Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Here' s some information about the place where the Roskilde Festival is taking place.? ;)



The city of Roskilde


Roskilde is an ancient city, and was the capital of Denmark until about 1400, when that role transferred to Copenhagen. The Roskilde train station is a major stop between Copenhagen and the rest of the country west of the capital. Partly because of this, the city is a center of economics for the region with a central walking street (g?gade) with a myriad of shops, restaurants and cafes running down the center of the city. Several tourist attractions draw visitors from around Denmark and the world, along with an education program inviting international students to attend the local university for a year.


Roskilde Cathedral


The city's early importance is evident from the fact that the Roskilde Cathedral was the only cathedral in Zealand until the 20th century. Built in the 12th and 13th centuries, it was the first Gothic cathedral to be built of brick and its construction encouraged the spread of this style throughout northern Europe. The cathedral is the burial site for Danish monarchs and is a major tourist attraction attracting over 125,000 visitors annually. Since 1995 the cathedral has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A working church, it also hosts concerts throughout the year.
Connected to the church is a palace. Roskilde Palace was built between 1733-36. Built onto of the former location of another palace (that of a former bishop of Roskilde), it is today a museum and residence of the current bishop of Roskilde.


Viking Ships
 
 
Another attraction in the city is the Viking Ship Museum (Vikingeskibs Museet). The centrepieces of its collection are the well-preserved remains of five longships and Warships, excavated from nearby Roskilde Fjord in the late 1960s. The ships were scuttled there in the 11th century to block a navigation channel, thus protecting the city which was then the Danish capital, from seaborne assault. The museum also undertakes research in experimental archaeology centred on Viking shipbuilding and seaworthiness. These five ships repersent two distinct classes of Viking Ships. The Longship and Warship. This does not exclude smaller fishing and ferryships, which range from 10 feet to 50 feet.


Roskilde Festival? :beer:
 
 
Since 1971 the Roskilde Festival, a rock music festival, has been held annually on the fairgrounds near Roskilde. It has grown to become one of the biggest rock/pop festivals in Europe. All profits from this festival are donated to charities. The fairgrounds are also the site of regionally popular agricultural and animal exhibitions, as well as large flea markets. [3]
Roskilde Festival is held south of Roskilde in Denmark and is one of the two biggest annual rock music festivals in Europe (the other being the Glastonbury festival). It was created in 1971 by two high school students, Mogens Sandf?r and Jesper Switzer M?ller, and promoter Carl Fischer. In 1973, the festival was taken over by the Roskilde Foundation, who has since run the festival as a non-profit organisation for development and support of music, culture, and humanism.
It being Denmark's first real music oriented festival, originally for hippies but today covering more of the mainstream youth from Scandinavia and the rest of Europe. Roskilde Festival 2003 gathered more than 65,000 paying people for the concerts, along with 20,000 workers, most of them volunteers.
Traditionally the campsite opens the last Sunday of June, which gives the festivalguests plenty of time to settle down and "warm up". The festival officially starts the following Thursday at the Animal Showgrounds (in recent years simply known as the "Festival Site") and lasts for 4 days.

 
Trying to catch a glimpse at the Arena Stage

The tents are called 'stages', which were until 2003 named after their colour, but as the names had not matched the actual colour of the tents for a period, it was decided to rename all stages except the Orange Stage, the central and main stage. The Orange Stage is open in front of a huge field, whereas the other tents cover the whole audience, the largest of which is the Arena stage (formerly known as Green Stage), the largest tent in Europe with an official capacity of 18.000 people.
The music covers such styles as Heavy metal, HipHop, Electronic and Rock, but the festival wants to promote new artists and has setup a special stage for alternative music. It has also become a tradition to let an up and coming Danish band open the Orange Stage on the first day of the festival. There's always a stage for world music, not too big, but strategically located, so that people passing by will stop and learn something new. And there's usually at least one performance of classical music, often a full orchestra playing (parts of) well-known compositions.
Apart from music there is always some theatre and 'lone acts' wandering around the festival site. Terrain and tents are always decorated in various ways.
Until the mid-1990's the festival attracted mostly Scandinavians, but in recent years it has become more and more international (with an especially large influx of Germans). A Scandinavian alternative remained in the Midtfyns Festival, until that closed in 2004 following declining ticket sales.
Tragedy struck the festival in the year 2000 when nine people were killed. They were trampled to death in the crowd in front of the main stage during the Pearl Jam performance. As a result, massive security measures were installed for the festival in 2001. After the tragedy, a memorial site was set up close to the main stage. It features 9 trees and a stone inscribed with the words "How fragile we are".


Specific years

- 2003
Very hot indeed. Sun shining every day. Good show such as Metallica, Blur, Coldplay, Bj?rk, Massive Attack, The Streets, Iron Maiden, Queens of the Stone Age.

-2004
Rain, rain, thunder, rain, a ray of light and lots of mud. The 2004 festival featured artists such as Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Santana, Fatboy Slim, Wu-Tang Clan and Morrissey. David Bowie was scheduled to play at Roskilde 2004 but cancelled due to health issues, with a notice on his website. Instead, Slipknot, who were on tour in Europe, filled the spot.

-2005
The 2005 edition featured artists such as Audioslave, Autechre, Snoop Dogg, Black Sabbath, D-A-D, Duran Duran, Foo Fighters, Green Day, Brian Wilson, Fant?mas, Kent, Sonic Youth and more than 160 other bands and DJs. This year was also a huge contrast to the previous year on the weather front. Hot and sunny all week.

