Police Welcome Axl to the Rock In Rio Jungle 28 May 2006Excitement surrounding the appearance of Guns N?Roses to the world famous Rock In Rio festival heightened with the arrival of the band by police escort. Whooping sirens broke the (at the time) relative peace of the backstage area. Four motorcycles and two police cars, all with sirens blazing drove Axl and co through the streets of Lisbon at high speed to ensure a safe arrival at the venue.
The arrival ? at 9.30pm ? a full two and a quarter hours before the band were due to appear, quashed rumours that they were liable to make a super-late start to the festival that had been more than warmed up by a blistering performance from Brit rockers The Darkness.
Justin Hawkins? high vocals ? surely in part inspired by Rose, shook the of tens of thousands of fans from across the world that have made the pilgrimage to Rock In Rio, Lisbon.
The Darkness lit the natural bowl of the main stage with a light show unsurpassed by any act at the festival so far.
But the big question was, following the on-time finish of The Darkness, at what time exactly would Guns N?Roses appear to the thousands of rock-hungry fans that came to have their appetite satisfied by one of the world?s greatest rock?n?roll bands.
Those worried that it would be dawn before the set finished (and let?s face it, who cares if it is?) had their fears calmed when, only 35 minutes later than expected, Guns N?Roses hit the stage.
?Welcome To The Jungle? had the crowd singing the words to the intro even before Axl, who shimmied through the first number like he?d never been away.
http://journals.aol.co.uk/tonycrossuk1/RockInRio/
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