.... and the scathing reviews begin....

[Stro]

The guy can tear apart the band and the music and all that stuff, but I'm lost on what the hell he was talking about Axl's face. Axl looks in the best shape he's been since 2006 in those pictures and I don't see any red splotches or whatever. That was a bizarre personal attack.

[The Sandman]

Agreed - Press talks shit for the sake of it.

Was a quality gig.

[GivenToFly]

the album Chinese Democracy, which it took him 18 ludicrous years to finish,

Is it 18 now? I swear, it'll get to the point where Axl started on the album before he was even born.

Also, Cartman is not an anarchist. He's an ultra-right-wing extremist (who wants his a-tho-wee-thay respected). And he's 9.

[jonx12]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2010/aug/28/guns-roses-reading-festival-2010

Now, the kind of journalist who makes it all about themself is of course objectionable, but these are objectionable circumstances, so forgive me. My first ever gig as a festival reporter was Leeds 2002, when Guns N' Roses turned up two hours late but smashed it out of the park nonetheless. I may have mentioned that Axl was "as big as a house." He may just have called me out onstage in London a few days later, naming me a "pussy" who owed him rent for "living in my ass for so long." It was a career high, yes, but those also feel like kinder, more innocent days. This was when Chinese Democracy was still an illusion we could all use. But now we've heard the dowdy reality, and tonight we got the worst of both worlds. The band took the stage just a measly hour late, had their set cut marginally, but not dramatically, and turned in a show that was the ultimate insult to the Gunners dream, in being simply unmemorable. True, the magic of hearing the likes of Welcome To The Jungle, It's So Easy and November Rain live cannot be diminished. But last night Reading was challenged to judge whether this was enough, and Reading judged "no". There was no charisma, no chemistry and actually, so little vocal that the rumour of the night was that Axl had drafted in Mickey Rourke as a body double. Certainly, the boos negated his vocals down to nothing. And when history is written, it shall be told that the GNR dream ended with an unedifying sit in - in which Axl tried to whip up a disinterested crowd into voicing outrage over the shortened set. After such a mess, it's perhaps not surprising that the rumour of the festival today is that the band were not paid for their performance and will not be appearing on Sunday for the Leeds leg.

And so after all that, it gives me no pleasure to diss GNR online for a second time. But rather than a boyish jibe about his girth, this was about insulting their fans and, worse, their legacy. So c'mon Axl. Bring it. Do your worst. Oh! You already did.

[Spike Killer]

Let's not forget that Led Zeppelin were very unpopular in the British press. Revisionist history allows Led Zeppelin to be recognized as a great Rock N' Roll band, but don't forget that they couldn't get a decent review in the press at the time. The press largely ignored the band during their 1979 comeback. The press that did cover them called them “dinosaurs” (in comparison to the crap that was popular at the time, punk).

Like a good Republican, it is always a good sign when the press doesn’t like you.

[tucka]

http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=120&p=9004&title=guns_n_roses_at_reading_review&more=1&c=1

The NME's review kind of sums it up really, they still rated it 8/10 even through all the shit

[LightningBolt]

The NME's review kind of sums it up really, they still rated it 8/10 even through all the shit

Rating:

6/10. From the unpredictable beginning to the bizarre ending via 'Sweet Child Of Mine' it was the kind of spectacle you expect from a bloated rock show, but with so many other long-serving rock acts (from AC/DC and Aerosmith to ZZ Top) managing it this summer without the hissy fits, it doesn't really fly.

[Tater Totts]

The NME's review kind of sums it up really, they still rated it 8/10 even through all the shit

Rating:

6/10. From the unpredictable beginning to the bizarre ending via 'Sweet Child Of Mine' it was the kind of spectacle you expect from a bloated rock show, but with so many other long-serving rock acts (from AC/DC and Aerosmith to ZZ Top) managing it this summer without the hissy fits, it doesn't really fly.

Nope on the site they gave it an 8, after you posted that i double checked and it still said 8

[LightningBolt]

I must be reading something different, then. 6/10 is what it says in the link the dude posted.

[tucka]

it says

8/10. From the unpredictable beginning to the bizarre ending via 'Sweet Child Of Mine' it was everything you want from a bloated rock show.

[Tater Totts]

[tucka]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[LightningBolt]

[Tater Totts]

The plot thickens.

[tucka]

thats typical NME that is, obviously someone higher up at NME didn't approve of such a high score

[Tater Totts]

Hmm still says 8/10 when I click the link.