-2006
    
On January 25, the first three bands that will be performing at the 2006 Roskilde Festival were announced. They are Franz Ferdinand, Kanye West and Tool. After this, several other bands and artists, including Placebo, Morrissey, GUNS N?ROSES, Sigur R?s, Bob Dylan and Roger Waters, has been added to the list. For a complete list, see the Festival website's band list:


http://www.roskilde-festival.dk/



Just wanted to inform you guys a little about the next "battle scene".? ;D

So, anyone going to the festival tonight?? :)

If anyone's going, they're propably already there, or on their way.. Or shame on them if they're not..

Im going!!! :D

Great ! Will you give us report from the night's concert?

Well, off you go then.. There are people already getting drunk and having a good time...

I know a couple of people that are going. Have fun guys!!!
amy

can we hope for a stream? :-X

Well I can give a review...

But I need a phone number if you  guys want some updates(Not many)

how many hours till this show kicks off?

6? hour...(If they are on time)

I'm going too. Can't wait!

Me too, I'm off in about an hour or so. GN'R will be on at 9.pm - i hope! I'll try to capture some movie or pics of the event - not sure if I get caught or in some trouble...Cross your fingers for me... :peace:

Hey Danes, drink some tuborgs for me!!! enjoy!

i think they should have a faceoff of versions of "knockin on heaven's door" between GNR and Bob Dylan

Yeah, that would be awesome !? : ok:

is anybody gonna live updates from the show?

My friend is going. He went straight from GNR in Oslo to Roskilde by plane.

So what time are GNR gonna play?? 9pm Denmark time so 3pm USA time?

Is GNR headlining this show?

9PM local time, 3PM EST.



Headlining the orange stage (the biggest stage) tonight.



/jarmo

Are we going to be getting updates from anyone there? I've heard elsewhere that BFMV is playing/have played.

45 min til they hit stage.

So who is on currently and is there a live stream?

again is there any one who's gona send any updates?

Doesn't look like we're going to get live updates for this one since (assuming they went on stage on time) they've been playing for 35 minutes now.

not good

They go on at 3pm Eastern Standard time usa AND it's only 225pm here

It's 25 minutes til they get on stage. The time is: 20.35 ET and they are scheduled for 21.00 ET

Yeah, they haven't started playing yet. ?But some of the people going are regular posters, so we should at least get a good review :)

I should hear when they go on..

My friend says he's waiting right now and expects them sometime between 9 and 10

why are we always here, waiting... we could all go out, get a drink and uhm... bite some legs  :hihi:

I can't, I'm at work  :crying:  I need GNR updates so I don' t have to actually...like...do anything producive.

;D

figures always a drinker o god figures

Anyone having severe flashbacks to the opening riffs of Jungle right now or is it just me?

Aaahhh memories of NYC :peace:

I get chills in spine every time I still think about the three nights I went... none better than the first night though  :drool:

Shit I was an hour ahead of myself  :hihi: :peace:

So there just going on stage now then 8:00pm GMT

Im getting an MMS from my friend. It's totally packed infront of the stage. He's not able to move at all

It's ok guys if we don't get any updates. :)
I'm sure people will post reviews as soon as they can.

im here at home drinkin and waiting... i just tried to bite my own leg.  i cant reach.  I gotta get out of the house. This is pathetic.  I think I pulled my back out. 

Another message from him. He says people are going crazy  : ok: Not started but its mad he tells me

ok this is not a real update.. but the first 3 songs were: welcome to the jungle then it's so easy and the third mr brownstone.


and i'm pretty sure about that..

wierd coz i got a message saying they hadnt started like 2 mins ago

Yeah, they still have not come on.

But your right, I bet those will be the first 3 songs :hihi:

yeah i said that that wasn't a real update but the firts songs will prolly be those songs.. if you're getting updates that says that it hasn't started yet then i'm sure that it has not started yet..

That's nothing compared to what I just witnessed.

I went to move my vehicle and I swear I saw a dude who looked JUST like Izzy Stradlin carrying a watermelon getting ready for the long weekend before 4th of July.
 :nervous:

Report: People are starting to whine and moan...

But I think he just told me they started...it was a drunken message..

Looks like the show has started. He is not sending me any messages.

about on time again?

I think they were about an hour late this time. Maybe an hour and 15 minutes or so.

The show has started! He told me Axl was fucking awesome. Someone fucked up in the crowd so my friend and 50 others or something fell over....but its on. Im going to bed so no more updates unfortenately.

They're onstage.. that's all I know.


Apart from that it's 'mind blowing'

lmao....I can just imagine a whole bunch of people toppling over all at once. ?:rofl:

that happened to me at a show with about 60,000 people...it was scary cuz there is nothing you can do wiith a million people leaning on ya :nervous:

Unfortunally no updates from me tonight  :'(

Yeah but i don't know if you know that in 2001 during a Pearl Jam concert 10 people were killed in front of the Orange stage (where Guns play tonight) because to many people were pushing from behind.
So sad :'(

Hey check this out

http://www.roskilde-festival.dk/index.php?code=1


check out the woman to the left with the GNR tshirt on :peace:


I take it that is how you run in a drunken stupor :hihi:

Well.. it's dizzy's solo at the moment.

