Here Today... Gone To Hell!

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10315213/no_riots_as_guns_n_roses_rock_new_york

No Riots as Guns N' Roses Rock New York
Axl and an all-new G N' R rip through two of four Hammerstein shows

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
Police reported that Friday night's line to get into the first of four Guns N' Roses warm-up shows at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom spanned nearly five blocks. A late sound check prevented fans, decked out in vintage G N'R tees and swilling booze in brown paper bags (some of whom were later served public drinking tickets), to enter at the scheduled door time of 7:30 p.m. At around 8:15 p.m., the line began to inch forward, bringing fans waiting since 11 a.m. closer to the door. At neighboring bars, laid-back tailgaters were getting lit to classic Guns N' Roses sing-a-longs. With anticipation mounting, devotees were hoping for at least one GNR song out of Axl before he possibly walked offstage -- a "Welcome to the Jungle" opener? Others feared that the man himself wouldn't go on at all, and the collective buzz would only lead to rioting.

With the pile-up outdoors, Bullet for My Valentine received a bigger crowd than usual for an opening act. But another hour of the Hammerstein mix tape would pass, with the crowd shouting out the "Hey" in Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll, Part 2" on autopilot. Finally, at 11:02 p.m., the house lights went dark. "Are you ready? Let me hear you? Are you ready?" an announcement came from offstage. An ambient bass and string overture was drowned by the thunderous roar of the crowd, which grew even louder at the opening guitar riffs and pyrotechnic explosions of -- surprise -- "Welcome to the Jungle."

With Axl Rose's piercing howl, the crowd was assured at last the show was actually happening. Dressed in a black silk shirt and big, black, bug-eyed sunglasses, Rose, charismatic as ever, flew across the stage zigzagging between the seven members of the new Guns N' Roses lineup -- guitarists Robin Finck, Rich Fortus, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, bassist Tommy Stinson, drummer Brain, keyboardist Chris Pittman and Dizzy Reed.

1987's Appetite for Destruction classics "It's So Easy" and "Mr. Brownstone" followed. Axl and Co. would go on to perform almost every song of the 1987 chart-topping release during the first two nights, but while the evening was basically dominated by old G'N'R classics, Axl didn't hog the spotlight. Each of the three guitarists took the front of the stage for solos. Axl, however, was the rock icon, and he pulled some larger-than-life moves, stretching his arms out in time with the flames that shot from the stage during the chorus to "Live and Let Die."

While Friday night's crowd didn't start surfing until an hour in, during another Appetite for Destruction staple "Out ta Get Me," Sunday night's audience -- not as crowded, with scalpers dumping last-minute tickets at thirty bucks a pop -- featured an instant mosh pit. Fans were surfing by the second number, "It's So Easy." "Damn!" Axl pointed out at Sunday's crowd. "We had people screamin' their heads off Friday, but you guys are kickin' the shit out of them! Happy Mother's Day, motherfuckers!"

Rose would eventually dedicate Sunday night's show to his mom and rekindled buddy, Sebastian Bach, who he said he hadn't talked to in thirteen years. "I was trying to save my life, and [Bach] was trying to destroy his," Rose told the crowd. Both nights, Bach took the stage screaming "You're fucking crazy!" before the two buddies, arm in arm, launched into "My Michelle."

Low points included guitarists Robin Finck and Rich Fortus delivering an unexpected yet oddly powerful dueling guitar instrumental of Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" -- which probably only Fred Durst enjoyed. Yes, Durst was among the V.I.P. crowd, which also included Lenny Kravitz, comedian Jimmy Fallon, Goo Goo Dolls frontman Johnny Rzeznik, and actors Mickey Rourke and Shannon Elizabeth.

The most moving moment in the show was probably "November Rain," with Axl on the ivories, singing "Do you need some time on your own/ Do you need some time all alone/Everybody needs some time on their own" -- letting his lyrics speak for ten years recovering from Guns N' Roses' messy breakup. "I think we're doing pretty fuckin' all right, considering we have a guitarist that joined our band last week," quipped the frontman, referring to Bumblefoot during the song's signature intermission on Sunday night.

The weekend shows also included staples "Patience," "Sweet Child O' Mine," "You Could Be Mine," "Rocket Queen" and the encore, "Paradise City" -- with Axl coining New York his new "Paradise City." Each show ended with a shower of confetti -- a shower that, in the dim light, seemed to herald a real return for Guns N' Roses, or at least a sign that Axl is out to rock again. With Axl out of rock & roll rehab, he's no longer a notorious recluse -- just notorious.

As for one of rock & roll's most famous unreleased albums, Chinese Democracy -- the band played a few already leaked tracks, including "Madagascar," "Better" and "IRS" -- Axl had just a few words.

"In regards to our new record . . . hold your breath for a little longer for that," he said. "I want to thank you for that."

No problem, Axl. Lighters up: "Everybody needs some time . . . on their own."

CHARLEY ROGULEWSKI

Now *that* was a decent article.? Much more balanced and fair to the lineup, and more focused on the simlple, undeniable fact that GnR is back.

Seems like many more celebs were in the VIP area last night then when I was there on the 12th.? It's great to see how many of today's "stars" are fans.

Plus, I dig getting the perspective of those who got to see more than one show.  Not to be greedy, I was thrilled to be there on the 12th, but I would have loved to see last night, too.  I was a little too busy being overwhelmed by the fact that GnR were just about 30 ft in front of me.

