Catcher

Yep, definitely get 'Apple', the album, it has a much better sound than anything Pearl Jam produced later on. Andy Woods' vocals are very impressive, leaning even towards a glam rock sound, and it sounds great. The guitars also have a very lush sound about them, something else that wasn't retained when they tranitioned to Pearl Jam.

One thing about the Apple album is that it doesn't have the full 'Chloe dancer/Crown of Thorns like the singles soundtrack does. Anyone who knows what i'm talking about... the song is so much better with that extended intro.

According to HTGTH Paradise City was played.

From The Age in Melbourne:

Axl rises to the occasion for triumphant return

With his braided red hair, leather jacket and dark sunglasses, Axl Rose was every inch the rock star at the Rod Laver Arena last night.

With his braided red hair, leather jacket and dark sunglasses, Axl Rose was every inch the rock star at the Rod Laver Arena last night.

A DUBIOUS chapter in Australian rock history came full circle last night when US rock group Guns N' Roses returned to Melbourne after a 14 year gap.

With the crowd warmed up by energetic sets from Sydney hard rockers Rose Tattoo and Sebastian Bach from Skid Row, Guns N'Roses hit the stage in an explosion of flames with what the anthem of the night, Welcome to the Jungle.

All the old classics followed: It's So Easy, Mr Brownstone, and they dropped in a couple of new songs, including Better, which plodded at first but built into a reassuring, classic Guns N' Roses rock anthem.

The band needed eight players to replicate the sound of the four original band members, but they still oozed the sound of Los Angeles' dark seedy underbelly.

They may have lacked the old chemistry, but this was clearly Axl Rose's show.

With his braided red hair and dark sunglasses, the singer made the crowd feel like no time had passed since their last visit, as he "snake-hipped" and jived his way around the stage.

You can always expected the unexpected with Guns N' Roses, the self-appointed "most dangerous band in the world".

Usually bands playing the arena have to finish up before the 11pm curfew or face fines. For these shows, promoter Paul Dainty paid the fines upfront because Rose — a notorious night owl — refuses to start before 11pm.

Rose is the only original member of the band playing this weekend. After the band split in 1996, he became a Phil Spector-esque recluse, retreating to his Malibu mansion, filled with snakes, religious paraphernalia and weaponry, working away on the band's much-anticipated new album Chinese Democracy.

That album — reportedly 13 years and $US14 million ($A16.7 million) in the making — is yet to appear, although a couple of its songs have appeared in shows.

Guns N'Roses' last Melbourne gig was the sweltering 1993 Australia Day Calder Park show before 70,000 fans. That show was marred by controversy after fans were forced to queue for hours for water and toilets, and many were stranded without public transport.

Last night was a far more civilised affair, mainly because a sell-out crowd of about 12,000 only had to venture to the Rod Laver Arena.

Hardcore fans, many who were returning 14 years later, lined up in the dense fog from 7pm. Dave Pearce, 36, said he enjoyed the smaller queue but still fondly recalled the Calder Park experience.

"You don't care about all that when you're 21," said Pearce, who avoided the Calder traffic jams by sleeping in his car. "But it would be different now at my age and in winter."

"It was our Woodstock," added his mate Dave Ferns, 36.

The band play the Rod Laver Arena again tonight. Tickets are still available.

Nice to see another very positive review

who would have thought they would refrain from playing Hair of the Dog for 2 ENTIRE SHOWS

I don't get it. Have they played Hair Of The Dog recently?

Don't listen to the guy.

Yeah don't listen to me.

Thats probably best

From Gunsnroses.us

WELCOME TO DOWN UNDER

Guns just rocked a sold out Laver Arena in Melbourne. They entered the stage at

23:03 AEST, around 40 minutes after Sebastian Bach. Technical problems with the

center videoscreens, which were not working in the first place, were solved five

songs into the set. Bach and Bubbles supported and Ron soloed himself through

AC/DC's Back In Black, supported by Frank on drums.