Oh man...yeah, lets not have that happen tonight :(

Sorry for laughing at first. ?You have to understand, I have a 6 yr old and so watch cartoons after work, before she goes to bed. ?In cartoon land it would be really funny. ?

By the way.... at the Oslo consert, Axl said that the bands favourite song from the new album is "Chinese Demovrasy"

I got to hear that song in NYC at the 14th show : ok:

Oooops...Democrasy ::)

This may dash some people's hopes that there are other big guns to come...

well, it's really DemoCracy

but it's all good

Well then...Democracy : ok:

it's all good in da hood  ;D

so.. is dizzy soloing already?

good as that's the song got me first . the other day I thought the band's fav might be IRS for some reason.

If the band's favorite song of the new album is CD  then this album is going to suck

"favourite" doesn't mean necessarily "best"

Bet you feel pretty dumb for wasting your time getting informed about Guns N' Roses huh?  Now what are you gonna do with your time?  :confused:

Swingtrader, I have a feeling the studio version will be a monster.

Rockslide updates????

In Belgium at the Graspop-festival Axl announced IRS as : 1 of your favorite internetsongs

axl changes his mind on what his/there favorite song all the time.. in february it was better the blues and TWAT, now it's chi-dem

Now thats funny!!!!

 ::) ::) ::) ::)

Axl said that "Better," "There Was a Time" and "The Blues" are among his favorites

so, no change of minds.

well this was what o heard:
"We're working on 32 songs, and 26 are nearly done," he said at the party in an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine. 13 of these will be included on the 1st album, and the rest on two subsequent "sequels." According to Rolling Stone, Rose's favorites so far are "Better," "There Was a Time" and "The Blues."

but who the fuck cares.. i think that it's gonna be a really great record and i'm sure that i'm gonna like it more then for example i like contraband.. it's gonna be the best album since 1991 aND i think and you maybe understand what i mean with 1991

As Nik said, their favorite song, or favorite song to play live, doesn't equal the best song necessarily.

Ali

I know I have a 3 year old : ok:

Update I can't even remember what's happening in my own crountry 30 KM from where i live it was'ent 10 people but 9 and it was in 2000 but I got the Pearl Jam thing right thou  :confused: :hihi:

@ cheapjonday

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9155514/axl_rose_breaks_his_silence/

After all, before he lends his talents to others' projects, Rose has one of his own to finish, and he says it's getting there. "We're working on thirty-two songs, and twenty-six are nearly done," he says. Of those, thirteen are slated for the final album. Among Rose's favorites are "Better," "There Was a Time" and "The Blues."

Ok, now let's stay on topic!

yeah yeah yeah.. i wasn't trying to be a smartass.. just saying that ah.. who cares this thread is about the roskilde show not something he said in oslo or in february..

nuthin' new from denmark?

well if they went on about 4pm USA eastern time that'd be 10pm denmark time so I am guessing they are almost done or close to it as it's already 630pm here so 1230am denmark time : ok:

Oy they're done..

suprising there hasnt been any updates.

this has to be the show with least updates so far for sure :no:

Just got a MMS message from my brother. GnR are done, seems like yet another smooth show, without any surprises. That's all the info i got :)

(http://jaknudsen.com/diverse/gnr_roskilde.jpg)

Strange, we just had couple updates tonight, i hope this not gonna happen at finland

The people are probably drunk and already listening to something else at the festival. Only a few people actually go home after the Guns concert but I bet at least one board member is sober tomorrow.? ;D

How was the show, where are the updates??  This was the biggest show on the tour yet???

This goes to help prove that not everyone going to a Guns show isnt a follower of the boards. This should at least been a good show then without people crying over the same setlist and all the long drawn out solos.

A friend on another forum was at this show and these are some things he posted about the show--



He had some pics, but they were mostly blurry and only of on of the big screens on the side of the stage.

;D ;D

I've been saying for a while if they want to do a cover, they should do Iron Man, I think it would be awesome.

Holy shit!

What a truly amazing, yet unsurprizing show! Oh, have I waited for this day! Maaaan! And I even managed to film a couple of songs, even though the sound isn't the best. My batteries went dead when they were about to play "Better". (way into the set)

The setlist was almost the same as Oslo, except for Rocket Queen, Mr. Brownstone (i don't recall it was playd...no I wasn't too drunk to remember ;D), IRS, Madagascar, that wasn't played. They played a little over 2 hrs.

The show started an hour late...no surprize there either, everybody booed because the band was late. But when the chords to "Jungle" began...woaw! Everybody went crazy, and I haven't heard anything like it before. The thing that was bad, was that i couldn't find a better place to film. I was maybe 50 meters or more from the stage.

Well, anywhoo, this is something that will be hard to forget the next few years (or till the next time GNR visits Denmark again!)

I'll get some breakfast, then jump into bed, and then I'll see what I can do about the videos i made...

Awesome, sounds like you had a fucking Blast!

Back from Roooooooooooooooskilde.


I lost my voice.... My heart years ago. To this fuckin band and that redheaded lead singer.

The show was.... UNFUCKINBELIEVABLY COOL. This band is so smooth, you'll slip on them if you're not careful. Fuck, they rock! Setlists will surface, but for now:

1.   45 minutes late. Few people booed. Young Swedish girl asked me "They very late, yes?" and it dawned on me: To the many "young" people there (13-20 years old) this was a "classic" band. Old timers! *laughs* 

2.  Clouds vaporated and not a cottonball in the sky! Beautiful, beautiful evening.

3.  Jungle hit and the place goes bonkers

4.  Axl is in HIGH spirits, smiling, joking and genuinely thanking the crowd. Magic.

5.  "Oldest festival in the world. 39 years?"... he talked a lot. He was really into this show.