[uzilover15]

Link is saying 6/10 now

[Bumble's Bridge Pickup]

Yep 6/10. lol

[Killik_13]

Well, I was there front and center, on the barrier, and I can testify that it was the best gig I've ever been to, and this is from a guy that's seen NIN, Rammstein, Iron Maiden, Pearl Jam and Metallica. There were a few - for lack of a better word - c*nts in the crowd booing and such, but as soon as the band got on stage, the entire place erupted. Axl and the band were on top form throughout, his voice never fell even slightly short. By the time the power was cut, everyone there was screaming for more, and instead of the encore we wanted we got a pretty awesome unifying moment yelling "F*CK READING, F*CK READING!" together. Don't believe the press, it was an unbelievable experience, and wouldn't trade it for anything. Every man up on stage demonstrated that they deserved their place in the band, and Axl is still the most volatile motherf*cker out there.

[matthewlang]

Leeds reviews all looking pretty negative as well, which is total bullshit, because I was there at the front and the crowd were fucking LOVING it! Chanting Axl and singing along, I think for my first time seeing Guns, it was pretty epic.

[Use Your Delusion 1]

Reading Festival review: If you squint Guns N' Roses can deliver the goods of old... but the nostalgia is all a little bit sad

By ALEX MILLSON

Last updated at 12:33 PM on 30th August 2010

Comments (0)

Add to My Stories

An hour we waited. Cheers turned to boos and as darkness fell and Guns n’ Roses still hadn’t appeared. Legs weary from standing in the mud all day had left the crowd restless.

Opening song Chinese Democracy silenced the crowd, but didn’t win them over and cries of ‘You’re not Slash’ rang out when new guitarist DJ Ashba came onstage in a top hat – the trademark of the former guitarist.

It was the first goosebump-inducing bars of the second song Welcome to the Jungle that did the trick – this is what people wanted to hear – rapidly followed up by crowd-pleasers It’s So Easy and Mr Brownstone.

A little bit older but still making the same trademark moves of old, Axl Rose belted out many of his classic songs at Reading

As Axl and guitarists Ashba and Richard Fortus tore up and down the stage memories of the original line-up surfaced.

But for those of us who saw the original line-up all those years ago, when Axl was an athletic, botox-free young man – there was a tinge of sadness watching him try so hard to recreate the stadium glory he once enjoyed.

That’s not to say the oldies can’t still be goodies. With a set-list containing Live and Let Die, Rocket Queen, November Rain and Sweet Child O’ Mine, the band played their hearts out and the audience responded with rapture (despite most of them being no more than a glint in their parents’ eyes when Appetite For Destruction was released).

For us veterans, however, the only way to capture the essence of the original band was to squint at the stage in an attempt to blur out the new faces.

And the set-list had something to be desired. For the easily bored crowd at Reading even the hippest of new bands wouldn’t get away with extended guitar and piano solos.

New Gunners' guitarist DJ Ashba (left) was booed by the Reading crowd who chanted 'You're not Slash', after helping himself to the former guitarist's trademark look

What we wanted was more songs and less waffle. Absent classics include Patience, Out Ta Get Me and of course Paradise City – cut out of the set after organisers pulled the plug as the midnight curfew was reached.

As the gig ended with the plug being pulled - leaving Axl to lead a Paradise City singalong from the stage with a loudhailer - reviewers were already queuing up to Axl-bash.

While, admittedly, it is a little sad, seeing a man of advancing years (and weight) performing the same snake-hipped dance moves as he carried out with ease when he was selling out stadiums around the world in his mid 20s, there is something about his performances it’s hard not to admire.

Like or loathe Axl and his whims (and the loathers are never shrinking violets) at Reading he put on a good, but not great, show and has penned some classic crowd-pleasers.

Oh sit down: Axl leads a singalong of Paradise City after Reading Festival organisers pull the plug on the sound system as the clock strikes midnight

And he’s hardly alone in carrying on and selling out stadium tours well past his sell-by date – the names of ageing rock stars still trotting out their trademark tunes can trip off the tongue without a moment’s thought.

