Reuters/Hollywood Reproter Review - Inland Invasion

[WhiteRose]

I just came across this article... sorry if it has already been posted here. 

Cheers,
W.R.


Welcome to the desert: Axl & Co. rip it up
By Paul Gargano

 
The KROQ Inland Invasion in the desert east of Los Angeles may have been an all-day affair Saturday, but by the time the dust settled early Sunday morning, there was only one band that mattered.

Yes, the summer-ending festival hosted by America's trend-setting rock radio station featured many of the boldest and brashest bands of the modern rock movement, but when headliner Guns N' Roses took the stage shortly before 11 p.m. at the Hyundai Pavilion, everything old became new again -- and everything new on the bill, well, just couldn't hold a candle in comparison.

Make no mistake, Axl Rose knew the magnitude of the night's show, and few in attendance could argue that the iconic Guns N' Roses frontman didn't rise to the occasion. No, his vocals weren't pristine, but they never were. And topping a bill that featured as much screaming as it did singing, they didn't have to be.

With the pacing of the show impacted by the at-times illogical progression of bands, the day's preliminary highlights had been scattered. Buckcherry's gritty, glam-rock explosion would have been better suited prior to Papa Roach's punk-powered, radio rock riffs, as opposed to working between the hardcore screaming and emo teasing of Atreyu and the punk rock uprising of Rise Against. Muse benefited from playing after the sun had set, but other bands would have benefited more, as the back-to-back billing of the unassuming, prog-flavored U.K. power trio and the dark and dreary (though well-received) return of Alice in Chains resulted in a notable letdown in energy prior to the night's marquee attraction.

It would have been fitting for Avenged Sevenfold to have taken the stage immediately before Guns N' Roses, but the spacing between the Orange County heavy metal revivalists and their heroes served them well, as it gave the crowd ample time to forget just how similar its latest single "Seize the Day" was to Guns classic "November Rain." Papa Roach boasted the daylight's most anthem-heavy return to arena-rock splendor, frontman Jacoby Shaddix's over-the-top charisma offering a power-packed counterpunch to the memorable set of 30 Seconds to Mars, whose art house approach to hard rock opened with the band -- fronted by actor Jared Leto -- marching through the crowd with an army of flag-waving fans before taking the stage in China doll masks and ninja-white get-ups.

But the night belonged to Guns N' Roses. When the house lights dimmed a scant 45 minutes later than the scheduled set time and the opening shards of "Welcome to the Jungle" pierced the packed pavilion and shoulder-to-shoulder lawn section, the mood became manic.

The 19-song, 130-minute set featured all but three of the tracks from Guns N' Roses' classic debut "Appetite for Destruction," as well as four new songs. While Rose's ever-evolving band has become a punching bag for cynics, tonight they lived up to the band's storied past.

Lead guitarist Robin Finck injected a personality to rival Slash, even if his guitar tones sometimes strayed slightly from the originals (most notably during "Patience"), and keyboardist Dizzy Reed jazzed up "Night Train." One of the night's most memorable performances was "November Rain," which featured Rose on piano at center stage and Finck and guitarist Richard Fortus trading leads.

Former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach joined Rose onstage to tear through "My Michelle," and received a notably louder ovation upon his introduction than Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington, who joined Alice in Chains for their signature "Man in the Box." The Inland Invasion may have been a long way from the Sunset Strip, but the rock stars still ruled. Even the almighty KROQ couldn't have planned that.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Awesome review!  YES!

[KIKO2K6]

Cool review has not that ''this is not GNR bulshit''...

[mega_music]

Very great review! All we need is CD and this band can own the world! Doesnt Reuters go to all major newspapers?

[-Jack-]

Sweet review. Really nailed it on the head!

[Jim Bob]

excellent review    its good to see there is still some solid credible journalists out there.

love what they said about Robin. 

[Bandita]

Very great review! All we need is CD and this band can own the world! Doesnt Reuters go to all major newspapers?

yes it generally gets reprinted all over

great review!

[Evil Ash]

wow, now that's nice

It'll get sent to all major papers, but not many will print about this festival i imagine...

Now if it was negative, that would probably be different 

[NicoRourke]

Great review, thankx a lot

[snooze72]

This is particularly cool coming from former Metal Edge Editor Paul Gargano, who picked Velvet Revolver and Contraband the 2004 Band of the Year and Album of the Year. 

One of his oft-used quotse was: "... establishing themselves not only as the band of the year, but rock ?n? roll?s messiahs of the new millennium.?

So for him not to moan about missing the old band is pretty cool.

 

[melissa]

Thanks for posting it!
Reuters is big all over the world, i'm so glad it's a very good review.

[Poof!]

Not that I want to shit on all the new wave of emo and hard rock bands, but notice how in the review, in comparison, they almost seem exposed. As if when up there with GN'R, people go "Aah, that's what rock n' roll is all about. I forgot."