6.  A lot of Swedish police jokes and rent-a-cops. "If I lie down like this.." and he lay down on stage! Didn't hear the rest clearly, but it was HILRARIOUS

7. Fireworks and pyro really BREATHES at a huge, historic venue like Roskilde's Orange stage. Wow.

8.  Many, many, many, many highlights but I'd say.... November Rain really had all 70,000 fuckers misty-eyed. Fuck yeah.

9.  And Axl's voice? I saw them in Budapest and that's already a modern classic, but the SOUND here at Roskilde, was fuckin CRISP and CLEAR and PERFECT and Axl sang to the heavens... EVERYBODY commented his voice around us and afterwards. People were like: "This guy is incredible".



Later, all....

 :peace:


RF

Stop twisting it. Its their fave song to do live, out of the new songs BEING played.

I did get updates but I fell asleep because of the Oslo decadence on the 28th. The show rocked. My friend went all crazy during Better

Aaa man, I don't want to go off topic but I want to make one thing clear. I don't think Axl said that CD was the band favourite, I think he said that it was FRANK'S favourite. Sorry if I'm wrong but that's what I heard.

Sounds like another fantastic show. Damn I want them back to Sweden.

sounds good..

cheers rainfox and michael - sounds like another killer show!  gunning from strength to strength again - how was the new drummer doing?  he must be having the time of his life....
winning over a festival crowd must feel pretty sweet.

oh god i feel like buying tickets to the UK tour dates that I'm not already going to....though have already been pronounced as "greedy" by my husband   :(

It seems you had a great time there...? :beer: can t wait these 9  f@cking days? :smoking:

The vocal was almost perfect and the firworks where huge.

They DID play "Mr. Brownstone", but not the others you mentioned.

It was indeed a great show. No Izzy or Baz, though. And waaayy too many fucking solos ... they've started playing these jazz-like jams in between a lot of the songs. I haven't heard that on any of the bootlegs.

But Axl was in a good mood and they played a great show. Lots of nice pyro and fireworks too.

They were about 50 minutes late. A little after 9 PM (when they were supposed to go on), they played various songs over the PA .. starting with Led Zeppelin, going into RATM, Foo Fighters and a bunch of others. At first the audience would cheer after a song ended, but eventually it turned into boos. hehe. But like the others said, once they started playing Jungle, the place went crazy and everyone forgot about the band being late and just enjoyed themselves.

Oh, the new drummer was great. He'd often play this beat on the snare drum to get the audience to chant "GUNS AND ROSES" over and over. Axl joked that the audience should do that every night for the rest of the festival! hahaha. He also said something about the drummer having the "time of his life".

Very bad reviews from danish media... :-\

They say that GNR was a joke and there was too many solos...

I was there and I think it was a 4/6 concerts. Axl and the band sounded great but in my opinion the sound was too low.. Axl was in a fantastic mood and was joking alot...  :peace:

Maybe later i will give a longer review...

The sound in Globen (7 out of 10) was too low too. Had to take out my earplugs from time to time.

Fucking awesome show!!!
Axl looks great and sounded awesome and was in good spirits, making a few jokes about being arrested and told the crowd who kept chanting Guns And roses! to chant that for the rest of the concert at ever show. Hehehe.

The chemistry of the band on stage is brilliant. there was heaps of interaction and they sounded awesome. Loved dizzys solo.

I think I was one of like 4 people who sang and danced to the new songs though. NO one was into the Blues where I was standing (at the front of the right side) but people got into better.

Cant wait to see them in Nottingham because hopefully we will hear more new music, like Madgascar and maybe even TWAT or something completely new. anyways, best night of my life.

Cant wait to see Dylan tonight.

Hey!
Long time lurker, first time poster, I thought I'd share some of the experience.

I was at the Roskilde Festival last night at the Guns show, pretty much dead-center (left side of the right box) first row, getting fucking smashed up against the fence, it was all good but VERY exhausting. I waited from the moment they opened (17:00) until Guns went on stage (probably around 22:00 I think), as a Guns fan you also had to watch Bullet for my Valentine since they allowed people to stay in front of the scene for both shows and keep their spots - which is why it was quite rough physically, quite a few people carried away from around me because of exhaustion, but no injuries or anything, security was - as always on Roskilde - top notch.

They were about an hour or so late, people started booing quite a bit, but everything was forgiven and forgotten once Axl finally showed his face on stage.

The start of the show was AMAZING, they just blasted out Welcome to the Jungle, Mr. Brownstone and a few other quick explosive songs! Then the show slowed down a little and they played some quieter songs. In the beginning it was great to get some variety and have a breather during the slow songs, but as the show wore on it became too slow, I'm sorry but the guitar solos just didn't cut it (and I normally LOVE guitar solos), they were slow and boring. Dizzy's solo was really great though, but most of the other solos and interludes were too slow and too repetitive. I know I'll take flak for this, but Thal/Finck/Fortus just can't captivate the audience like Slash during the solos, Thal's VERY fast shredding was just a freak show, added nothing musically. Axl was clearly the backbone of the band, most of the energy disappeared when Axl disappeared off stage (which he did a bit much IMHO).

