June 29th - Auckland, New Zealand

[BurningHills]

Extended encore - NICE! 

[mega_music]

Kick ass!!!! I hope a boot surfaces from this show, a kick ass setlist? I'm ready to see the reviews on this one.

[axlnyc]

F'n rocking setlist/crowd. They might be peaking right now, perfect to hit Japan and hopefully the rest of us!!
CD right before PC is sweet!

[evergreen_layne]

Some great photos at this location...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/299858a22984.html

Sweet pics.   Thx for posting!

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Longest encore since the last show on the North American tour. 

[Nick722]

Thanks for the pictures.

[BurningHills]

Awesome pictures! 

[DunkinDave]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4112586a1860.html

Gig review: Guns N' Roses in Auckland
Stuff.co.nz | Saturday, 30 June 2007



Could Axl Rose and the new-look Guns N' Roses silence their critics during the first show of their New Zealand tour? Reviewer Chris Schulz was at Vector Arena to find out.

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Guns N' Roses
Where: Vector Arena, Auckland
When: Friday, June 29
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It's been 16 years since Guns N' Roses released an album of new studio material, and 14 years since they visited New Zealand.

Axl Rose has certainly trained his fans in the art of patience.

And they had to wait just a little longer to see their hero at the first night of the band's three-date New Zealand tour.

Following an hour or so of old-school hair metal from former Skid Row front man Sebastian Bach, a beaming Axl arrived on stage at 11.30pm - just 30 minutes after the "official" start time.

How punctual of him.

Axl and his new band proceeded to tear into a crowd-pleasing run of classic Gunners hits, including Welcome to the Jungle, It's So Easy, Mr Brownstone, Live and Let Die and Sweet Child O' Mine.

If they played them like they had a point to prove, that's because they did.

Can Axl still rock a crowd? Can the new-look band compete with the original Gunners line-up? And did they have any new songs worth hearing?

Those questions were all answered by tonight's performance.

Yes, Axl is still a charismatic rock front man that can keep a crowd entertained. But his voice was unreliable and couldn't back up his energetic stage antics.

Less impressive was his use of three - yes, three - teleprompters. Dude, don't you know your own songs by now?

Meanwhile, the new band was missing the pinpoint accuracy of Slash's guitar solos, even if replacement Robert Finck can match him in the big hair stakes.

But they can rock out when they need to, and provided particularly lively versions of Live and Let Die and You Could Be Mine. The massive stage setup, including synchronised lighting, pyrotechnics and fireworks, helped divert attention from any shortcomings the band had.

The set was heavy on tracks from Appetite For Destruction, but two of the four new tracks played tonight - Better and IRS - sounded bloody good. Shame about the bemused reception they received.

It was, of course, those classic singalong hits that got the biggest crowd reaction, and Axl didn't disappoint during two key moments.

The first was when he put on his dinner jacket, sat down at the piano and played a thrilling version of November Rain while fireworks rained from the ceiling. The word "epic" was invented for times like this.

The second was during the show's encore - a thunderous Paradise City complete with more of those booming fireworks and cannons showering the crowd in red confetti.

Yep, it was more of a celebration of the past rather than an attempt to craft any kind of future for Guns N' Roses.

But it's still a hell of a lot more fun having Axl around, and it was a reminder of just how good those songs are.

No wonder Axl hasn't released Chinese Democracy yet - if it bombs it could tarnish his reputation. Why would he want to risk that?

[anythinggoes]

Great picture in above article too

[Six Strings]

Fuckin' great setlist!

[sexkitten]

Wow, can we please all take a moment and give Tanya props for not only giving us updates, but for rockin' her ass off and going on the world tour!  Tanya, you rock sister and you're my new hero!

[badapple81]

What a set!

Awesome that there have been so many tributes and solos to people down under such as the national anthem and Don't Dream It's Over.. I would love to hear that 

Sounds like a great show!

