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#1471 Re: Guns N' Roses » Reading, United Kingdom - August 27, 2010 (Reading Festival) » 844 weeks ago
If you squint Guns N' Roses can deliver the goods of old
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/re … z0y5iXbdPi
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/re … z0y5iOyENE
#1472 Re: Guns N' Roses » Reading, United Kingdom - August 27, 2010 (Reading Festival) » 844 weeks ago
Reading has its darkest hour
It has been a topsy-turvy summer. Glastonbury, the perennial mudbath, basked in sunshine, while practically every subsequent UK festival has been a washout.
With its roots in Seventies heavy metal, Reading '“ young, hip and hardy, unlike crèche-and-coriander weekenders such as Latitude '“ is certainly not to be perturbed by a few spots of rain: it was messy underfoot, but really nothing to frighten the horses. Come early evening, the site revelled in an exquisite, if chilly, sundown, and Queens of the Stone Age could quite plausibly burst on stage with a song called Feelgood Hit of the Summer.
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Axl Rose launches tirade in Leeds Fronted by the ginger-coiffed Josh Homme, Queens looked every inch the future Reading bill-toppers, but advance opinion had been sceptical of this year'™s headliners and their astronomical fees.
Second last on Saturday night, the Libertines, who had re'‘formed especially '“ for a mint '“ were sorely lacking in their old chaos, until they were ushered off the stage mid-song, due to overcrowding (returning later to complete their set).
They were eclipsed by Dizzee Rascal, who preceded them and had a mind-bogglingly vast gathering of Reading'™s diverse musical tribes bopping as one.
That night, rookie headliners, Arcade Fire, also triumphed. 'I don'™t know what we'™re doing here; we'™ve never even had a hit,' joked their lanky singer, Win Butler. If the Canadian septet were suffering from the
we-are-not-worthy'™s, they simply played their way out of it. Their epic, stadium-filling anthems rang out with subtlety, eccentricity and, on their big tunes from 2005'™s Funeral album, heart-bursting joy.
For all such thrills, Reading 2010 will go down in history for Friday'™s headliners, Guns N'™ Roses. As many feared, Axl Rose and his unpopular, Slash-less GN'™R showed up on stage an hour late (a lifetime in festival scheduling) to a half-empty field, and volleys of jeering.
Rose was bloated, Botox-featured and unable to complete more than a couple of screeched verses without recourse to the oxygen tank he keeps in the wings. For long periods, his anonymous henchmen held the fort without him. Consequently, even Sweet Child o'™ Mine drew barely a ripple of applause.
It was excruciating, malign, yet compulsive to watch. Midway through Nighttrain, Rose suddenly barked, 'I don'™t even know why we bothered coming here' , tossed his microphone in the air and stormed off.
Incredibly, it got worse '“ like Spinal Tap re-written by Ricky Gervais. Having now passed the midnight curfew, Rose returned alone, pointing and sneering at the audience, through a microphone now disconnected from the PA. To chants of 'We want Slash' , the band reappeared and started playing Paradise City, also inaudibly. Rose staged a sit-in, singing through a megaphone, until security shooed him off, and GN'™R departed, making obscene gestures.
It was, officially, Reading'™s darkest hour.
#1474 Re: Guns N' Roses » Leeds, United Kingdom - August 29, 2010 (Leeds Festival) » 844 weeks ago
Axl ends set with foul-mouthed rant
Rock singer Axl Rose launched a foul-mouthed tirade against police and promoters as he left the stage at a festival.
The Guns N' Roses singer told the crowd at Leeds Festival the band was informed it would be allowed to play until just before midnight but was pulled off stage at around 11.15pm on Sunday night.
He told the throngs of watching fans: "We come here to play for you but the cops and the promoters wanna f*** us in the a**.
"We would like to play a few more songs for you but we'll just play one."
The band, which was 35 minutes late to the stage, then broke into Paradise City.
There were fears the frontman would repeat his performance at the festival in 2002 when he kept fans waiting for nearly three hours, especially after he arrived on stage one hour late at the festival's sister event in Reading on Saturday.
As the group's Leeds set drew to a close, Rose, who underwent numerous costume changes during his performance, repeated his earlier sentiment and said: "Be safe, good night and to all the cops and promoters - f*** you."