Axl was in awesome shape, running around screaming like a madman, getting into crazy rants, singing beautifully - on the explosive angry songs as well as the quiet ones - clearly showed why he's one of the best (if not the best) frontmen in the world right now! The stage show was brilliant too, among the very best I've seen at the Orange stage over the years, fireworks, flames (you could feel the heat clearly in the front rows!), smoke, confetti - they had it all!

The selection of songs was very good, of course with Guns you really almost can't go wrong, there are so many great songs it's impossible to hear them all during just one show - notably absent were Rocket Queen (a lot of chants for it from the audience though) and Madagascar which I really missed, would have loved to have heard songs like Estranged or Pretty Tied Up too, but no complaints there - not enough time for everything, that's just how it is.

All in all I'd give the show maybe 8/10, a very good performance that could have been top notch, but was hampered by slow boring guitar solos and mindless freak show shredding from Thal. My impression was that most people around me would agree, haven't read any reviews from the media yet, I'm gonna do that right now - hopefully they're not as bad as people are saying, because that would certainly NOT be fair with the performance they gave.

I totally agree.

Great, great show. The reviews are laughable!

The crowd went boinkers!

And the show itself - the SHOW - pyro, fireworks, confetti - it totaly ruled. Went real smooth. And a glorious night too.


Reviews:

Treo from Ekstra Bladet is a moron. Never mind him. He once reviewed a show he didn't attend!

Steffen Jungeren from BT is an APE. Worst reviewer we have and some what of a clown. He's a joke. Always drunk and basically... a buffoon.

Kim Skotte in Politiken has worsened over the years and become very dumdfounded in fact. He was better in his old days at Aktuelt. Now, he's tired and his journlistic codes are broken constantly. His review is shit.

Berlingske isn't out yet. And JP can't spell culture. Or is it kulture?  ;)


This sounds like I'm protecting Axl but it's not that. The Danish press SUCKS. There's so much moronic malice involved here I'm at a loss for words..

I never ever read Danish music and movie sections, reviews and articles. For that I have Rolling Stone, The New York Times and Roger Ebert.


This show was brilliant. And the Festival itself are very proud. It was even announced shortly after.

I totally agree here...

Other magazines like Gaffa gives them 3/6...

Yeah its not like there gonna say this i love is their fav song out of the blue there just talkin bout the tracks there playin live.

anyone got the setlist? didn't see it so far or maybe i missed it

maybe it is the same?

check the thread in tour section too ;)

How is it that every fan review from every show talks about how Axl's vocals were "perfect" and it was the best show yet, and the reviews by non-message board visiting people continue to be less than complimentary? How can a bunch of people watch the same show, yet walk away with such drastically different conclusions.

the press has never liked GNR or axl the bad reviews by newspapers should not be a surprise.

how can some peoples say its ok to bite the security guard when your drunk! it is too much axl rose worship!

There is no doubt your logic is correct, but the problem is the bootlegs continue to show that the critics are for the most part clueless.   Axl, no doubt, has been very good vocally on this tour.   I am sure, though, that they have had bad nights.  But, they are phenomenal live!

GNR received some coverage on the Roskilde gig in Helsingin Sanomat, the largest Finnish daily newspaper today. They were on the opening page of the 'Culture' section, with a big photo of Axl giving a middle finger to the audience (likely the "why don't you just..." bit of ISO). The article was titled "A shell of a band", which gives an idea of the writer's opinion. He called the oldies (WTTJ, ISO, Brownstone, SCOM, OTGM and Nightrain) hits, that still sink into the audience without a hitch, and gave the band props for putting up a good show. He compared the band to a Broadway-musical: highly entertaining, in a good way. He liked the fact that Axl seemed to be in brisk shape and was still able to hits all the notes.

When he got down to talking about the new band and CD, his tone expectedly got a bit bleaker. While they played well, they were mentioned as "hired musicians", and were criticized to be an impersonal bunch when compared to the AFD lineup. Finck was apparently the most impressive, which is a bit amusing when considering he did most of Slash's solos. Then again, he did play his Finlandia solo again, as the amused reviewer pointed out. Some of the usual talk about CD taking so long, the expenses, the personell changes. CD, The Blues and Better were labeled completely different from the old songs, which the writer remembers as "classic rock with snappy choruses". He noted he had a hard time finding the choruses altogether from the new tracks.

And Axl's arrest got a mention, which was expected. The same could be said about Axl, who reportedly asked the audience to make enough sound "for Sweden to hear". He was said to be in a good mood, telling the audience he was likely "most fucked up of us all".


Close the piece with a notion that the both Helsinki gigs are sold out. Last laughs.

My review of the Roskilde show. I don't normally comment on my colleagues, but the whole corps here in Denmark - 5 major newspapers - are so blatantly moronic (and get stuff wrong - songs, sound, clothing) that it's their ignorance and prejudices AGAINST Axl speaking - not their journalistic skills.





Live and let live

- An exuberant Axl Rose triumphs at Roskilde


Roskilde Festival
June 29th 2006

Guns N' Roses
Orange Stage, 21:00


RO Ltd.



While rainclouds had threatened the merry festival goers all day, the sun would finally burn them away just before dusk. Expectations were sky high as Guns N' Roses were set to kick off the famous Roskilde Festival.

Not only were they coming across the pond with five years of wild raves from the serious music press in tow, it had been 13 years since they last visited Denmark.

