To longer time Guns N'Roses Fans on here, were the live shows worth the wait? 😀

[Karice]

So, Axl used to be notoriously late to Concert shows, like THREE hours late. 😬🥶😱😳 But he was known to kill it when he FINALLY got on stage. 😁 I remember a Fan on YouTube saying something like,"Axl had us waiting in 1991 for like three hours. I decided he kept me waiting long enough and I decided to just ask for a refund and leave. I was near the exit when I heard the first few seconds of Welcome To The Jungle guitar riff and I immediately ran back to my seat and Axl rocked the show, one of the best shows I have ever been too. I was glad that I hadn't left literally SECONDS earlier. " Longer time Guns N'Roses Fans on here, can you tell me if you guys had similar experiences, Axl keeping you guys waiting for a long time, you just about to leave and him coming on stage and absolutely rocking it and you being happy you stayed? 😀

Edited November 4, 2023 by Karice
It was Welcome To The Jungle, not Sweet Child Of Mine. 😏😉😜

[Stay.Of.Execution]

yes

[Axls_Moustache_Rules]

Yea, make another thread.

[DefinitelyInThisLifetime]

You really are the Meg Griffin of myGnR.

[jamillos]

That's weird cause they never opened with Sweet Child. 

[oneway23]

I was in Philly in '02, so...no LOL

[Zeppelin]

I was never close to leaving a show because I already knew who Axl was going into it.

[ZoSoRose]

Waited a few hours in 2010. It was fine

[THELINESMAN]

I queued for five hours outside Liverpool, near front of the line, met Del James who came to say hello, got to the front barrier, Axl came on 3 hours late, but it was absolutely worth it. Got to see him up close all his expressions, he smiled and waved at me. We expected the lateness. Called venue beforehand and asked about curfew and they said “We make an exception for Axl Rose” 😂😂

[uruguns]

It's entertaining, you get a 2010 party leak barely audible song in 2018, then you get the full song in 2023.

 

You get catcher low quality demo with Brian may in 2006, then you get full rearranged song in 2008, then you get the stems.

You get 16 seconds of misterious checkmate and like what 10 years later you get the full thing.

 

The journey is the reward heh

[Sausagebrain]

A Wednesday night in June 2006.

I'm on the floor of the Hammersmith Apollo, London, waiting for GnR to start. It's been 90 minutes since the opener - Avenged Sevenfold - left the stage.

The clock strikes 10.30pm. I remember that I have work the next day.

The crowd are beginning to get restless, and some booing breaks out. 

As the minutes tick on, the boos get louder.

Metallica's Master of Puppets comes on the PA. I think to myself, 'well, surely they will be ready to start after this long song'.

Master of Puppets finishes eight minutes later and is followed by... another song on the PA.

The booing gets louder and nastier. 

Someone (I guess, from the GnR camp) comes on stage and shoots some footage of the crowd on a handheld camera. No-one is in the mood for cheering and waving. 

I think to myself - 'shit, this is getting dangerous', and plot a quick route to the exit in case an actual riot breaks out. 

For a few more minutes, I am primed to bolt towards the door the second that people start throwing things. 

And then...

The lights go down.

The first few notes of the jungle intro are teased out.

Out comes Robin with his Les Paul, long coat and traditional Greek trousers. 

And then

'Do you know where the fuck you aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrree?'.

Axl and the rest of the boys tear onto the stage. 

At the end of an ecstatic Mr Brownstone, Robin throws his Les Paul across the stage. 

Axl, smiling slyly and pacing up and down, speaks to the crowd.

'Well - no sleep 'til Hammersmith..... and hopefully no sleep tonight!'

I stayed to the end, didn't get home til 4am and sleepwalked through work the next day.

Was it worth it?

 

Hell yes. 

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2023 by Sausagebrain

[mr-fukaji]

5 hours ago, THELINESMAN said:

I queued for five hours outside Liverpool, near front of the line, met Del James who came to say hello, got to the front barrier, Axl came on 3 hours late, but it was absolutely worth it. Got to see him up close all his expressions, he smiled and waved at me. We expected the lateness. Called venue beforehand and asked about curfew and they said “We make an exception for Axl Rose” 😂😂

I was at this and it was funny watching people have to leave among everyone else booing because Axl decided to head out at somerthing like 11pm on a Sunday, the crowd was absolutely tons of dads with sons and people with jobs to go to and by the time they got on it was just a bad atmosphere. Drinks getting thrown before they'd even got on stage, Axl stopping Jungle to threaten to go home if any more drinks went by his head and THEN spending the ENTRIE show anxious someone was going to throw another.

