Concert review: Guns and Roses

Newcastle Entertainment Centre

Wednesday 13 March 2013

SCHNITZEL: It was the concert that almost didn't happen… if you take me not attending as it 'not happening'. After a late (as in after Sunday's Neil Young and Crazy Horse concert) and fortuitous turn of events (a friend not being able to attend anymore), I was gifted a ticket to see Guns and Roses at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre. I'd been interested in seeing them when tickets first went on sale, but money and the need to prioritise concerts meant that I was giving it a miss. But when a ticket was just sitting there, about to go to waste… who am I to say no? So, I got excited, I ran through the discography in preparation, I left work early so I could feed and bath my daughter before heading out… and then… DISASTER!

 

One of the posse's tickets had gone missing between the pub and the venue and, given I had not yet paid for mine, it was passed on to the man with the holey pockets. Moose was the unlucky one tasked with telling me I no longer had the keys to seeing Axl belt out a set list full of classic tunes, but was also my saviour when he told me tickets were available at the door for a much reduced price. He bought me one, I drove like a madman to the Entertainment Centre and, just like that, this anecdote became a (moderately) interesting way to begin this review as opposed to a gut wrenching missed opportunity.

MOOSE: I, on the other hand, left my ticket at work, got to the pub, and had to go back and get it… so that's sort of the same thing, no?

Regardless, we saw around a half of Rose Tattoo's set (very tight, very rock n roll) and managed to get you in midway through ZZ Top, who were quite good, beards and all. We even met three generations of GnR fans in one family while waiting - granddad, father and son, with matching GnR tattoos… HARDCORE.

SCHNITZEL: Surprisingly, there wasn't much waiting once I got there. We made our way to the front (and I mean THE FRONT… if Axl still had his corn rows, we could have been hit with the longer bits if he got excited), quickly downed a few beers to get in the mood and only had to wait until around 10 minutes after the scheduled start time for Axl and his merry band to bound on stage and launch into 'Chinese democracy'. It was a huge opener, and was followed by arguably the greatest "track one" of all time. It's fair to say that everyone lost their proverbial shit, and that the crowd stayed in this heightened state of arousal for the duration.

MOOSE: So here's my only beef with the night: I saw GnR in 2007. The lights went out, and the opening riff to 'Welcome to the jungle' shot out with spotlights around the arena and built to a fever before the rest of the band exploded on to the stage. I'm not saying this was a bad performance, but there wasn't the same sense of spectacle about it all, and while Axl's hired goons were all great performers – last night just wasn't as thick and tight'a sound as I heard a few years ago. Regardless, Axl was more than on form, he had lost weight since we last saw him and as a vocalist and front man, he was a true star - that voice is flawless… surely better than 20 years ago, at least going off the Use Your Illusion tour DVDs. Axl has been training physically and vocally and MAN did it pay off.

SCHNITZEL: I did think it was an interesting choice to play 'Welcome to the jungle' second… it almost seemed like a false start/a giant prick tease. This was the first time I saw GnR and, on the whole, I was completely blown away. Axl was on song all night, ne'er a bum note was hit, and the rest of the band played their part taking the places of some of the most recognisable faces and playing some of the most recognisable songs in rock and roll. Through the late 1980s and (to a lesser extent) the early 1990s, GnR made hard rock cool again. These guys looked like they were having fun, but they were also filthy. Appetite for destruction is all scum, sex, sleaze and heroin, and to an extent, Axl has never escaped that. Indeed, he's at his best when he embraces it. Last night's set list contained seven classic cuts from Appetite, and he was all over every single one. He may look 51, bloated and washed up, but he still moves and sings like the 25 year old that burst onto the scene back in '87. A-fucking-mazing. My highlights were 'Mr Brownstone', 'Live and let die', 'Nightrain', 'Patience' and 'Paradise City'.

MOOSE: Don't get me wrong, although it was a different kind of show, it was amazing… and I'm putting it 100 per cent down to Axl. What a star! I'd argue the dude is singing better live now than he did back in the day. On top of that, he knows how to move, work a crowd and can really lead a band. My highlights were 'Welcome to the jungle', 'It's so easy', 'You could be mine' and 'Nightrain'. Apart from that, fireworks, confetti cannons, grand pianos, grandiose guitar solos and a pretty great show.

Set list:

- Chinese democracy

- Welcome to the jungle

- It's so easy

- Mr. Brownstone

- Estranged

- Better

- Rocket queen

- Live and let die (Wings cover)

- This I love

- The seeker (The Who cover)

- Catcher in the rye

- You could be mine

- Sweet child o' mine

- Another brick in the wall (Part 2) (Pink Floyd cover)

- November rain

- Objectify (Bumblefoot cover)

- Don't cry

- Knockin' on heaven's door (Bob Dylan cover)

- Nightrain

Encore:

- Patience

- Paradise City