Welcome To The Jungle

It's So Easy

Mr. Brownstone

Live And Let Die

Robin Finck guitar solo

Sweet Child O' Mine

Better

Knockin' On Heaven's Door

You Could Be Mine

Dizzy Reed piano solo (Angie)

The Blues

Richard Fortus & Robin Finck guitar duet

Out Ta Get Me

November Rain

IRS

Ron Thal guitar solo (Back In Black, Don't Cry)

My Michelle (with Sebastian Bach)

Liquor & Whores (with Bubbles)

Patience

Nightrain

Chinese Democracy

Madagascar

Paradise City

Well there you go... who would have thought they would refrain from playing Hair of the Dog for 2 ENTIRE SHOWS!!%^% God, its crazy

Five chinese democracy songs though.. more than makes up for lack hair on the dog.

He hasn't been to ADELAIDE for 17 years. I reckon Axl was on stage for at least 50% of the time though.

By the way, seven news here in Adelaide had a little clip of Jungle as played last night and a little blurb as to how good the show was. Of course there was the "ERrR its nOT GnR witout Slash N Duff"... but hey at least they gave them a good plug. Now the question is... did they record the WHOLE show?

Angry's strange pro Aussie rants were pathetic imo..

Indeed. At the Perth show he said something along the lines of "if you weren't born in Australia... we're very pleased to have you here, just as long as you behave yourself". That white trash bullshit left a bad taste in my mouth.

Good review, btw. Similar to what I wrote about the Perth show.

He said EXACTLY the same thing here, along with other 'brother and sisters' bullshit

From the left side of the stage about 5 rows back. I would like someone else's opinion on on the sound... was it as bad everywhere in the venue? That reviewer in the first article didn't mention it. I was with people who have been to a lot of rock shows, and they agreed the sound quality ruined the show so...

He said it was like a vacuum and it was really hard to breathe. He didn't 'diss' it, as people have been saying, he just said after playing high altitude shows in mexico (+tequila or however its spelt), then going to the vacuum at Perth, Adelaide was a hell of a lot better. I don't know about the sound though. Ours was shit

I was there last night and overall it was an excellent show, except i thought the sound quality was god awful for the entire show... that really ruined IRS and Better for me.

Rose Tattoo: Yeah... whatever, they were OK i guess. Vintage Aussie Pub Rock, nothing special. Still sad Axl didn't Duet with Angry on Nice Boys. Angry's strange pro Aussie rants were pathetic imo.. So cheesy

Sebastian Bach: He really knows how to work a crowd... surprisingly, heaps of people were singing along to his old Skid Row songs, and one of his new songs - by my side - i think was quite good. One of my friends was impressed with his microphone slinging while headbanging... you know hes bee practicing that one lol. Overall his set was like 80% Skid Row, which was good. I didn't care for his musicians though. Again, the sound quality fucked a lot of Skid Row songs so much that it was hard to even distinguish what they were playing. Bach's still got one hell of a voice.

Guns N' Roses: I was preparing myself for an hour or more wait before the band hit the stage, but was delighted when they hit the stage on time. One of the only good thing about the sound being fucked was the intro... my god the crazy feedback boom coming out of the speakers before Robin hit the Jungle teasers was intense.

Then the crowd went insane as the teasers unraveled into Welcome to the Jungle. The typical setlist followed with Its So Easy, Mr Brownstone and Live and Let Die. During all of these first four, i couldn't even here Axl... the crowds voice was so loud lol, which was good to see.

Then came Mr Fincks solo. He sounded like he was trying to murder the poor guitar to begin with... it was embarrassing. It got better though, and people seemed to appreciate it by the cheers he got for it. He launched straight into Sweet Child O' Mine, which got the crowd going again. Better followed, which confused most people. Some were singing along, but the sound quality made it sound for the most part horrendous. It got a moderate applause at the end though.

