mangas

as the concerts draw closer tickets will probably end up going for a lot more so ebay most likely will pull many of the sales as they come to their attention. but for fans desperate to see gnr any amount of money is worth it.

to answer the question - i would go. a friend of mine had the chance to go to the 93 show at eastern creek and he didnt. hes regretted it ever since. even if its not gnr the way you want, or a lot of fans want, axl will still be there and given that this is most likely the last time they will play australia, i would go. at the very least if you decide not to, try and buy some tour merchandise so you've got something to remember the tour.

as for ticket prices, i personally dont think its worth it for the new gnr but then they are playing small venues and no doubt its costing a bit to bring them out, so the promoter has to make profit on top of that. $170 for pre-sale, $150 regular, bit expensive but other artists have been over $200 for tickets up near the front. i still think gnr will still sell out. im not sure if they will add additional shows. there's definitely room in the tour schedule to book one or two additional shows, but a lot depends how fast the shows sellout.

Guns N' Roses Australian Tour Ticket Pricing

looking at the previous information, it looks like that's the pre-sale internet prices. here are the regular prices -

Ticket Prices

Gold (GA1 and seated) - $150

Silver (GA2 and seated) - $99

Tickets on sale Thursday, 26 April. Call 132 849, log on to www.ticketek.com.au

the gold seat pricing is still a bit expensive considering gnr havent had anything out in a long time but im sure all venues will sell out. if anybody gets more info, please post.

Taking another look at ticket prices, the Japan Times says that tickets for the Japanese shows on the upcoming tour are selling between 10,000 and 12,000 yen so roughly converted into Australian dollars that's $102 and $122 so its a good bet that most tickets will be around that price range for the upcoming tour.

Bout the backstage passes question, I had a friend ask me the same thing yesterday. He wanted to know if he could get one. Basically those are only given to industry insiders/friends of the band and select members of the people who put the staging and equipement together for the performance. My friends reasoning was that if he had a backstage pass he could maybe get to meet Axl or go anywhere behind the scenes but to do that generally you need an access all areas pass which means basically go anywhere and as other artists have shown, theres a heap of people usually backstage, many of them security and getting close to the artists themselves is usually a no go zone unless permission has been granted beforehand and you know the artist or they want to talk to you/allow you to film them before the performance.

As for tickets, I havent decided how I'm gonna go bout it. Either the net or line up and buy tickets. Might go past the venue a few hours before tickets go on sale and see if anyones lining up and see if theres much of queue. I figure tickets are gonna sell out fast. There's been a lot of coverage in the papers about it, plus on the web, so people are definitely pumped they are coming to tour but many are also holding off saying definitely until ticket prices are released. And its just one per show at each venue so far and really comparing this tour to the 93 tour its not that big so most venues are about 12,000 to 20,000 seaters so I think probably tickets will go quickly. And I've read about plenty of people saying they are going with groups of people so I expect bunches of tickets to be sold in the first few hours but I'm hoping if its a sell-out and tickets go faster than expected (and some are saying they wont given the lack of predominance of the band in the past few years) that more shows will be added, probably 1 extra show for Sydney and Melbourne.

For the band themselves, I think some of them will go out clubbing after the concert. Sebastian is definitely a good bet to party hard while here and he will probably drag Axl along even if Axl doesnt wanna go anywhere. Not sure what hotel they will be staying at but its a sure bet all of that will be publicized and the floors the band are staying sealed off to members of the public with extra security posted outside the hotel and the elevators. Just hope Axl doesnt play cat and mouse with all the fans and press while here like some celebs do. Would be good to have him come and say hi and give a thumbs up to fans or something but Axl's very reclusive so I wouldn't be at all surprised if we dont see him out and about much.

Ya, the tour posters should be cool to get - definitely collectable. As well as any backstage passes or crew passes/shirts after the tour. Most will probably end up on eBay at seriously inflated prices. I'm hoping some company will do a GNR magazine tour special myself. There was lots of coverage for the 93 tour in the papers and magazines - even TV week did a pullout tour souvenir poster (double sided from memory).

Was thinking about ticket prices tonight and taking a look at other tours I'm figuring they'll range from around $60/$80 for general admission up to maybe $150 for seating closer to the stage. Guess it depends on the deal cut between Axl's management and the promoter. Plus the fact that they're doing smaller venues would logically mean bigger prices for seating closer to the stage so the promoter makes a good enough profit for bringing them out here. Listening to other friends of mine talk about the upcoming tour, most are hoping tix are around the $100 mark.

The tour is getting a lot of attention in the press, mostly newspaper. Might be something about the tour on Max TV's next episode of The Know as they have details about the tour on their website and they usually cover upcoming tours. Speaking of Max, there's a good chance they could air a GNR special during the tour as they have the rights to a heap of programming from a variety of sources like award shows and Much Music and the only special I remember seeing on their channel to date was a Loving GNR 1-hour special which was a videoclip retrospective.

Yeah I agree, cant see Axl doing much in the way of any press while here. Remember seeing some press conference with the old GNR with Slash and Duff and Norman Gunston asking them questions but Axl nowhere in sight - hiding out as usual.

This time around its gonna be a bit interesting as most people (especially the press) dont really care that much about the other members, they arent really iconic like Slash, so the focus will be more on Axl and he doesnt really do the whole meet and greet kind of thing so it makes it hard for the media to do much in the way of promotion or coverage - I think all we're likely to get during the tour is maybe a handful of news reports and maybe some on MTV Australia and Channel V and maybe a sighting or two.

