"Axl's Fans Stew While He Has A Roast"

[madison]

DATE: July 22, 2006

SOURCE: The Journal (The Newcastle Chronicle & Journal) and Evening Chronicle (July 21)

Axl's fans stew while he has a roast

22 July 2006

The Journal

© 2006 The Newcastle Chronicle & Journal Ltd

Guns 'n' Roses wildman Axl Rose upset fans at a reunion gig by refusing to go on stage ( until he'd had something to eat.

The 44-year-old lead singer of the self styled "world's most dangerous band" demanded a roast lamb dinner, complete with Yorkshire puddings, mint sauce, and gravy before the sell-out gig at Newcastle's Metro Arena on Wednesday.

Hordes of black-clad rockers jeered and whistled as Rose tucked in, keeping them waiting an hour.

Rose, who was due to perform soon after 9pm, finally sauntered on stage at 10.15pm, an hour after stepping off a helicopter which had flown him from London to the show.

Roses fan Saskia Green, 25, a student from Newcastle said: "It was really hot and the Arena was packed.

"The crowd was booing because he was taking forever. We didn't know if Axl was even in Newcastle. People were getting quite upset.

"A security guard said the delay to the gig was caused by Axl demanding a lamb dinner before he went on ... very rock & roll!"

Metro Arena general manager Colin Revel said caterers traveling with the band had scrambled to prepare the hot dinner when Rose arrived from London.

He said: "He stepped off the chopper at 9.15, 10 minutes before he as due on stage."

"We were going frantic but before he would go on he demanded to be fed ( and, apparently, only a roast dinner would do.

"He was cutting it extremely fine, but I guess that is par for the course with Axl."

More than 9,000 people attended the gig.

Guns 'n' Roses's rapid rise to superstardom was one of the biggest success stories of the 1980s. Saskia said: "When Axl finally made an appearance all was forgiven.

"He did not apologise or anything, he just launched right into Welcome to the Jungle and the crowd went mad. They played until just after midnight, at which point someone threw beer on stage, and Rose stormed off and all the lights went out.

"I didn't see what happened, they just pulled out the plug and off he went, then the announcement came on to say not to throw things or else he wouldn't be back.

"He came back on for one song but did not play Paradise City, which was a shame."

http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/evening...-name_page.html

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Here's a review from the Newcastle show:

DATE: July 20, 2006

SOURCE: The Evening Chronicle (Newcastle)

Rose proves thorny

Jul 20 2006

By Kate Brown, The Evening Chronicle

Fans were treated to a night of hard rocking as 80s legends Guns N Roses came to town as part of their first European tour in 10 years.

True to form, the incorrigible Axl Rose took his time in taking to the stage and as an hour passed the fans grew more and more restless.

By the time the stage rumbled into activity (a full 80 minutes after support act Bullet For My Valentine finished their set), the suspense was palpable.

Yet, as the familiar guitar riffs of Welcome to the Jungle rang out across the Metro Radio Arena, all seemed to be forgotten and the crowd's attention immediately turned to enjoying the show.

Impressive pyrotechnics brought an element of excitement to the stage with loud blasts followed by fountains of light launching the audience into a frenzy.

The James Bond theme, Live and Let Die, was performed against a backdrop of fire and light which really packed a punch. Despite the habitual line-up changes and Axl being the only member of the original band remaining, the current combination gelled well. Each of the three guitarists were given time to enjoy the spotlight, the most notable solo coming from newest band member, Ron Thal. Guitarist Robin Finck also shone as he played the crisp chords of the heavy metal ballad Sweet Child O' Mine to an exceptional reaction. This song had ecstatic fans singing along to every word.

Sebastian Bach, who started the night with a spirited one-hour set with copious amounts of head banging added for good measure, returned to the limelight to help the band deliver an action-packed version of My Michelle with both Axl and Sebastian bounding from one side of the stage to the other, providing us with a memorable performance.

The band succeeded in dispersing their newer material from the as yet unreleased album, Chinese Democracy, among their vintage hits without too much complaint. Inevitably, the crowd failed to get as animated over newer songs.

After nearly two hours of entertainment, Guns N' Roses eventually ended the night with the well-loved Night Train. The flow of this was somewhat hindered due to an over-excited fan attempting to throw a missile at Axl, who subsequently told the others to stop playing and stormed off stage. Fortunately the band returned but Axl's attitude was met with a mixed response and it was apparent he was eager to wrap up.

http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/0300ent...-name_page.html