Your 2002 Tour Story

[legolas]

Pukkelpop, Belgium 2002

Early in the mornig we drove form Germany to Belgium. I was raining all day. Dont know if I am right but I think it was the last day of the three at the festival.

Yeah it was the last day of the Pukkelpop festival. GNR were the closing act on the main stage.
I was standing in front of the stage on the 4th row i think. Real close to the stage and not in the mud (they put rubber/plastic mats in front so no one can be squashed into the mud if they fall down). Like every good GNR show (IMO) Axl was over an hour late, so the crowd was really exited when they finally arrived on stage.
The stage it self was real tiny in comparison with the UYI-tours. Axl didn't have must running around space, and since it had rained all day it was quit slippery.
The show was real great. All the AFD stuff was played and the standard set of new songs. Axl really sounded awesome. Much much better than on VMA. The band also really kicked ass. A specially Richard, who's really all over the place. Robin is cool in a strange way. Tommy is just cool as a good bassplayer should be (even bit like Duff).
They played for nearly two hours.

All and all a real great experience and a satisfying encounter with the new band. Hopefully they will be on tour in the near future...........................

[grabaraxl]

i got 2 tickets for the london show as soon as they were on sale. some days latter my father told me there was this huge gn'r fan he met at the gymn that wanted to go with me, so i met the guy some days before the trip and we went to england on the day of the show (he's still a big friend). i was supposed to meet with a brasilian girl at the airport, but my flight got delayed and her's arrived earlier, so i missed her and i always missed John M and other gn'r fans down at planet hollywood in picaddilly. i got together with another friend from portugal that was doing an interrail and is also a gn'r fanatic, so we all went on to the docklands arena. pretty cool trip talking to a bunch of younger gn'r fans on the train (i'm 30, and i was really suruprised to see 15 year olds interested in gn'r).
the show was great, it was the 3rd time i saw them, but probably wasn't the most emotive - rock in rio 3 meant a lot more, being axl's comeback.
after the show, got back to the airport and back to lisbon.
some days later a friend of mine told me he was going to interview martin scorsese and go to the premier of "gangs of new york" to NYC on the same day Gn'R were playing in MSG, and that way we could get some tickets from the label. he got the tickets but i didn't make the trip, since i was saving up to go and see them in california on new years eve later that year.
what a mistake! so the guy went alone, with 2 FRONT ROW tickets, while the rest of the tour got cancelled.
i always have bad luck with shows in NYC.  this year i bought great tickets to the motley crue concert, so i was going to nyc just for the show. my palne was supposed to arrive at Newark airport at 15:00 PM local time, enough time to drop my bags at the hotel, dress up and go to penn station. well,  the plane got delayed 5 hours, then when we were finally leaving one guy had a herat attack and got delayed another 30 minutes so they could call the paramedics and get all the paper work done because of that situation. then i missed by 1 minute the train to penn station, i had to wait another 20 minutes, so when i finally get in MSG they where ending "sick love song", then they played my favorite song "kickstart my heart" and the show was over (the played anarchy and helter skelter on the encore), that night was a disaster, so i just got really drunk at snatch, got back to the hotel and back to lisboa the next morning!

[Christos AG]

and i always missed John M and other gn'r fans down at planet hollywood in picaddilly.

Are you sure John M was meeting other fans at Planet Hollywood that day, cause I remember the only ones who showed up there was me, 2 other greeks and Lance (if I remember correctly) with another friend...

[Kujo]

Friday December 13th: Sat home extremely pissed off that I wasnt in Tampa watching Guns N Roses play for the first time since the Raleigh Durham show in May '93.

Saturday December 14th: Sat home extremely pissed off that I wasnt in West Palm Beach watching Guns N Roses play for the second time since the Raleigh Durham show in May '93.

[rainX]

Friday December 13th: Sat home extremely pissed off that I wasnt in Tampa watching Guns N Roses play for the first time since the Raleigh Durham show in May '93.

Saturday December 14th: Sat home extremely pissed off that I wasnt in West Palm Beach watching Guns N Roses play for the second time since the Raleigh Durham show in May '93.

Wasn't the raleigh durham show actually in chapel hill and in april? I'm only asking because I saw them in NC on april 16, and that was the second to last show that went on in the states.

[Kujo]

You might be right, I have May stuck in my head for some reason, but now that I think of it, I think it might have been late March actually. I just remember GnR and Blind Melon putting on an awesome show. I'll look up the date.

You were correct:
04.16.93 - Dean Smith Center, Chapel Hill, NC
opening act: Blind Melon
set: It's So Easy, Mr. Brownstone, Live And Let Die, Double Talkin' Jive, Yesterdays, Attitude, Welcome To The Jungle, The Garden, You're Crazy, Used To Love Her, Patience, November Rain, Dead Horse, Knockin' On Heaven's Door, You Could Be Mine, Sweet Child O' Mine, Paradise City

[grabaraxl]

and i always missed John M and other gn'r fans down at planet hollywood in picaddilly.

Are you sure John M was meeting other fans at Planet Hollywood that day, cause I remember the only ones who showed up there was me, 2 other greeks and Lance (if I remember correctly) with another friend...

i guess he was. i wrote it bad, it was supposed to be "...i ALSO missed...".
my friend bruno ended up watching the show with him on the front row, i prefered to stay a little back.

[jmapelian]

Philly: Decemeber 6, 2002.  The show that ended it all.  About 10:45 all shit hit the fan when they made the announcement. Duck!!  Flying Chairs and Beers!! While the opening acts were on me and the two others I was there with were at one of the bars and were hearing rumors that Axl wasn't showing around 9:30 or so from people that had heard on the local rock stations 94.1 and 93.3 he was still in NYC. A bit later, i went into the men's room and there were more people talking about rioting if he was a no show.