2010.06.08 - Moscow, Russia

“Chinese Democracy” to hit Russian ears

After years of waiting and much persuasion, legendary American rockers Guns N’Roses have finally agreed to come and play in the Russian capital.

They will be “knocking on heaven’s door” in Moscow during their first-ever gig at the Olympiysky Stadium on June 8.

Who would have thought that the red-haired bully Axl Rose would still get to our edges! And even if it’s not the golden 80s or the transitional 90s, even if the musicians that the whole world of rock and roll wants to see in one team came with him, Axl’s voice is still the same piercing creaky, but his team is still called Guns N 'Roses. This is, perhaps, the only rock group in the world that has been able to feed the public for 17 (!) Years with promises of about to release a new album, and at the same time not go into oblivion. The thing is that the sensation that Guns N 'Roses became on the global music scene in the late 80s is truly phenomenal. The golden era of loud and colorful rock and roll buffoonery was coming to an end, a dirty cloud of grunge was already visible not far away, and in this situation Guns N 'Roses became the last outbreak of glam rock, heavy metal, punk and everything that was possible and impossible. to collect energetic rock music in one bottle. This flash turned out to be so dazzling that its light trail was imprinted on the minds of millions of music lovers around the world and does not pass to this day.

The story of Guns N 'Roses is a story of absurdity, absurdity and twists of fate worse than Santa Barbara, but at the same time it is a classic story of rock and roll in its purest form. Concert delays for almost a day are rock 'n' roll. The touring of cheeky punks with a brass section is fucking rock 'n' roll. The colossal number of "former" musicians of the group at the labor exchange is, his mother, rock and roll in all its glory. And so, this walking legend with the semi-mythical and chilling name Guns N 'Roses finally arrived in Russia.

Olimpiyskiy, which was packed to capacity, gaped with only one strange bald spot - there was almost no one in the fan zone unexpectedly invented by the organizers right in front of the stage. On either side of her, fans crowded in a crush, honestly buying tickets in the hope of getting into the front row and spending two hours at arm's length from Axl Rose. It is not known what calculations of the top business made the promoters take this step, but several hundred real fans of GNR quite distinctly felt themselves "thrown" corny. Nevertheless, they, like thousands of people behind them, were burning with impatience, expecting to see and hear live the long-time classic of hard rock, almost circus in its brightness, the Guns N 'Roses show.

Instead, two long-haired guys and one bald guy suddenly appeared on the stage, who, without introducing themselves, picked up the instruments and began to play. Only when the warm-up program passed the middle did it become clear that it was not very well-known in especially narrow circles, Danko Jones with his group. For an hour he desperately mowed like James Hetfield, played low-quality pop rock, raped the microphone with his incineratingly terrible squeal and carried catastrophic nonsense before songs, after songs, during songs and in general at every convenient moment. During this terrible hour, Danko managed to talk about how he pleases the girls with his tongue, how powerfully he plays rock and what a tough guy he is, causing unbearable nausea in most of those present.

But the cunning plan of the insidious Axl to exhaust 18 thousand people did not end there. At half past eight, the warm-up team left the stage, after which the audience plunged into anticipation for an hour and a half. Apparently, for Guns N 'Roses, the delay of the concert is such an element of the show, without which the band is unthinkable, as without "Sweet Child o' Mine" and cigarettes in their teeth. When the atmosphere in the huge hall became very dull, and even a small stream of people streamed in the direction of the exit, the lights in the hall went out and a tense intro started playing, as if pulled from a horror movie soundtrack. A minute later, in lights and fireworks, countless guys with guitars, drum sticks and dexterous hands, which turned out to be the new composition of Guns N 'Roses, poured onto the stage. From this crowd of people, somehow suddenly, as if he was the flame of a torch or fireworks, a stout little man in a hat and a silver jacket jumped out, whose red mustache inevitably betrayed him as the host of the celebration, for the sake of which, in fact, all these people filled the "Olympic" ... Axl instantly captured the attention of the audience, which subsequently did not release from his tenacious paws until the very end of the show.