I cant really remember what was next. Richards solo was ok, so was Dizzy's. The Blues was amazing, especially Axls voice... absolutely magnificent. It was the only time i could clearly hear his voice and i wasn't disappointed. Then there was Bubbles... what the fuck. Leave it at home, or preferably somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. No one knew who he was and Liquor and Whores was easily the stupidet piece of shit that night. At least Axl enjoyed himself.

All the solos slowed things down immensely, and it wasn't until November Rain that it got kicking again, followed by IRS (fucked by the sound), My Michelle with Mr Eighties then Ron's solo, which killed the momentum... again. Hardly anyone sang to Don't Cry, but you get that i guess if your singer doesn't sing with you.

Nightrain got the crowd pumped once more before lights down. I was only expecting Paradise City, but went crazy when the little chinese man on his boat appeared on the screen. I have to say... Robins thundering intro as on the demo just doesn't seem to work live, it was kind of weak. Madagascar followed, and both of these got good applauses. Paradise City closed the night, and all in all it was a great show.

Axls rant about the Perth venue was amusing, maybe thats why they only played PC in the encore? I know Axl is only trying to show the world his new guitarists but come on... three long solos is way too much, plus Dizzy's as well. It needs to stop.

As i said, the sound was fucking awful. You could hear the bass well... really well. Not so much the lead guitars, which made most songs very 'shapeless' if you get what i mean. Same with the drums... the bass drum was loud, but the others were nowhere. All the solos during songs were inaudible, which was a bit sad. Axl wasn't as high in the mix as he should have been. During Better and IRS it seemed the worst... everything was jumbled and a was really just a wall of noise.

I was very impressed by the whole band, bar Finck, who i was very disappointed with. His guitar skills are rather sad... Richard should be where he is. He does have a sweet look though.

Special mention to Chris Pitman who sat up the back with his super funky techno keyboard doing fuck all except during CD and Maddy. lol, he better be prominent on the record if we ever get it, or he such a waste of space. (Sorry HRS)

The crowd loved the show, and i heard people commenting how good Better was... which is a good sign i guess.

Merch was much like the Mexico shows from what i can tell. I bought 2 shirts at a mere $45 each lol. And who said this ain't a cash grab tour?

Sorry for having to make you read all that. :xmasssanta:

I know he did some work with Dave Grohl on a band called 'PROBOT', but i never heard it, and haven't heard of him since then. Check his wikipedia page, it might be right.

edit: from wikipedia: Since then, Thayil has played guitar for Pigeonhed, with the Presidents of the United States of America, played on Dave Grohl's metal side-project Probot, and No WTO Combo with Jello Biafra and Krist Novoselic, and has also worked on other projects. Recently Kim contributed guitar to the track "Blood Swamp" from the 2006 SunnO)))/Boris album Altar.

ie he's done fuck all.

'Sunsets' is by far Powderfinger's greatest song imo. Very catchy and awesome clip as well. What's the status with their new album?

I would have to say 'Beautiful Girl' off 'Welcome to Wherever You Are' is my favourite song though.

That was a song I used to "woo" my girlfriend into going out with me.

INXS are great... I have all the albums, but it's been a while since i've listened to them. I was huge on them last year, but the whole Rockstar thing put me off for a while.

Yeah, that rockstar thing is the no. 1 way to ruin the credibility of a band. INXS really should've been laid to rest (except maybe for various Live Aid type events with guest singers) when Hutchence died. I was horrified when i heard the rumour that Alice in Chains would be the next band to do it... not to worry, it was only Gilby and Co.

My favourite song on Kick is probably "Never Tear Us Apart" - I love the synthesizer sound, and the sax solo at the end

Agreed. The vid for "Never Tear Us Apart" was great too - one of my all-time favorites. It's kind of eerie - because there's a part of the vid where he's walking in a graveyard. Gives me chills when I see it.

