Gilby Clarke - The Village, Dublin, Ireland

Having seen Matt, Slash and Duff with Velvet Revolver in the Point in January 2005 and purchased a ticket to see Axl with Guns N Roses this forthcoming June, that only left Gilby from Guns N? Roses Use Your Illusion line up (the line up that had performed at Slane Castle in May 92). Fortunately, I had seen a posting on blabbermouth about Gilby performing in Ireland at an unnamed venue on May 5th and (despite no mention on his official website) had pieced together from support act Doug Doppler?s website that it was The Village on Wexford Street. With it being tooth and nail until the Thursday morning as to whether or not the gig would go ahead (I had called The Village on Wed and they had said the gig was not officially confirmed but they would let him play since nothing else was booked) I was so relived when a posting on Ticketmaster.ie did appear.

Arriving at 7.30pm I made my way through the entrance of the Village and purchased ticket number four, looking around to see a rather empty and vacant room, perhaps a grim look at what was to happen this evening due to lack of promotion. I had a quick word with the sound engineers, who confirmed for me that Red Star Rebels were not turning up tonight, and that Doug would be followed by Dublin act Motor Cross City (I?m not 100% of that bands name). The merchandise stand was also empty, and when Gilby?s manager finally did arrive back, he had no GC CD?s because they had all been held in London.

Doug Doppler came onstage about 7.45pm (I counted the attendance in the room at the time to be 22 ? including a stage hand, sound engineers, Gilby?s manager and barmaids) and I can only hope he has played to bigger crowds during the tour. He basically performed 4 ?extended? solos with the backing of a drum machine. I had heard some of his work and expected the use of a humaniser, or at least some vocal or lyrical interpretations, but he hardly spoke to the crowd and didn?t even introduce himself officially. He finished up at around ten past eight and there wasn?t much more people in the room at that stage.

After a quick change around the 2nd support act Motor Cross City were raring to go. There was a lot of this bands material on sale, including a live album from Hollywood, and although their bassist looked as if he had joined them on loan from Rancid they actually sounded pretty good. They followed the same musical line as the Red Star Rebels, the Tokyo Dragons and the Towers of London in that they played Punk influenced Hard Rock. About half way during their set Doug Doppler walked out into the crowd and shook someone?s hand, before he watched the band for a bit, and then disappeared again. The band finished up by mentioning that they were supporting Alice Cooper in Vicar Street if anyone was interested in seeing them live again or would be there.

The band left the stage around 9pm (having played for roughly 40minutes) before the technicians started getting ready for Gilby. I noticed the attendance in the room gradually increasing as the 2nd support played and by the time they finished the room was about 20% full (which was the best it was going to get) and I?d estimate the attendance at 60 or 70 people if even that. Around quarter past nine, someone let out a cheer, as Gilby walked straight in the front door and across the hall with a guitar across his back and an amp in his hand. Having been on tour with Guns N Roses, I?m sure this was possibly the most natural way he had ever entered an arena, and it was so refreshing to see someone of his calibre simply stroll in the door?even if he was late for his own performance.

He took the stage about 9.35pm with his bassist Muddy and a drummer whose name I can?t quite remember. The following are a brief description of the songs he played plus any notes that I made regarding what was said before or after. This list is by no means in order of the set list but I?ll try to keep to the order he played as best I can.

Wasn?t Yesterday Great from ?The Hangover?
This was a pretty good song to start off, happy and jumpy and people seemed to get into it, although he obviously didn?t have the piano backing and it was a simple guitar/bass/drum riff which meant around 1.30 you didn?t get that piano solo! Afterwards he thanked people for turning up, said it had been about 10 years since he?d been here, and that he should have come back sooner. Asked if everyone was into hearing some good Rock and Roll!

Under The Gun from ?SWAG?
Another short song, which he also performed with the full band, and this was perhaps done better then the first because it sounds a lot better live then it sounds on the CD. His guitar solo stuff was amazing during this song and he performed a blistering guitar solo for this song. Afterwards he commented on the fact that Guinness wasn?t as good in the States as in Ireland and was enjoying it immensely.