Taking the stage around a quarter to ten, Guns N' Roses 'Version 2.0' were greeted by a roaring 70,000 strong crowd, as the festival lapped up the last rays of an orange-yellow sunset.

Guitarist Robin Finck teased with the opening notes of "Welcome to the Jungle" and soon a very familiar wail sliced the evening air: "DO YOU KNOW WHERE THE FUCK YOU ARE?".

The sound was brilliant, crisp and clean, with perfect volume for the massive grounds that almost circle the orange tent of the stage. Frequently, Orange Stage has had sound problems but not tonight. It was crystal.

And there he was, this mercurial frontman, this Howard Hughes of Hard Rock, this Ayatollah of rock n' rolla. Axl Rose. Looking fit and happy, with pulled back braided hair, a nicely groomed goatee and a rather impressive six-pack for a 44-year old, he started the show in top gear and never let up. Darting across the stage not missing a note, you might have needed to pinch yourself to realize it was 2006 and not 1992.

Drummer Brian Mantia was home with his pregnant wife and substitute Frank Ferrer let know he meant business. As the band ripped into the punkish "It's So Easy", coupled with bassist Tommy Stinson and guitarist Richard Fortus, they easily (pun intended) made a case for the tightest rhythm section in all of rock n' roll. Straight on to "Mr. Brownstone", that had the audience swaying in unison like a wave.

Ofcourse, there is no Slash in Guns N' Roses these days and there hasn't been for ten years. In fact, this so called 'new' line-up has been together longer now than the old one. Much has been made of Rose keeping the band name and the shockadelica media unanimously seem to agree that he alone is the bad guy. Because you can't carry an almost new line-up under the same name, see.

What? Okay, let's see then. Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Toto, KISS, Marillion, Iron Maiden, M?torhead, AC/DC. To name but a few. There's even a new guitarist and bass player in The Rolling Stones for those that really know their trivia. Hell, Black Sabbath made albums and toured without Ozzy. Remember?

Most people don't want to.

They just want to give Axl Rose a hard time.

That's headlines, that's easy street in journalism and that's money in the bank. This however also fueled by the main man happily living under the papparazzi radar for the last 13 years, and not giving interviews, not allowing photographers up front at gigs and not - basically - giving a single whistle. They hate that. They really do hate that.

There's a lot of dumbfounded and blatantly ignorant malice involved. On the path to some kind of constructive critisism the Danish media veered off course, with lame and laughable reviews not only getting songs wrong, but focusing on Rose's attire (and getting it wrong even) and some accusing him of having no voice anymore. Mindboggling idiocy. Beyond stupidity.

Well, isn't it fabulous that Rose could care less?

Amused and in seemingly great spirits this evening, Rose was talkative and made a few (quite hilarious) comments about his recent arrest - and blackmailed confession - for a scuffle with a "rent-a-cop" in Stockholm two days earlier. Clearly also in awe of playing this historic festival for the first time, Rose mentioned its fabled history and charity proceeds. He also managed to display some lighthearted and needed self-irony.

His mesmerizing voice intact, Axl however seemingly also wanted to showcase his comrades on this tour. Keyboardist Dizzy Reed ran elegantly and passionately through a rendition of David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust".

While the band is exquisite rock n' roll to the ears, it's a circus extravaganza to the eyes. This becomes especially apparent when guitarist Ron Thal's introduction (by Rose) is straight out of Star Wars, and his foot-shaped bee guitar (go figure) breaks between his hands mid-solo on the left side of the stage. Not intentional. But it could have been. Later, he would redeem himself with a poignant instrumental of "Don't Cry" as 70,000 throats subbed for Rose.

By the sixth song, a refined, bluesy back-to-basics "Knocking on Heavens Door" with a lavish vocal from a game Rose, the crowd hits a frenzy. To constant chants of "Guns! And! Roses!", Axl comments with a shit-eating grin: "Hey, do that at all the other concerts here."

From a distance, the new band looks like a weird bunch of collectible action figures. As a musical unit, they exhibit a rare feel and musicianship. The latter blaringly obvious to anyone who's ever remotely played an instrument. Lead axe-man Finck is the vortex and the Slash-replacement. He's got an unadulterated hard-nosed but soft-souled style of play and nowhere is it more apparent than in the new songs. "Better" is built on a gorgeous, classic GN'R riff and it almost slipped right in alongside the classics tonight. The title song to the upcoming album - "Chinese Democracy" - is a grungy and punchy little nugget. These tunes went over well.

There were pauses between some songs, as the band either regrouped or - as they're known to do - chose the next song. Setlists are a fluctuating thing in the world of Guns N' Roses. This would sometimes make for some annoying breaks and for more fodder to the media conspiracy theorists - is Axl out of breath? Doing coke? Changing clothes? Yes, all of those things. Now shut up.

The streetwise rocker "Out Ta Get Me" from the 1987 debut album "Appetite for Destruction" could have been the highlight if not for the song that followed. On this beautiful Summer evening with a picture-perfect sunset, the best was yet to come. From stage left.

In rolls the grand piano and Axl Rose himself orchestrates a stunning "November Rain". Simply stunning. "This is a really long song... those lighters get really fucking hot don't they?", he acknowledges before the outro, the crowd going delirious.