Have you seen the vid for "Devil Inside?" If you know the history, it's pretty cool. They basically took over a bar on Balboa Beach in southern California, and half the "characters" in the vid are just gang members, surfers, transvestites, and Street kids that were hanging around at the time. It's pretty cool for that reason.

Also, did you ever see the "Taste It" vid? It was banned in a bunch of countries because some people thought it was too graphic/suggestive (sexually) for TV. Pretty funny - because if it was released today, nobody would even blink. But at that time - it was considered risque.

The band apparently didn't like the clip for Devil Inside, they were forced into doing an american style clip without much of a say in it. And i agree about the 'Never tear us apart' video, one of the better videos ever made by an Aussie band.

Kick was undoubtably their definitive record, but of the 4 records i have, they are all brilliant. I would have to say 'Beautiful Girl' off 'Welcome to Wherever You Are' is my favourite song though.

Has anyone seen their Wembly concert video? Its an indication of just how popular they were back in the late 80s/early 90's. An amazing band, my favourite Australian band, but now JD just ain't Michael.

Another Aussie band that had major popularity over her in Aussieland in the same vein as INXS was 'Icehouse', but their singer arguably had a much better voice than Michael... anyone know them?

You should have got the tickets through presale a couple of days ago... then you wouldnt need to worry about being outmoused.

Net - no waiting in line.

You took your name from the INXS track of the same name, yeah?

So are there any other Adelaideans here going to the Adelaide show? And do you reckon it will sell out? Most people i know don't even realise GNR still exist... so lets hope some decent promotion happens! All the gunners fans from way back will hopefully show up and pack the Entertainment Centre.

Milli Vanilli

The only other band i would theoretically wait 14 years for a new album would be Black Sabbath (in any form). Anything Toni Iommi touches is gold...

Can't see that happening at the moment though...

Fuckin aweaome!!! Theyre coming to Adelaide!! I was expecting them to only do the east coast like so many bands do...but Adelaide YEAH... *hyperventilating*

Try INXS... some wonderful sax that integrates with the bands sound so well, even with their new frontman.

Funny how some people loved it to bits and others thought it could haver been better (hardy haha)... Maybe because of a mindset they took to the show? But people booing Finck is not good... seriously, maybe its time to cut some solos... i know we might love them, but random people who know nothing about the new band seem to get annoyed by them. Probably coz' it's not slash and all that shit. Whatever. Release CD and get the guitarists in the limelight and people will WANT to see them.

Final Setlist

From ibelieveinaxl at HTGTH. Updates given by sexkitten

Lights Down (approx 11:30pm)

01. Welcome To The Jungle

02. It's So Easy

03. Mr. Brownstone

04. Live And Let Die

05. Robin Finck Solo

06. Sweet Child O' Mine

07. Better

08. Knockin' On Heavens Door

09. You Could Be Mine

10. Dizzy Piano Solo

11. The Blues

12. IRS

13. Richard Fortus Solo

14. Out Ta Get Me

15. November Rain

16. Ron Thal Solo (Don't Cry)

17. My Michelle (With Bach)

18. Patience

19. Nightrain

-----ENCORE-----

20. Chinese Democracy

21. Madagascar

22. Paradise City

Wow, sounds like a good show overall. Glad everyone enjoyed it! And did anyone ever find out what happened to our original updater... alien abduction i say

So.. the setlist was something along these lines:

01. Welcome To The Jungle

02. It's So Easy

03. Mr. Brownstone

04. Live and Let Die

05. Sweet Child O Mine

06. Knockin' On Heaven's Door

07. You Could Be Mine

08. The Blues

09. Better

10. Out Ta Get Me

11. November Rain

12. Down on the Farm

13. IRS

14. My Michelle (With Bach)

15. Patience

16. Nightrain

Encore:

17. Madagascar

18. Paradise City

(Dizzy, Robin and Ron Solo in there somewhere - in normal places i suspect)