Welcome to the Jungle: 5 Classic Guns N? Roses Concerts

[Spirit]

Welcome to the Jungle: 5 Classic Guns N? Roses Concerts
Warm up for the band's reunion with highlights from past shows

Guns N? Roses were one of rock?s most exciting live bands. You never knew what you were going to get: The Los Angeles rockers could play a ferocious three-and-a-half hour set, or show up three hours late. Or even break up on stage. A new Wall Street Journal story looks at how reunions such as Guns N? Roses ? singer Axl Rose recently reconciled with guitarist Slash after years of bad blood ? are growing more important for the music business as live shows eclipse album sales as moneymakers.

Here are five notable Guns N? Roses concerts that show how Axl, Slash and company morphed from grimy, Sunset Strip urchins into arena-sized, 1970s-style rockers.

The Ritz, New York City (1988)
This MTV-aired concert captures Guns N? Roses in their lean, mean, debauched prime. The music-video channel was crucial for GN?R, whose five original members?Axl, Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steven Adler ? had distinctive looks and personalities. They were sort of like the Beatles ? you knew a little about each member, thanks to MTV. ?The Ritz show ? wasn?t one of our greatest shows by any means,? Slash recounts in his memoir, but ?it was loose and out of tune and punk rock. ? That footage is important because it is the essence of the band.?

Aerosmith tour, Philadelphia (1988)
Yes, plenty of Guns N? Roses shows were disasters, but plenty others were sublime. Alan Niven, who managed Guns N? Roses in the 1980s and now works with acts such as 3808 and Razer, says a Guns N? Roses tour supporting Aerosmith in 1988 ?was the high point, the apex of the band.? Before a show in Philadelphia at the Spectrum, Rose scuffled with parking-lot attendants who tried to keep him from entering the premises ? inspiring a particularly rousing performance of ?Out Ta Get Me,? from 1987?s ?Appetite for Destruction.? A month later, GNR?s vulnerable ballad, ?Sweet Child O? Mine,? topped Billboard?s singles chart. (For an engrossing, exhaustive guide to Guns N? Roses?s early club years, check out Marc Canter?s photographic history, ?Reckless Road.?)

Opening for the Rolling Stones, Los Angeles (1989)
As the 1980s came to a close, Guns N? Roses were the most-talked-about band in the world. Privately, the group was imploding. Work on the follow-up to ?Appetite was disjointed; Rose was defending himself against accusations of bigotry, misogyny and homophobia; and drug addictions were crippling Slash, Adler and Stradlin. These October gigs opening for the Rolling Stones in Los Angeles were supposed to be a way to get Guns back on track. At one show, Rose shocked his bandmates by saying, in front of over 80,000 people, that it would be Guns N? Roses?s last concert if certain members didn?t stop ?dancing with Mr. Brownstone,? meaning, using heroin. ?I was so f?ing embarrassed,? McKagan writes in his autobiography. ?I was with him, the situation was bad. But he needed to talk about that s?t in private! ? The times of being a gang ? us against the world ? were over.? Some critics saw GNR as heirs to the Stones?s throne: Here?s is a link to a video showing Axl and Izzy joining their heroes Mick Jagger and Keith Richards onstage months later in Atlantic City for ?Salt of the Earth.?

The St. Louis riot (1991)
This unfortunate show at the Riverport Amphitheater near St. Louis marks the point when public perception of Axl Rose soured. In the middle of ?Rocket Queen? (at the end of the above clip), he leaps into the crowd to confiscate a camera. ?Thanks to the lame-ass security, I?m going home,? Rose says, storming off stage. A riot ensues, with fans ripping apart the venue and hurling pieces of it at the stage, forcing police and others to dodge. Footage of the destruction ? which is available on DVD ? is disturbing.

The ?Use Your Illusion? tour finale, Buenos Aires, Argentina (1993)
The band finished its marathon ?Use Your Illusion? tour on July 17, 1993. Relations between Rose and others were tense. He wanted more control, according to accounts, while Slash and McKagan were succumbing to alcohol and substance-abuse problems. Stradlin, once a buffer of sorts between Rose and Slash, was long gone?having sobered up and departed in frustration in late 1991. When the tour ended, the musicians went their separate ways and ? for the next two decades ? did not regroup.

Bonus Show: Axl?s Return, House of Blues, Las Vegas (2001)
Slash quit Guns N? Roses in 1996. McKagan followed. Rose assembled a new Guns N? Roses with different players and worked on an album, ?Chinese Democracy,? but neither a record nor tour dates appeared. In 1999, an industrial-sounding song, ?Oh My God,? was released. Rose retreated again. Then, eight years after singing his last set, Rose performed with his Guns N? Roses at this New Year?s Eve show in Las Vegas in 2001. Fans lined up in the early evening; Rose went onstage in the early morning, playing hits such as ?November Rain? and ?Knockin? on Heaven?s Door,? and a clutch of new songs. At one point, the band experienced some sound issues preparing for ?The Blues,? a new number, and Rose directed his team to play ?Patience,? from Guns N? Roses?s 1988 stop-gap release, ?Lies.? In an emotional moment, the crowd chanted ?welcome back,? as Rose sat at the piano. ?Thank you,? he said, to cheers. ?Now you?re embarrassing me.?


http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2016/03/23/5-classic-guns-n-roses-concerts/

[GNR4LIFEJD]

Seriously another top 5 shows that people would criticize GNR about i.e. st. louis, the stones gigs and the last show they performed together im sorry but these might be the worst top 5 topics iv ever seen.