Following the opening "Chinese Democracy", "Welcome to the Jungle" sounded from the stage, and the audience simply exploded with delight - this is what all the audience had been waiting for, many even all two decades since the first listening to "Appetite for Destruction". To say that the band looked and sounded great is an understatement. As many as three guitarists scurried to all corners of the stage, and if Richard Fortus and DJ Ashba looked extremely cheeky with their screaming outfits, hairstyles, makeup and tattoos, then a neat Bumblefoot with a huge two-neck guitar seemed like some kind of intelligent guy from the orchestra, quite by accident caught on this holiday of dirty rock and roll. The overweight drummer Frank Ferrer looked no less funny, as if he fell out of the Black Eyed Peas or 50 Cent tour bus - strewn with jewelry, in huge glasses and a baseball cap on one side. This motley company was completed by the old punk Tommy Stinson and Dizzy Reed with Chris Pitman, who rushed from key to percussion throughout the concert.

And although these eight people seem like nothing compared to the entire show bands that performed with Guns N 'Roses in the early 90s, it still felt like a crazy drunk party in a chic set, with three huge screens. , deafening pyrotechnics and lighting. Pulling a piano with a rhinestone-lined heart on the lid onto the stage - why not? It's easy to change costumes for almost every song! Axl tore his throat, if not as in the good old days, then certainly better than many of his contemporaries now. The guitars roared, squealed, growled in three voices, occasionally showing spectacular solos. Dizzy Reed performed solo on the piano, even Mr. Rose himself managed to give a small piano. The set list was full, on the one hand, with classic hits, familiar to every dull music lover; on the other, things from the new album "Chinese Democracy"; with the third - unobtrusive improvisations, including a careless cover of Pink Floyd.

Bursts of applause at the first chords of "Sweet Child o 'Mine", "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and "You Could Be Mine" showed GNR's place on the rock Olympus in the best possible way. Roof-blowing action films successfully alternated with touching ballads, of which, by the way, there were plenty: very fresh "Street of Dreams", "Sorry", "This I Love", and, of course, the textbook "November Rain", in which a tear of emotion and nostalgia even the most serious bearded uncles in suits let in. Perhaps the only thing missing was "Don't Cry" - judging by the scattered reviews from the St. Petersburg concert, Axl decided not to perform it in Moscow, so as not to spoil the rather pleasant, in general, impression of his vocals throughout the concert.

The band presumptuously began their encore with new songs "Madagascar" and "Better", although the audience was clearly expecting something different. "Paradise City" - one of the most popular rock songs in history - sounded like a powerful final of the concert, with absolutely grotesque pyrotechnics and a completely torn off the roof of all spectators. And although Guns N 'Roses performed brilliantly that evening, and the instrumentalists did not show a single weak point, the overwhelming majority of fans dispersed from the "Olympic" were convinced that Axl simply needed to assemble a classic line-up of the group. The power of GNR's hits will probably never wane, no matter who plays them. But the very opportunity to look at their creators in full force on one stage, to see Slash's top hat and Izzy Stradlin's cap instead of DJ Ashba's crumpled hat and Frank Ferrer's baseball cap, instead of a short Tommy Stinson to see the lanky figure of Duff McKagan ... perhaps Guns N 'Roses is one of those groups that MUST sooner or later reunite in the golden lineup. They should, despite the fact that in do not understand what compositions they exist for much longer than in gold ones. Just because it's rock and roll.


Set list:

1. Chinese Democracy
2. Welcome to the Jungle
3. It's So Easy
4. Mr. Brownstone
5. Sorry
6. Richard Fortus Guitar Solo: James Bond Theme
7. Live and Let Die
8. This I Love
9. Rocket Queen
10. Dizzy Reed Piano Solo
11. Street of Dreams
12. You Could Be Mine
13. DJ Ashba Guitar Solo
14. Sweet Child O' Mine
15. Another Brick in the Wall Part II
16. Axl Rose Piano Solo
17. November Rain
18. Bumblefoot Guitar Solo: Pink Panther Theme
19. Knockin' on Heaven's Door
20. Nightrain
Bis:
21. Madagascar
22. Better
23. Paradise City

We express our gratitude to SAV Entertainment for the accreditations provided.

(Review by "Nailed Reaper")