GNR Adelaide Show - Gunners Blast Entertainment Centre

[Axl-rocks]

8,000 Guns'n'Roses fans crammed the Entertainment Centre last night and they loved every minute of it.

Welcome to the Jungle was the frenetic opener complete with pyrotechnics and an energetic Axl Rose prowling around the stage.

Though it's hard to say whether it really is Guns'n'Roses without Slash and Duff, the new version is a pretty good replacement.

Guitarists and Slash stand-ins - yes, he needs three - Robin Finck, Ron Thal and Richard Fortus proved they could shred with epic solos, bass player and former Replacement Tommy Stinson brought a touch of alternative underground cool to proceedings and original member Dizzy Reed held the crowd captivated during a stunning rendition of the Rolling Stones' Angie played at the front of the stage on a grand piano.

But the cheering fans didn't come for the band. It was Axl they all wanted to see and despite a reputation as an inconsistent performer, the legendary frontman was up to the task, high-kicking, running around and dissing the venue the band played in Perth on Sunday night.

Though the voice isn't as sharp as it used to be, the cornrows look ridiculous and Axl isn't the lanky rocker he once was, he showed on songs such as November Rain, he's still got the star quality that made GnR the biggest rock band of the `80s.

Several new songs were spread throughout the set including Better - the new song most fans would recognise from the internet and though the new material was met with polite appreciation, there was a few promising moments to suggest the 13 years Axl has been working on Chinese Democracy might not have been entirely wasted.

Support act and former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach was invited onstage to sing a fiery My Michelle, in a moment that was straight out of 1987, not 2007.

The thrilling finale, Paradise City almost had Axl's vocals overwhelmed by the monster sound coming from the seven piece band.

Fireworks and red ticker tape sprayed out over the audience, before the band returned to give the crowd a final round of '`Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi."

Earlier in the night, Bach and Rose Tattoo were given the task of warming up the crowd.

A veteran of Australian hard rock, Angry Anderson proved he could still rock a stadium running through favourites from We Can't Be Beaten to Bad Boy For Life.

Whlie Bach set the pace with a high-energy set that was all about leather pants, long hair and metal riffs.

Bach last played in Australia in 1990 and he was clearly enjoying this return visit, declaring, 'I've been waiting 17 years to say Adelaide, here I am,' before launching into the Skid Row classic. But the Bach highlight had to be when he intro-ed his former band's acoustic hit, I Remember You. `I've been waiting all night to say, Adelaide, Australia, I remember you'.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0...5006343,00.html

[GNR 1991]

Yeah, because ''November Rain'' was released in the 80's.

[Estranged Reality]

Yeah, because ''November Rain'' was released in the 80's.

To be fair dude, they never said that. They said that while playing this song live, he showcased why the band became so big in the late '80s. The song was released in '91 but they weren't arguing that.

[Dead Flower]

dissing the venue the band played in Perth on Sunday night.

How dare Axl diss my home town!

[wasted]

Chinese Democracy might not have been entirely wasted.

[Estranged Reality]

Chinese Democracy might not have been entirely wasted.

?

[Axl-rocks]

dissing the venue the band played in Perth on Sunday night.

How dare Axl diss my home town!

He was dissing the venue

[GNR 1991]

Yeah, because ''November Rain'' was released in the 80's.

To be fair dude, they never said that. They said that while playing this song live, he showcased why the band became so big in the late '80s. The song was released in '91 but they weren't arguing that.

Yeah, I know, they could've said ''Welcome to the Jungle'' or ''Nightrain'' though.

[aussie_axl]

so many bitches so little time, madison can we have a different section for the aussies while the tours going? so we don't get all the bitches on the other side of the world trying to bring a good time down.

[PerthGNR]

dissing the venue the band played in Perth on Sunday night.

How dare Axl diss my home town!

He was dissing the venue

Its easy to blame the venue aint it?? other acts can go there and get their mixing right despite the challenges of the dome - go figure

[Estranged Reality]

dissing the venue the band played in Perth on Sunday night.

How dare Axl diss my home town!

He was dissing the venue

Its easy to blame the venue aint it?? other acts can go there and get their mixing right despite the challenges of the dome - go figure

That's because other bands arrive at the venues well ahead of time and let their tech crew set everything up with time to anticipate any "unexpected obstacles," e.g. weird sound issues such as the one at Perth. That's not a dig at the band, but they'd encounter far, far fewer "technical issues" if they approached touring like most bands do.

[grids74]

i was at the adelaide show and it was brilliant. wanted to see them since 88 when i was 14. had a great time. rose tattoo rocked. sebastian bach was full of energy and was a real "showman". gnr where fantastic. axl sounded awesome, he appeared to be enjoying himself a fair bit, crocking jokes with the band and the crowd. he took great pleasure in a sign a chick had. it read "if you grease my AXL i'll be your ROSE". thought that was cool. anyway if you guys have any questions or comments feel free

cheers

[Catcher]

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:

[The Surgeon General]

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:

Good review mate.

What did Axl say about the Dome?

Your sound couldn't possibly have been shitter than ours...

[Catcher]

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

[6lake sa66ath]

Nice review above.

But I'm very curious to know where you viewed the show from?

[Catcher]

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...

Edited June 14, 2007 by Catcher

[Dead Flower]

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.

[aussie_axl]

Angry and his band should be in a retirement home! sorry thats just how i see it, wolfmother should be there!.

[Catcher]

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

[aussie_axl]

i might get pissed before the show so i miss angry!, i'm not sure i can stand through it.

[Vogstar90_G'N'R]

dissing the venue the band played in Perth on Sunday night.

How dare Axl diss my home town!

He was dissing the venue

yep, there was someones review i think it was williambailey who said that axl had trouble hearing his ear piece because of the pressure at the venue... lets be honest that venue is quite shit. it had to be said.

[Charlierose]

yeah i was there too, they played chinese democracy.. fuckin front row 1 metre from axl,,, fuckin awesome night

[Axl-rocks]

yeah i was there too, they played chinese democracy.. fuckin front row 1 metre from axl,,, fuckin awesome night

I would faint if I was that close to Axl

[Charlierose]

sound quality was shity from my position, but who cares when ya on the stage, i got to play bumblefoots guitar and pat him on the head in paradise city when he ran past. fucken security sucked, anyone taking pics with a phone got jumped on by cockheads,,, axl was loving it.