[D-GenerationX]

That St. Louis show is actually a killer show before it all goes to hell.

Great 'Perfect Crime'.  Great 'Welcome To The Jungle'

[nick6sic6]

That St. Louis show is actually a killer show before it all goes to hell.

Great 'Perfect Crime'.  Great 'Welcome To The Jungle'

Even with the out of tune intro to Jungle that is !

[Spirit]

That St. Louis show is actually a killer show before it all goes to hell.

Great 'Perfect Crime'.  Great 'Welcome To The Jungle'

Even with the out of tune intro to Jungle that is !

I can't remember if it was this show, but are you thinking of the WTTJ where Slash has to start over?

Didn't Matt come in at the wrong time in the intro, and that's why they started over?

Could be another show I'm thinking of.

[C0ma]

I can't remember if it was this show, but are you thinking of the WTTJ where Slash has to start over?

Didn't Matt come in at the wrong time in the intro, and that's why they started over?

Could be another show I'm thinking of.

That is St. Louis... First Slash is looking for his shoes which leads to the lengthy verbal intro by Axl (about the guy trying to have sex with him), then when Slash comes back Matt comes in wrong and they start it over.

[LIGuns]

That HOB show was incredible for the excitement of Axl's return as well as a look at the new lineup and songs...

[Nikki_Sixx]

The '88 Ritz show was far from a top GNR performance.  Slash was horribly out of tune and Axl manages to screw up 'Rocket Queen'.  It was also shortened because it was filmed for an MTV special.  There are dozens of '87/'88 shows that are way better in terms of performance and setlist.  The only reason that show is so infamous is exactly because it was shown on MTV, not because it's any better than any other show.

It's clear that this article, and many other, mistake infamous shows with good shows.  The only thing that seems to qualify a show for inclusion in these listst is riots and incidents.

Oh and 010101 has no place on a list of 'top GNR performances'.

[jarmo]

Oh and 010101 has no place on a list of 'top GNR performances'.

Personal preferences and opinions.

Yes, I'm aware of your opinion. No need to defend it. 



/jarmo

[Nikki_Sixx]

Oh and 010101 has no place on a list of 'top GNR performances'.

Personal preferences and opinions.

Yes, I'm aware of your opinion. No need to defend it. 



/jarmo

That is indeed one 'opinion' that doesn't need defending 

[Spirit]

Oh and 010101 has no place on a list of 'top GNR performances'.

It's not a list of "top performances" though.

You can't argue that in terms of excitement and curiosity this particular show is right at the top. It was the return of Axl Rose.

[jarmo]

Yeah, the truth hurts....
Guns N' Roses has toured the world several times between 2000 and 2014.



/jarmo

[Nikki_Sixx]

Yeah, the truth hurts....
Guns N' Roses has toured the world several times between 2000 and 2014.



/jarmo

I know, I was there enough times 

010101 was indeed exciting.  I clearly remember the rollercoaster of emotions I went through while listening to it for the first time courtesy of John M.'s fine audience recording a few days later.

Still, with all due respect, it doesn't come close to any GNR show before it.

[C0ma]

I know, I was there enough times 

010101 was indeed exciting.  I clearly remember the rollercoaster of emotions I went through while listening to it for the first time courtesy of John M.'s fine audience recording a few days later.

Still, with all due respect, it doesn't come close to any GNR show before it.

I don't think you get the point of this list... It is not the greatest 5 live performances, it is 5 classic GNR concerts. This list covers a show from a few distinct periods of GnR's career, with the added highlight of how important the Ritz 88 show was.

They are covering AFD 5 as a supporting act, The launch of the Illusions Tour (and the height of the Most Dangerous Band in the World narrative), The closing of the Illusions Tour and the fall of the 'Big 3', The the public launch of CD era GnR.

[Nikki_Sixx]

I know, I was there enough times 

010101 was indeed exciting.  I clearly remember the rollercoaster of emotions I went through while listening to it for the first time courtesy of John M.'s fine audience recording a few days later.

Still, with all due respect, it doesn't come close to any GNR show before it.

I don't think you get the point of this list... It is not the greatest 5 live performances, it is 5 classic GNR concerts. This list covers a show from a few distinct periods of GnR's career, with the added highlight of how important the Ritz 88 show was.

They are covering AFD 5 as a supporting act, The launch of the Illusions Tour (and the height of the Most Dangerous Band in the World narrative), The closing of the Illusions Tour and the fall of the 'Big 3', The the public launch of CD era GnR.

'Classic' doesn't equal 'infamous' in my book.  Ritz '88 was a headline show for an MTV special, only famous because it was on TV.  They only mention LA '89 and St. Louis '91 for the controversy.  The last show in Argentina was hardly a 'classic GNR show', only interesting because it was indeed the last one.  And the Vegas show is interesting as a novelty but was a trainwreck musically.

So yeah, I guess I didn't get the point !

[axlvai]

010101 is 080416

Impossible to do a top 5 with so many shows we have on DVD. I love Santiago Chile 1992. Thats definitely a perfect monster show.