But despite the hostility towards promoters and police, the band played for nearly two hours and was met with a warm welcome from thousands of fans on the festival's last night.
The band mixed in many new songs with old favourites such as November Rain, Sweet Child O' Mine and Welcome to the Jungle.
The set brought the three-day festival to a close. Arcade Fire headlined on Friday while Blink 182 topped the bill on Saturday night.
#1475 Re: Guns N' Roses » Leeds, United Kingdom - August 29, 2010 (Leeds Festival) » 844 weeks ago
Axl Rose declares 'war' on promoters as Guns N' Roses headline Leeds Festival
Singer says 'fuck you' to festival chiefs as band make it to Main Stage
Axl Rose described the feud between him and the Reading And Leeds Festivals organisers as a "war", as Guns N' Roses headlined Leeds Festival tonight (August 29).
The band started their set half an hour later than their scheduled kick-off time, arriving on stage at 9:30pm (BST). At the end of the main part of their set, after 'Nightrain', they returned to the stage and the frontman claimed that the promoters were cutting their set short.
"We would like to play a few more songs for you tonight," Rose said. "But someone is telling us the show's over. This war ain't over yet." He made the comment at around 11:20pm, and also claimed that he had been told they could play until 11:58pm. They then played 'Paradise City' for their one-song encore.
After the show Reading And Leeds Festivals boss Melvin Benn told NME that Guns N' Roses had not been given the OK to play until 11:58pm. "I have no idea where that came from," he said. "I was behind the sound equipment so I couldn't actually hear what he said. Bands often say things like that when they are curtailed."
The scenes followed the band's performance at the Reading Festival on Friday, when they came on an hour late and organisers pulled the plug on their set as they were about to break the noise curfew. That night the band staged a protest by attempting to play without amplification, with Rose telling the crowd that they were not planning to head to Leeds.
Up until the encore, despite the late start, the Leeds show went ahead without any controversial incidents taking place, with the group attracting a huge crowd.
Rose made several costume changes throughout, switching from a silver jacket to a black one, a purple one, a red checked jacket with a cowboy hat, then a gaudy white jacket, and finally a white sleeveless top.
After 'Paradise City' the band then went to the front of the stage and bowed, with Rose saying: "Be safe getting out of here. And for the problems with the promoters, fuck you."
Benn played down the "war" comment, saying he would actually consider booking the band again. "I'd definitely book them again but I don't know if they'd come and play," he said. "I doubt I'll be getting a Christmas card from them, which is a shame because tonight was great. There are rules we have to abide by here in the UK, they're very clear rules. It's not personal, I think the band are great. Why would I make it personal?"
Guns N' Roses played:
'Chinese Democracy'
'Welcome To The Jungle'
'It's So Easy'
'Mr Brownstone'
'Sorry'
'Richard Fortus Guitar Solo'
'Live And Let Die'
'This I Love'
'Rocket Queen'
'Dizzy Reed Piano Solo'
'Street Of Dreams'
'You Could Be Mine'
'DJ Ashba Guitar Solo'
'Sweet Child O' Mine'
'Instrumental Jam'
'Axl Rose Piano Solo'
'November Rain'
'Bumblefoot Guitar Solo'
'Knockin' On Heaven's Door'
'Nightrain'
'Paradise City'
#1476 Re: Guns N' Roses » Leeds, United Kingdom - August 29, 2010 (Leeds Festival) » 844 weeks ago
Heard Axl sing much better but he was still ok, dj looked well into it, Rons guitar was a bit qiuet, Tommy looked right into it, Chris looked... lol
#1477 Re: Guns N' Roses » Leeds, United Kingdom - August 29, 2010 (Leeds Festival) » 844 weeks ago
GNR are on tv!
#1478 Re: Guns N' Roses » Leeds, United Kingdom - August 29, 2010 (Leeds Festival) » 844 weeks ago
Well yeah, no suprises there.
#1479 Re: Guns N' Roses » Leeds, United Kingdom - August 29, 2010 (Leeds Festival) » 844 weeks ago
Not really, all the live twitters on google sound very positive this time.
#1480 Re: Guns N' Roses » Reading, United Kingdom - August 27, 2010 (Reading Festival) » 845 weeks ago
I dont think they'll get an extra half hour tonight after calling him a prick etc, 11pm lights out 