Edited November 2, 2023 by mr-fukaji

[GNR78]

Well, e.g. in 2010 everyone knew they will start later - so we just went to the venue later, stopped at a bar for some drinks and so on. We were on time and GNR played a fantastic show. GNR was still a mystery at this time.

We waited for "Checkmate" more then 15 years...; the mysteria and drama around all this songs was and is worth the wait. The whole story of GNR, CD, Axl was something special, tragic and unbelievable. A lot of us spent a fan-lifetime with the CD story... what ever it was and is - its a unique story in music history. Not to mention duke nukem forever ...but this chinese democracy (syndrom) journey gave us songs like CITR, TIL, Better, Maddy...(TWAT)....

Its a wonder that the  classic lineup is still alive. Every show with duff, slash and axl is a bonus that nobody could expected in the years eg. 1999, 2003, 2008 (it often looked like GNR is over). 

The CD area presented us one of the best musicans on the planet. I ve no proble if Axl share his can once again with bucket just for one song or so (eg spend lyrics on soothsayer!).

And where the f*?! is Izzy? - Haha

Searching for some popcorn now....  

[Nintari]

If I could go back in time and see the Illusion band, I'd wait for however long he wanted to take. If he felt like getting a full eight hour sleep, that would be fine by me. Some things are worth it, and THAT show was worth it.

Edited November 2, 2023 by Nintari

[Mascadcar]

9 hours ago, jamillos said:

That's weird cause they never opened with Sweet Child. 

Exactly what I thought when I read the first post..

[colonizedmind]

Think I left the O2 arena at 1.30am one night and the tube drivers being pissed as fuck as the promoter knew....they knew it was gonna happen....they had organised (before the days of the night tube) to put on later trains and emailed us ahead of a problem that handy occured yet....

Worth it....Fuck yea! Axl delivered !!

Edited November 2, 2023 by colonizedmind

[Nightrain7]

Waited until Midnight 2007 in Sydney.  The element of 'danger' added to the show back then was kinda cool I guess, it was well worth the wait as the band (mainly Axl) were on fire. The arena was tense, people were pissed, but when those house lights go down, Jungle riff starts, Axl 'Do you know where the fuck you are' the crowd explodes.

But the energy runs low mid set towards the end. A long night especially when we had to drive 2 hours back to accomodation. 

I remember the news the next day 'How Sydney Runs on Axl's Time'

Fast forward to now with how Axl's vocal capabilities are- no it would not be worth the wait, and the band would definitely not get away with it.

 

[©GnrPersia]

12 hours ago, Karice said:

So, Axl used to be notoriously late to Concert shows, like THREE hours late. 😬🥶😱😳 But he was known to kill it when he FINALLY got on stage. 😁 I remember a Fan on YouTube saying something like,"Axl had us waiting in 1991 for like three hours. I decided he kept me waiting long enough and I decided to just ask for a refund and leave. I was near the exit when I heard the first few seconds of Sweet Child Of Mine guitar riff and I immediately ran back to my seat and Axl rocked the show, one of the best shows I have ever been too. I was glad that I hadn't left literally SECONDS earlier. " Longer time Guns N'Roses Fans on here, can you tell me if you guys had similar experiences, Axl keeping you guys waiting for a long time, you just about to leave and him coming on stage and absolutely rocking it and you being happy you stayed? 😀

Wait a sec.. SCOM was an opener in a 1991 show?

[Karice]

40 minutes ago, ©GnrPersia said:

Wait a sec.. SCOM was an opener in a 1991 show?

Hmm. It might have been Welcome To The Jungle that the Fan was talking about. 😉😜😏😀🤣

40 minutes ago, ©GnrPersia said:

Wait a sec.. SCOM was an opener in a 1991 show?

Hmm. It might have been Welcome To The Jungle that the Fan was talking about. 😉😜😏😀🤣

[Karice]

3 hours ago, Nightrain7 said:

Waited until Midnight 2007 in Sydney.  The element of 'danger' added to the show back then was kinda cool I guess, it was well worth the wait as the band (mainly Axl) were on fire. The arena was tense, people were pissed, but when those house lights go down, Jungle riff starts, Axl 'Do you know where the fuck you are' the crowd explodes.