Hot indeed. What a show. While some of the classics were played with grit and heart, others were stretched and greased a bit. Suited them well. "Nightrain" sounded to its name - a monstrous freight train - and showcloser "Paradise City" was more organic and convivial than in the old band version.

When Fortus and Finck duelled out a brave rendition of Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful", it was exactly the kind of both surprising - and intelligent - art-rockeau fun that personifies this new band. It also makes any form of reunion with the old members seem irrefragable.

This was a truly triumphant night for Guns N' Roses and the Roskilde Festival. Even more so for the main man, who's constant devilish smile maybe said it best after all.

An anniversary of sorts for this reporter - my tenth Roskilde Festival - I have never experienced a greater vibe in front of the ruthless Orange Stage. Not even Metallica in 2003. This stage normally eats bands for a living. Guns N' Roses looked right at home there and for just well over 2 hours, they brought their own little rock n' roll jungle to Roskilde.


by RF



 :)

cool. sounds like it was a good show!

wow.


thats REALLY great review.
thanks.I enjoyed while reading it : ok:

Excellent review.  Damn, I wish I was there!   :yes:

Thanks for the review RF!

See you next week in Oslo! :D




/jarmo

Nice review rainfox. Like your insight and commentary also. Only one thing I dont agree with though

- Setlists are a fluctuating thing in the world of Guns N' Roses.

from what ive read the setlist is kinda the same more or less from each show so far. . Dizzy's solo changes, but thats about it.

The songs might be the same (with some songs being dropped/added at certain shows), but they switch the order around.




/jarmo

Thanks for the review RF! One of the best ones so far... You deserve all the credit so do the new guys in GNR ;D

holy shit! RF has just proved wrong my theory that noone on this board has an IQ greater than 64!?

well thank you ...  ::)

board members  :P

Thank you all.

The Danish media really pissed me off. I've been in the 'biz' for almost 16 years but never written for a corporate rag (and no, Cobain, they don't always suck) and I know a lot of people.

The people in this case - Thomas Treo from Ekstra Bladet, Steffen Jungersen from BT, Erik Jensen from Politiken and Thomas S?ie from Berlingske are *NOT* the fastest animals in the woods. Not the sharpest knives in the drawer. Their reviews were so prejudiced and dumb - truly DUMB - that I actually started to worry about the great country of Denmark for a while ( - as those four have 80% of the newspaper market)...? :P

Anyway... GREAT show.? You'd want to get this boot.? I'm searching high and low for it.

And if you get it... When Axl says: ".. in fact, if I lie down like this.." in regard to the Stockholm incident, he DID lie down and the crowd laughed their ass off. It was hilarious.

 :peace:



 

great review RF...I read your review drunk as hell over here and it was great.  I usually don't read posts that long...but man it was WELL worth it!

Hey all! I'm back home from the Roskildefestival! Since the death accident in 2000 the security is really tight! First I stood in line to get in to the box closest to the stage. Ande when I finally thought I was in there was yet another box so I couldn't go up front. So I stood and hung around for a while, got bored and thirsty. So was in a line for beers through Jungle and I't so easy. Two days after the concert festival organizers admittded that the security was too tight at  the GNR show. I could clearly see there were a lot of space left up front so that was a bummer. :(

Anyhow, since I couldn't get up front I concentrated on getting even more drunk in the far back :beer: Robin Finck's play I dig a lot yeah. The Sweden joke was great I missed IRS and Madagascar. His voice was amazing. That it said in te review in the festival paper aswell. But their headline was: "The guest who wouldn't leave", the reviewer thought the show was too long.. GNR just can't win over the press on this tour. Complaining about too long shows and that the band are playing too well ??? Fuck them!

The fireworks was terrific, the sound awesome. The song I think enjoyed the most is The Blues because it's constantly in my head right now the way he sings it on this tour. I was really really proud to see GNR for the second time in a week at my fourth stay at the Roskilde festival. GNR were winning the crowd : ok:

It really gotta be the greatest festival in the world! Everbody has to go! Rob Halford was there as a festival goer, how cool is that!? Thank you Danmark, Roskilde and GNR see next fuckin year :beer:

In todays version of Ekstra Bladet(danish paper) are there a little mention about Axl and Lars Ulrich drinking champagne together in Copenhagen. It was in nightclub(NASA)...

Pretty cool i think... : ok:

Thank you very much for the reviews.

Really good read, Rainfox. I didn't know you're a writer and a danish.


wrong board.

Lars and Axl?

Now, that's news. Print it, EB!  ;)

NASA is the number one exclusive night club in Copenhagen.

/RF

Mate that was an absolute joy to read that review. After all the negative and quite frankly wrong reviews of the band so far on tour. To read this was a breath of fresh air. I personally felt like that after the Hammersmith and Download perfomances, it was so upsetting to read the reviews from so called journalists after those amazing performances. So to wake up this morning and read this is fantastic! Thankyou! Mike

An exelent review RF. I was at the festival and your review totally reflects my opinion on the show. I hate how critics love to bash Axl, but then again I know that they can't be speaking for the rest of us at the concert when they rate the show 2/6, like the Roskilde-festival paper did! Everyone had an awsome time and Axl's voice sounded like he just recorded Appetite for Destruction a month ago. Going to a GNR concert has been a dream of mine since I first listened to them 1988, and they really lived up to all expectations.

