbury: rock and roll riot wins over Worthy Farm
It might not be for everyone, but Guns N' Roses deliver the hits with sheer power on Glastonbury's second night.
4/5 stars

By John Lewis

Glastonbury might have absorbed dozens of subcultures and genres of music over the last half century – hippies and punks, ravers and crusties; reggae and world music, indie and grime – but the fields of Worthy Farm in Somerset have proved inhospitable soil for heavy rock. Metallica tried sheer volume and bombast in their headline slot seven years ago, but even they didn’t really win over the festival.

Guns N Roses have several advantages over Metallica – at least half a dozen big hits that everyone knows, no dreary new albums to flog, and at least two incredibly charismatic, cartoonish frontmen. So you could see it as something of a mis-step to frontload their set with fan favourites (‘It’s So Easy’, ‘Bad Obsession’, ‘Chinese Democracy’, even a track from the side project Velvet Revolver) rather than hits. It takes half an hour for the galloping ‘Welcome To The Jungle’ to finally get the crowd pogoing.

You could also see the covers as a mis-step. There’s no faulting Live And Let Die (which turns the orchestral bombast of the original into a dystopian nightmare) and Knocking On Heaven’s Door (mercifully without Axl’s “gimme some reggae!” announcement). But, more obscurely, they revive Down On The Farm by lower-league London punks the UK Subs (a track GNR first played at Farm Aid in 1990); and the pulsating Motown punk of TV Eye by The Stooges, which Axl introduces as being sung by bassist Duff McKagan and his “silky smooth, sexually intoxicating voice”.

McKagan does a good Iggy Pop impersonation, but it’s at this point that you realise what an extraordinary singer Axl Rose is. His default setting is a screeching falsetto: there are certain notes where it is indistinct, like a whispering drag queen, but mainly it howls like a car alarm. He introduces one song as being a heartfelt paean to a beautiful relationship, and then launches into the scabrous, outrageously misogynistic Absurd, about a “screaming fucking banshee”. Yet Axl howls it with such Lydon-like vengeance and terror that it becomes truly chilling.

The pretty, long-haired 80s pin up now looks rather like the veteran English comedian Charlie Drake, but there’s no doubting his step count. He struts the stage like a manic cage fighter, constantly doing his whirling dervish routine while Slash solos. There are gangways to the left and right of the Pyramid Stage, but Axl apologises for rarely using them, as when he does he can’t hear the rest of the band. “I don’t want you to think I’m being a wuss,” he says.

And Slash is a reassuring presence, replete in top hat, plaid shirt and his trusty gold Gibson Victoria, using harmonics, slides, audacious string bending and Morse Code effects at the top of the fretboard. But second guitarist Richard Fortus (almost a member for as long as Slash now) is just as impressive.

This is a long set – the band with an appalling record for time-keeping start, surprisingly, on the dot of 9.30 and don’t end until midnight. The setlist could have done with some pruning at the front end but a home run of ‘Civil War’ (with Axl in a Ukraine T-shirt), ‘You Could Be Mine’, ‘Sweet Child O Mine’, ‘November Rain’, ‘Patience’ and ‘Nighttrain’ set us up for a mammoth version of ‘Paradise City’, featuring Glasto’s now-regular mystery guest Dave Grohl on guitar. This corner of Somerset will never entirely embrace metal, but GNR almost – almost – won them over.