But the energy runs low mid set towards the end. A long night especially when we had to drive 2 hours back to accomodation. 

I remember the news the next day 'How Sydney Runs on Axl's Time'

Fast forward to now with how Axl's vocal capabilities are- no it would not be worth the wait, and the band would definitely not get away with it.

 

I am so envious of you guys that got to see Axl live back in the days. I am trying to find a envious emoji.😫 🥹 I guess those emojis will have to do.  😏

Edited November 3, 2023 by Karice

[TiedHands]

Pfft. I seen them times when they didn't even come on stage until midnight. That was fucking rough. But yes, always worth it in the end. Ive NEVER had a GNR experience where I left disappointed. 

[Karice]

51 minutes ago, TiedHands said:

Pfft. I seen them times when they didn't even come on stage until midnight. That was fucking rough. But yes, always worth it in the end. Ive NEVER had a GNR experience where I left disappointed. 

Midnight? What time were they supposed to come on? 🤔

[©GnrPersia]

8 hours ago, Karice said:

Hmm. It might have been Welcome To The Jungle that the Fan was talking about. 😉😜😏😀🤣

Hmm. It might have been Welcome To The Jungle that the Fan was talking about. 😉😜😏😀🤣

I see.

I see.

[Rindmelon]

15 hours ago, Sausagebrain said:

A Wednesday night in June 2006.

I'm on the floor of the Hammersmith Apollo, London, waiting for GnR to start. It's been 90 minutes since the opener - Avenged Sevenfold - left the stage.

The clock strikes 10.30pm. I remember that I have work the next day.

The crowd are beginning to get restless, and some booing breaks out. 

As the minutes tick on, the boos get louder.

Metallica's Master of Puppets comes on the PA. I think to myself, 'well, surely they will be ready to start after this long song'.

Master of Puppets finishes eight minutes later and is followed by... another song on the PA.

The booing gets louder and nastier. 

Someone (I guess, from the GnR camp) comes on stage and shoots some footage of the crowd on a handheld camera. No-one is in the mood for cheering and waving. 

I think to myself - 'shit, this is getting dangerous', and plot a quick route to the exit in case an actual riot breaks out. 

For a few more minutes, I am primed to bolt towards the door the second that people start throwing things. 

And then...

The lights go down.

The first few notes of the jungle intro are teased out.

Out comes Robin with his Les Paul, long coat and traditional Greek trousers. 

And then

'Do you know where the fuck you aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrree?'.

Axl and the rest of the boys tear onto the stage. 

At the end of an ecstatic Mr Brownstone, Robin throws his Les Paul across the stage. 

Axl, smiling slyly and pacing up and down, speaks to the crowd.

'Well - no sleep 'til Hammersmith..... and hopefully no sleep tonight!'

I stayed to the end, didn't get home til 4am and sleepwalked through work the next day.

Was it worth it?

 

Hell yes. 

 

 

 

Pretty much my story from 2006. Except the one i was at was Manchester. It was like a tinderbox situation, one false move and it was going to kick off. He sounded insane at that gig and all 2006/7. Got to hear IRS live so I was happy.

 

[Amir]

Was absolutely worth it in 2010. Every show was electric. For the 2012 show in Atlantic City I queued from 4pm, doors opened 9pm, opener came on at 10:30, GNR after midnight. It was fantastic.

With the UK shows in 2012 is when I really started to feel the wait time, I remember being especially pissed at the London shows when Axl said they wanted to play longer the first night but couldn't because of curfew. All I could think was, why didn't you come on earlier? But I think those were the last shows I went to where they were particularly late, I don't remember them being super late for Serbia 2012, and Abu Dhabi 2013 was the first show I went to where they were on time. I think there may have been a short delay at Buenos Aires 2014 but the atmosphere for that show was great with the return of Duff. Toronto was one of the later shows in 2016 but it was amazing, even worth suffering through Billy Talent for

The Japan 2017 shows were so weird for me, the first starting at 6pm and the second at 5pm, ending before most shows usually start!

London 2022, people were pissed the second night, but it was only a 45 minute delay and Axl was sick so it was understandable.