Greetins from Iceland... WAR

DR2 in Denmark will show some clip, tomorrow night, from the GNR concert at Roskilde... :)

http://www.dr.dk/DR2/Musikprogrammet/index.htm

great review rainfox. change some passages and i could`ve written it myself about rock am ring :peace:

and how do you know they show a clip of gnr??

best show i've ever been to. watching axl infront of me was unreal, he was 10-15 metres away and he was in good spirits the entire evening, and his voice, you have to hear it live to know how powerful it is. simply amazing. 8) the whole show gave me goosebumps, with nightrain and november rain and better being the highlights, if i was to choose any. awesome show and i can't wait to see them in oslo. 8)

Thanks for the heads up on Roskilde w./ GNR on DR2 tomorrow!

HOWEVER.. prepare yourselves. They could get slaughtered. The local Roskilde Paper down there gave them 2/6.

I mean.. it's just really a ....  :rant:

Everyone was so happy, sound great, performance brilliant, band tight, Axl in full pipes and joking, weather perfect...  DAMN.

But we'll see. It'll be interesting.

RF

about that roskilde festival newsletter - i actually managed to climpse at the sigur ros review first and when i saw it i knew what was coming for axl.

but even the most ardent of supporter must admit that the soloing does get a bit much. of course axls breaks do provide much more positives than negatives as they [must] help him to perform, but fuck me - do we really need to hear that wretched beautiful any more?
saw the raconteurs the final night and they covered nacy sinatras 'bang bang (my baby shot me down)' (of kill bill fame). thats a tune that would have been perfect in the tradition of godfather and even buckets star wars. instead we get linda fucking perry and christina aguilera.

but nontheless it was just another great show. its such a chore seeing them isnt?! ::) :rofl:
the band really are terrific, tommy is great fun and axl sings and performs with a conviction that completely ruins everything else as nobody can hold a candle to him.

though saying that, bob dylan was ridiculously brilliant.

but really all i can do is echo what has been said of the tour and the show before. they're just great. and the reworked chin dem title track is as awesome as it deserves to be.

but again, aside from the gaps (which wouldnt be so bad were they to change the beautiful solo into something more fitting a gnr world), the only complaint i can have is that i wish every night was a gnr show. its unfair for axl to be that good. hes a fucker.


(is the slipping bit pre-meditated? does he do it every show? if so, id lose that too)

Phil... you know, I agree with you.

But I have to say: I thoroughly enjoy the 'Beautiful' solo and find it both touching and, well, beautiful. It's a bloody great melody and I like that they have the balls to cover it. It also goes to show that Axl is still Axl.

That's NIN meets Elton John meets Fiona Apple.. doesn't matter. If it's good - genuine - it's good and genuine. Robin is much the same way. I bet it was his idea.

I've watched this guitar version of Beautiful from Rio 5 (Lisbon) around 25 times now. When Finck comes in... it almst gets me misty-eyed. It's that beautiful and heartfelt. And for anyone who's ever banged a drum or two pots.. Fortus and Finck have more chemistry than Dr. Frankenstein had! Whoa.

What pisses me off with the Danish media - I mean they've been ridiculous for years (last CORRECT, great, strong review I read was Mellencamp in Valby Hallen in 1994, and that goes for BOTH Politiken and Belingske) - is the damage it does...

.. talking to a colleague here Monday - a huge old-school metal fan and he would have loved to see Axl and the guys for the nostalgia he said - but his first words were: "So... let down?"

I tried explaining it to him and he interrupted me going "Hey, c'mon, they ALL said it, even P3 [radio].. it couldn't have been good". We actually got into somewhat of an argument. Crazy huh?  :hihi:

Waste of energy, waste of everything... especially when one had a blast and the band DELIVERED! Sad shit.

Things got straightened out though and I explained it to him.. about the four walking, talking journalistic jokes who set the tone here..

Ekstra Bladet = Thomas Treo.
BT = Steffen Jungersen.
Politiken = Erik Jensen.
Berlingske: Thomas S?ie.

.. and how they have for years. Always prejudiced and always kicking up a storm. Utterly sad.

Thank God for Rolling Stone, NY Times, BBC and such...


 :peace:

RF

Has the festival said anything about the GNR concert?(newsletter)

Yup.  They got 2/5.  Which also floored me.  I mean... WTF?

Right afterwards (as always) a Roskilde announcer came on stage to close it and RAVED about the show, in the terms of "What a way to open, how was that huh?"  He was really excited.

Hey Danes,

I read that Axl and Lars ulrich drunk some beers in a night club in copenhagen.

where is this pub? just for my curiosty...I live in DK last year...

 :beer:

tak!

Axl: GIve me the fucking ball

he says this while singing WTTJ. what was that all abooot?

haha, was that what he said? i was right there, like 15 metres from him, and i heard him say something and then said "thank you" and kicked the ball back out in the crowd! ;D funny shit!

At one concert he kicked a football into the audience, so it was probably that.

must have been the ball you can see on that bumblefoot picture...

Dellorto... It was the NASA nightclub which is members only and the most ultimate nightclub in all of Denmark.  Close by, on the ground floor (NASA is penthouse) is Club 8, which is also exclusive but open to the general public.

Ulrich and Nielsen, with Axl, were spotted both days.

My girlfriend's good friend were at Club 8 on the Friday, and they were all there. She asked someone to hold/look after her bag while she went dancing (they had a few drinks) and later we all found out... It was probably Beta!  : ok:    Elderly/motherly woman, in Axl's entourage... Beta  : ok:

Funny, huh?


RF