Thanks for the updates guys 

[kupirock]

awesome set_list, thanks for the updates

[stolat]

Wow, can we please all take a moment and give Tanya props for not only giving us updates, but for rockin' her ass off and going on the world tour!? Tanya, you rock sister and you're my new hero!

Um, I think you might find that those updates are coming from Warsaw 

[grog mug]

I'm just glad that played Patience.  I don't think they've played that one in a while...VERY NICE SETLIST.

[waxlrick]

01- Welcome To The Jungle
02- It's So Easy
03- Mr. Brownstone
04- Live And Let Die - Robin Guitar Solo/Jam with Frank and Dizzy
05- Sweet Child O' Mine
06- Better
07- Knockin' On Heaven's Door
08- You Could Be Mine, Jam
09- Dizzy Piano Solo (Don't Dream It's Over), The Blues
10- Band Introductions, Richard Guitar Solo/Guitar Duet with Robin (People Get Ready/Redemption Song?) Out Ta Get Me
11- Piano Moving Jam, November Rain
12- IRS
13- My Michelle (with Sebastian Bach)
14- Patience
15- Nightrain
16- Nice Boys (with Angry Anderson)
17- Madagascar
18- Chinese Democracy
19- Paradise City

19 complete songs, 5 new songs, 3 covers, 2 special guests...... now... where are the setlist whiners?

what a setlist... look at the last 9 songs: a slow ballad (NR), 2 rockers, a slow ballad (patience), 2 rockers, another slow (Maddy), another two rockers

This has to be the best setlist of 2007. Nice Boys (? ), Chinese Democracy (? ), Madagascar (? )

Thanks everyone for the updates, specially tynia and jarmo?

This is the setlist the so called "whiners" have been asking for fool! Why they didn't play Chinese Democray during the Australia Tour of the same title will never make sense to me. Now I feel slightly annoyed. Man I hope they release a DVD of this show. Surely they must have a live DVD in the works. The band is looking and playing better than ever!

[SLCPUNK]

01- Welcome To The Jungle
02- It's So Easy
03- Mr. Brownstone
04- Live And Let Die - Robin Guitar Solo/Jam with Frank and Dizzy
05- Sweet Child O' Mine
06- Better
07- Knockin' On Heaven's Door
08- You Could Be Mine, Jam
09- Dizzy Piano Solo (Don't Dream It's Over), The Blues
10- Band Introductions, Richard Guitar Solo/Guitar Duet with Robin (People Get Ready/Redemption Song?) Out Ta Get Me
11- Piano Moving Jam, November Rain
12- IRS
13- My Michelle (with Sebastian Bach)
14- Patience
15- Nightrain
16- Nice Boys (with Angry Anderson)
17- Madagascar
18- Chinese Democracy
19- Paradise City

19 complete songs, 5 new songs, 3 covers, 2 special guests...... now... where are the setlist whiners?

what a setlist... look at the last 9 songs: a slow ballad (NR), 2 rockers, a slow ballad (patience), 2 rockers, another slow (Maddy), another two rockers

This has to be the best setlist of 2007. Nice Boys (  ), Chinese Democracy (  ), Madagascar (  )

Thanks everyone for the updates, specially tynia and jarmo 

This is the setlist the so called "whiners" have been asking for fool! Why they didn't play Chinese Democray during the Australia Tour of the same title will never make sense to me. Now I feel slightly annoyed. Man I hope they release a DVD of this show. Surely they must have a live DVD in the works. The band is looking and playing better than ever!

You can't always be a winner.

[waxlrick]

Yep you're right there. It's best to always have low expectations. Then you can never be disappointed hey?

[SLCPUNK]

Yep you're right there. It's best to always have low expectations. Then you can never be disappointed hey?

Lol, something like that. 

[Fingers]

Sounds like a great concert-the Crowded House piece by Dizzy must have been nice-Jarmo, did he play the whole song? Crowded house had some great songs. I hope GNR plays the states this fall.