Seeing Guns ‘N’ Roses could be magical again. The extra weight, the lateness and the tantrums could all be forgotten – if only Axl and Slash could do a Take That, patch up their differences and get on stage together again. Then we wouldn’t have to squint any more.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/reviews/article-1307337/Reading-Festival-review-If-squint-Guns-N-Roses-deliver-goods-old--nostalgia-little-bit-sad.html?ito=feeds-newsxml#ixzz0y5Z3HLfj

Edited August 30, 2010 by Use Your Delusion 1

[juadlu]

these reviews are bullshit!!! OK - i wasn't there but what i saw on TV was superb-yes Axl was slightly breathless at the start of WTTJ- but i have heard his vocals sounding exactly the same way back in YUI days at times-GnR were NEVER about glossy perfection! the intro was strong however and so was the rest of the track! He still has that power!

All they go on about is how Axl has aged-isn't that normal!!??!!

It makes my fucking blood boil-the wankers.

[Conor]

Axl's not as young as he was twenty years ago. This is news to me.

[star]

Reading Festival review: If you squint Guns N' Roses can deliver the goods of old... but the nostalgia is all a little bit sad

By ALEX MILLSON

Last updated at 12:33 PM on 30th August 2010

Comments (0)

Add to My Stories

An hour we waited. Cheers turned to boos and as darkness fell and Guns n’ Roses still hadn’t appeared. Legs weary from standing in the mud all day had left the crowd restless.

Opening song Chinese Democracy silenced the crowd, but didn’t win them over and cries of ‘You’re not Slash’ rang out when new guitarist DJ Ashba came onstage in a top hat – the trademark of the former guitarist.

It was the first goosebump-inducing bars of the second song Welcome to the Jungle that did the trick – this is what people wanted to hear – rapidly followed up by crowd-pleasers It’s So Easy and Mr Brownstone.

A little bit older but still making the same trademark moves of old, Axl Rose belted out many of his classic songs at Reading

As Axl and guitarists Ashba and Richard Fortus tore up and down the stage memories of the original line-up surfaced.

But for those of us who saw the original line-up all those years ago, when Axl was an athletic, botox-free young man – there was a tinge of sadness watching him try so hard to recreate the stadium glory he once enjoyed.

That’s not to say the oldies can’t still be goodies. With a set-list containing Live and Let Die, Rocket Queen, November Rain and Sweet Child O’ Mine, the band played their hearts out and the audience responded with rapture (despite most of them being no more than a glint in their parents’ eyes when Appetite For Destruction was released).

For us veterans, however, the only way to capture the essence of the original band was to squint at the stage in an attempt to blur out the new faces.

And the set-list had something to be desired. For the easily bored crowd at Reading even the hippest of new bands wouldn’t get away with extended guitar and piano solos.

New Gunners' guitarist DJ Ashba (left) was booed by the Reading crowd who chanted 'You're not Slash', after helping himself to the former guitarist's trademark look

What we wanted was more songs and less waffle. Absent classics include Patience, Out Ta Get Me and of course Paradise City – cut out of the set after organisers pulled the plug as the midnight curfew was reached.

As the gig ended with the plug being pulled - leaving Axl to lead a Paradise City singalong from the stage with a loudhailer - reviewers were already queuing up to Axl-bash.

While, admittedly, it is a little sad, seeing a man of advancing years (and weight) performing the same snake-hipped dance moves as he carried out with ease when he was selling out stadiums around the world in his mid 20s, there is something about his performances it’s hard not to admire.

Like or loathe Axl and his whims (and the loathers are never shrinking violets) at Reading he put on a good, but not great, show and has penned some classic crowd-pleasers.

Oh sit down: Axl leads a singalong of Paradise City after Reading Festival organisers pull the plug on the sound system as the clock strikes midnight

And he’s hardly alone in carrying on and selling out stadium tours well past his sell-by date – the names of ageing rock stars still trotting out their trademark tunes can trip off the tongue without a moment’s thought.

Seeing Guns ‘N’ Roses could be magical again. The extra weight, the lateness and the tantrums could all be forgotten – if only Axl and Slash could do a Take That, patch up their differences and get on stage together again. Then we wouldn’t have to squint any more.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/reviews/article-1307337/Reading-Festival-review-If-squint-Guns-N-Roses-deliver-goods-old--nostalgia-little-bit-sad.html?ito=feeds-newsxml#ixzz0y5Z3HLfj

That review sounded about spot on. Full of positive's, and negatives.

[juadlu]

sorry if this was already posted but anyone in the UK can view this and make up their own minds!!

The BBC 3 GnR highlights are repeated here

GnR live