Long Live GN'R!

Great post, WhiteRose! 

[gandra]

well great review

i saturday my city local tv station channel 9,made report about music,and some bitch was talking about gunsnroses,she said"gunsnroses are again on tour.they had sucessufull eurotour,but this band sucks.Axl rose lost his voice,and there are no energy"
I wasn't there(i was on football game0,but my sister listened this (she isn't gnr fan),and then calling me and said "where the fuck is your last gnr show",and then she burn dvd from rock am ring and sent to chanell 9,and wrote to girl (my sister was in scholl with her) "listen this,and after that talking.btw my brother saw them this year,and said that newgnr are great band"

[PrettyTiedUp763]

Wonderful review! Thanks for posting. 

[russtcb]

What a great review! Completely the opposite from the Velvet Revolver loving one posted at Blabbermouth.

At least it sounds like this person watched the show. He didn't make reference to Axls vocals being bad on Don't Cry..... a song Axl didn't even sing like the one on Blabbermouth!

[lennonisgod]

Awesome fucking review!! Just reading it got me pumped up.  That was an important show for them because there were so many fans of various bands there, and I'm sure if they didn't like GN'R before, they do now.  It's funny that Sebastian Bach got a bigger ovation coming out for GN'R than Chester Bennington from Linkin Park, when he came out for Man in the Box with AIC. No offense to anyone that likes Linkin Park but I hate that Alice in Chains actually brought him out, what a waste.  But that's not what this thread is about, it's about the best live band in the world right now. I'm glad everyone that saw the show in person, had a great fucking time and made it home safe.

[Minneapolisnewsman]

Awesome fucking review!! Just reading it got me pumped up.  That was an important show for them because there were so many fans of various bands there, and I'm sure if they didn't like GN'R before, they do now.  It's funny that Sebastian Bach got a bigger ovation coming out for GN'R than Chester Bennington from Linkin Park, when he came out for Man in the Box with AIC. No offense to anyone that likes Linkin Park but I hate that Alice in Chains actually brought him out, what a waste.  But that's not what this thread is about, it's about the best live band in the world right now. I'm glad everyone that saw the show in person, had a great fucking time and made it home safe.

Look, don't fool yourself.  I love GNR as much as the next guy, but really try to stay realistic about things: The Loges were full when AIC played, the Loges were empty when GNR played.  Sebastian got a great ovation, but from 15,000 people, as opposed to the 40,000 that were there when AIC played.  GNR came on way too late, and everyone who paid $75.00 for Loge seats left because they could not hear.  Really was a bummer.  Wish I was down in the pit.

I should also note, that while there were tons of GNR fans and shirts there, So. California is not a great place for a GNR show.  The fans really seem to whine, and are quite weak.  Nothing like a New York, or Chicago GNR show!!  All the Emo kids, and fans around me were like: "ok, we got to here Axl, it's 1 a.m., let's go." and bolted.   Pretty lame, but it was a long day.

[russtcb]

Awesome fucking review!! Just reading it got me pumped up.  That was an important show for them because there were so many fans of various bands there, and I'm sure if they didn't like GN'R before, they do now.  It's funny that Sebastian Bach got a bigger ovation coming out for GN'R than Chester Bennington from Linkin Park, when he came out for Man in the Box with AIC. No offense to anyone that likes Linkin Park but I hate that Alice in Chains actually brought him out, what a waste.  But that's not what this thread is about, it's about the best live band in the world right now. I'm glad everyone that saw the show in person, had a great fucking time and made it home safe.

Look, don't fool yourself.  I love GNR as much as the next guy, but really try to stay realistic about things: The Loges were full when AIC played, the Loges were empty when GNR played.  Sebastian got a great ovation, but from 15,000 people, as opposed to the 40,000 that were there when AIC played.  GNR came on way too late, and everyone who paid $75.00 for Loge seats left because they could not hear.  Really was a bummer.  Wish I was down in the pit.

How did 35,000 less people make more noise for Bach then the guy from Linkin Park?

[Minneapolisnewsman]

They didn't.  Look at my past posts, I am a diehard GNR fan, but I am not delusional (I really cannot believe that some of the people that post really believe what they are saying).  I hate Linkin Park, but AIC was very well received and played to a full crowd.  The Loges emptied by the time Bach took the stage:  not like a few people leaving, like everyone was gone.   I was pissed at the crowd for being lame, but also pissed at how boneheaded the GNR camp is to think that on their comeback they can wait for two hours after AIC to play.  It pissed everyone off.  It's not like it was a hot day, and everyone had been drinking beer since 2 in the afternoon, and had to drive about two hours back to LA.? 

Watching the webcast, the band looked great, but sitting in the Loge, one could barely hear, and it lacked any raw power.

[WeHeldTogether]

im glad when people can just accept the new band for what it is.