What would be very cool is for VH1 Australia to do a metal weekend of specials for GNR during the tour - so far they've done Behind The Music, GNR A-Z (very funny!) and The Story of Metal Part 1-4. A really cool wish would be to devote a day or the whole weekend to GNR. Air the above specials along with career retrospectives, interviews from the vault and interview some of the other members of the band if Axl wont do any press - maybe even get them to talk about the whole Chinese Democracy tour and their highs and lows on the road. Maybe even take calls from fans and have a phone-in. That would be very cool.

Don't know about presale tickets. I'm assuming there will be several tiers of pricing, closer you get the more expensive and no information has been released yet but it'll come soon enough and then there will be a mad rush to line up and buy em. I'm hoping tickets wont be too much ($100 each would be nice) as a bunch of us are wanting to go plus we wanna get the merchandise and accomodation in Sydney and Melbourne though we'll skip the accomodation and travel back the same night if necessary to cut down on costs. Its a sure bet people will be selling tickets at inflated prices on eBay though there will probably be a crackdown on that closer to the actual dates of the concerts - and eBay themselves might pull tickets. Hope the tour gets widespread coverage when the band arrives, anybody know if Channel V are planning to cover it on pay-tv? They've got a Rock Room show on their channel now and Headbangers Ball is on MTV Australia so it'd be cool to see them do a GNR special/segment. Plus Rage might even do a GNR videoclip marathon which would be great.

A new report from the Brisbane Times on the forthcoming tour of Oz:

Lovers of rock music and tight denim shorts unite: Guns N' Roses, the original sleaze-rock band, will return to Australia in June for their first concert tour in 14 years.

But fans hoping to relive the group's 1993 Use Your Illusion concert at Eastern Creek Raceway may be disappointed. Axl Rose, above, remains as frontman, but he is the sole original band member.

The music promoter Paul Dainty announced the Australian concert dates yesterday as part of the group's Chinese Democracy world tour, named after their long-awaited fourth album of original material, expected to be released later this year.

Supported by Australia's Rose Tattoo, the band will play in Sydney and Melbourne and, for the first time, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth. In a nod to nostalgia, they will also be joined by Sebastian Bach, the former singer with fellow hard rockers Skid Row, who supported Guns N' Roses on their last Australian tour.

WHEN they arrived in Australia in 1993, US group Guns N' Roses were bigger than any stadium.

So they played racetracks, exceeding the noise mere cars could make with their epic head-banging rock.

At Calder Park, 75,000 people turned up on a stinking 38-degree day to see charismatic singer Axl Rose rip through hits from the group's million-selling albums Appetite for Destruction, G N' R Lies and Use Your Illusion.

It was a brilliant disaster, culminating in a State Ombudsman report to Parliament. Now they're back, announcing a June 15 concert at Rod Laver Arena. As they did 14 years ago, rockers Skid Row and local heroes Rose Tattoo will support the controversial LA band who fell apart in spectacular fashion and haven't released a studio album since 1991.

Their world tour, announced yesterday, goes by the name of the album that Rose — the only original member of the line-up coming to Australia — has dabbled with for more than a decade: Chinese Democracy.

Even by the record industry's standards of insanity, ego and excess, the estimated $18 million that has been sunk into Chinese Democracy is a stunning achievement.

Producers and executives despaired as Rose retreated to his Malibu mansion full of snakes, religious paraphernalia and weaponry.

He became a recluse, reportedly sleeping all day, looking up his name on the internet and communicating almost entirely by email.

An internet post from the band's tour manager in February said — not for the first time — that "recording for the album has been completed".

But Rose has been active. This year Guns N' Roses have played 80 shows on the first leg of their world tour. Only two needed to be rescheduled, said local promoter Paul Dainty, who is confident cancelled tours, false starts and no-shows are behind them.

"There's no question as to their reputation (but) that's more in the past," he said. "They've done 80 shows in the northern hemisphere … that's proven they can do it."

Still, Rose has lost none of his mystery. Despite the lengthy negotiations, Dainty has never spoken to the 45-year-old star.

"I've spoken to his PA (personal assistant) … he doesn't really have a manager. Business people do the deal," he said.

Rose could be heard in the background of some calls, Dainty said, and any demands and questions from the star had been "common sense".

The Calder Park gig in February 1993 was pure chaos. Women were forced to urinate on the ground in view of other concert-goers, one teenager became comatose after her medication was confiscated by security guards and there was no shade for volunteer first aid staff treating the 1726 people who became dehydrated — a severe shortage of drinking water forced people to sip from toilet water supplies. Finally, police argued with public transport officials after thousands were stranded and later dumped in the city late at night.

Touring Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney with Rose this year are guitarists Robin Finck, Ron Thal and Richard Fortus, bassist Tommy Stinson, keyboard players Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman and drummer Frank Ferrer. Tickets go on sale on April 26.

I think its very cool to hear that Axl and GNR returning to Australia for a tour. Bit surprised at the choice of venues though, bit small though I've read these venues are the next biggest without upgrading to stadiums. Expect major sellouts (within hours?) for all venues so hope each place gets a second night. Anybody have any idea of how much ticket prices are gonna be? Heard Acer Arena has a 5-tier seating system, guessing its gonna be more expensive the closer you are to the stage. Anybody know? Also anyone know how much the merchandise might be like tourbook/t-shirts?

I agree with the above comments. Looking at the site I had thought that for fans not having broadband, this site would be a good thing but having ordered several discs the quality of all was extemely average. Worse still, some discs did not arrive and others did not play properly. Avoid this site - the guy lists his email for inquiries and customer service but the service is a joke. Use at your own risk.