Motorcycle Boy (Kills for Thrills Cover)
He said he was going to play everything tonight, and then proceeded to play this old Kills for Thrills number, which I have to say I didn?t except and was quite pleased with. After this song they asked if Ireland had ever heard of this place Stringfellows, and Muddy pointed to a guy in the crowd, and said him and that guy were going to get their future wives their tonight.

Knocking On Heavens Door (Bob Dylan Cover) played GNR 92 Style
Before KOHD he introduced his band, his bassist was Muddy and I cant remember the name of his drummer, both of whom were with other groups in LA. He then played the opening riffs to KOHD and the place exploded. He played the song like Guns N? Roses did when they played it at the Freddie Mercury Tribute in Wembley?although Muddy sang vocals and Gilby just joined in on the chorus and asking people to chant. Afterwards Muddy said he had a hard job replacing both Axl and Duff on that track. The drummer then said he had to replace Steven, and both Muddy and Gilby started laughing.

He played a song along the lines of ?Rock and Roll?? and I?m not 100% sure what it was but it sounded excellent and he didn?t most of the vocal work for it.

At one point he asked if people had heard of the Rolling Stones or Guns N Roses. Then he asked if they had heard of the Clash and proceeded to play a cover of one of their songs that I cant quite remember.

Dead Flowers/Used To Love Her (Rolling Stones cover) from ?Pawnshop Guitars?
Before this song the bassist asked a girl in the crowd whom she was speaking to, and when he heard that it was her nephew, she said to call him back. Muddy picked up the phone and started talking to the nephew and asked him why he wasn?t at the gig. When the kid said he was underage he had this is Ireland, haven?t you ever heard of a fake ID! Gilby then said Muddy would give back the phone when he had made some long distance phone calls. Gilby started to play Used To Love Her, but then started playing Dead Flowers, because the songs are so similar at the beginning. At one point in this song he started to play Used To Love Her and sang along with the chorus for a while before he went back and finished with Dead Flowers.

Skin and Bones from ?Pawnshop Guitars?
As far as I recall this song was played a little better then the studio version, although it was pretty good, because the crowd seemed to be really into it. He played this around the middle of his set.

It?s So Easy (GNR Cover)
Excellent cover, Gilby sang all vocals, sounded tremendous. The crowd loved this one.

Cure Me Or Kill Me from ?Pawnshop Guitars?
Gilby asked if the crowd liked their Rock, then said he figured they liked their Heavy Metal even more, and said he had a heavy metal heart and always liked to get some feedback. He then proceeded to play Cure Me Or Kill Me, which was really heavy live.

Tijuana Jail
Personally my favourite song ever by Gilby, he played Tijuana Jail right before his ?encore? and decided to tell us all a story about a magical place that he called ?our Amsterdam? and played the best version of the song I?ve ever heard.

Encore
For the encore Muddy took vocals on a Beatles cover in ?With a Little Help From My Friends? and then they finished with a Snakepit song I didn?t catch the name of. Both sounded excellent, although I wasn?t too sure about the Beatles cover, and taught it could have been more wisely chosen.

Afterwards
After the gig Gilby claimed he would come down and meet people and sign some autographs. My friend had to get the last DART home so she decided that she would go up to the toilets (the men?s room door was right beside the backstage area) and try and get a picture of me with him as he was coming out from the backstage area. He eventually did come out, after about 10 minutes, and signed a copy of Guns N Roses Live Era 86-93 for me (I didn?t have time to get the DVD?s signed) as well as getting involved in 2 pictures with myself, a group shot and a picture with my friend. We chatted about his wife (I wished him well) and I asked him for a plec, which he was going to give me, but there were so many people by that stage he had forgotten. Although he did turn back around and hand me my pen back, I told him he could keep it if he wanted to sign more autographs, but he said it was ok. He walked out from then into the main hall and proceeded to be mobbed. Meanwhile, I made my way to the merchandise stand, and having bothered Gilby?s manager enough he went off and found me a backstage pass. Ill post all pictures up here in a few days.

When I got home, I found Gilby?s rare single that I owned, but didn?t mind because I had his autograph on my CD! Ill post all pictures up in a few days!