Be sure to check out the main page of the RS site to see the blown up Axl shot that's been posted on the boards already...

In regards to our new record . . . hold your breath for a little longer for that," he said

What does it mean? ???

""George Chin/WireImage""

so, George Chin, is the official photographer.

Yeah pretty good read. Shannon Elizabeth is one hot piece.

George Chin took some photos of us at the front of the line on Friday night.  Cool guy.

best review in years!!!!!!! cant wait til wed!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for posting the article Bazgnr! Good review. :)

You mean the Blaine reference, right? ?I assume that's why they put the "..." in there, to acknowledge that they left certain bits out. ?No idea why, of course.

Shannon Elizabeth is a GNR freak!! ? ?She loves GNR with a passion. ? ?

good review, nice to see one of the few rock magazines with credibility know their stuff! : ok:

i heard it was something to the effect of....

he talked about CD and said that GnR fans can hold their breath longer than David Blanie and he appreciates that.

sounds positve to me.....like the wait is over

I'm just happy I could bring someting to the boards that wasn't already up, you know? ?Definitely the best of the reviews I've read so far, I think.

Hold your breath = Be prepared to wait
Axl meant we will wait a little more...;D

That's what I heard as well.? The RS article makes it sound like the wait isn't quite over yet, and gives a whole different meaning to that little antecdote.? How about someone who was there last night chime in?  Was he praising fans for their patience or saying that the wait isn't quite over?

i can live with that. timing is everything. :smoking:

well that quote i typed was basically word for word from nothingman who went last night

Great review, exactly how I would sum up the night....it wasn't about the mistakes, or the lack of old gunners or even the new guitarist, it was about Axl returning to the rock scene with a vengeance and the crowd eating up every single second of it.  The "real" reviews shouldn't start till Rio.  Right now its just about one of the best frontmen of all time returning to give rock a major kick in the ass.

Great review I thought.

Well written, and unbiased, yet hopelessly hopeful for a new album just like us :P

At least we can count on Rolling Stone to give Axl a fair shot no matter what, and they have ever since the Warm Up shows were announced.

they basically have ever since releasing that fucked up article "where is axl rose?" in 2000.

Well said.? It's too bad a lot of reviews are missing the motivation behind these shows.? The point of the Hammerstein shows, I believe, was to let the band "gel" together in front of a loyal crowd in an intimate setting.

Oh, and also to send one loud-ass wake up call to the world that GnR is back.? ?:hihi:

WOW! Rolling Stone coming through with a great review! Thanks for posting it.

Yeah, a good review is always nice to get.

Especially from Rollingstone.

yeah, a good review from rolling stone is a good "fuck you" to the critics. 8)

I'm afraid. after "soon" and "in the next few month", now we have "a little more"...  with Axl's notion of time....I think in 10 years we will still wait :nervous: ?:hihi:

IT is definitely nice to see this kind of review finally.

Although I do find it funny that RollingStone Magazine was regarded as nothing more than a journalistic rag that didn't know shit for giving VR 4 stars for Contraband, but now that they are the only magazine giving Guns the type of show review we all hoped to see they are suddenly a reputable source again.

Just goes to show we need to step back a little from using our "rose" colored glasses to determine the worth of an entire publication on the basis of one writer's opinions.

I'm going from memory, but I thought he wasn't telling us to hold our breath for a little longer but thanking us for holding our breath for as long as we have, and said we are even better than David Blaine for holding our breath. I guess DB is some type of world record holder.

I really didn't get any sense of a prediction for CD.

Then let's keep fingers crossed for "fall/late fall," like he said during the Trunk interview...thanks for sharing what you heard!

I think that has more to do with the fact there are so many haters on this board that for some reason i can't figure out really resent VR and former members. 

good article, much better written than that MTV yellow journalism piece.

So nice too, cause tons of people who actually know something about music read rollingstone.  MTV doesn't mean shit anymore.

How about instead of us holding our breath Axl releases the fucking album!  I got excited after the first Vegas show and in 2002 but can any of us honestly say that we are any closer to hearing this album?  Blaine was unsuccessful in his attempt to hold his breath, should anything be read into that?  Not trying to be a hater but I am sick of the innuendo about this supposed album.

david blane is a magician that does all sorts of weird stuff. goes without food in a box for a week. stays in sub zero water for days etc etc.

one of his latest stunts (about 2 weeks ago, shows axl watches the news) was being submerged underwater to see how long he can hold his breath. he held it for 7mins something, then after that almost died and needed to be taken by ambulance to the hospital.

i just had to clear that up because i've read several times now people missing axl's david blane reference.

Really nice article by Rolling stone  :)

Great fucking review.  My only argument would be the Robin Finck Fortus solo of "Beautiful" I really did think that was fucking cool.  It sounded amazing. 

I just got back to Iowa today from that show and let me tell all of you it was incredible.  Axl talked about how the show almost didn't happen because on the 13th he woke up and said he couldn't talk.  Man i'm so glad that worked out.


Axl and the whole band looked great.   The new gnr is fucking amazing.  You all have to get a load of these motherfuckers.  I hope the line up stays the same because i really think they got it now.  Finck was amazing! 

Hey and nothing against him, but what exactly does Chris Pittman do?  Last night when i saw him he wasn't doing much.  I'm sure he does more than i think but just curious.


Hatts

i wish i was there, now i gotta wait for the north american tour in the fall, god willing


rock n' roll