Guns N' Roses - London Review

It is amazing to think that the big Guns N' Roses reunion, which saw legendary guitarist Slash and no-nonsense bassist Duff McKagan re-joining the band's ranks for the first time since departing in the late 1990s, happened six years ago! The current era of the band still feels remarkably fresh, but in truth it is quite long in the tooth now - with many shows having been performed since that 1st April 2016 re-launch at the Troubadour. It was the reunion that many thought would never happen, and huge crowds all across the world have been taking the opportunity to catch the current line-up on their seemingly never-ending reunion tour. I saw Guns N' Roses live for the first time in 2012, but I also caught them in 2017 - at one of the two shows at the London Stadium that took place in the June of that year. That was my first time seeing the band in a stadium, but also my first time seeing them with Slash and McKagan. The show was a real event, and a great example of stadium rock done right, so much so that I knew that I would have to go again should the band come back around. Guns N' Roses are one of those bands that can never really be depended on, though, as they have been very volatile over the years - but since 2016 the band, and particularly their enigmatic frontman W. Axl Rose, seemed to have settled down. I imagine the money that everyone is earning off the back of the tour helps, but, in truth, everyone involved seems happy with the current situation - which is likely why the tour keeps getting extended. It was perhaps not a surprise, then, when in 2019 it was announced that Guns N' Roses would be coming back to London in 2020 - to play two nights the newly-opened Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Clearly the shows did not happen in 2020, though, and they were rescheduled for 2021 and then 2022. I actually got my money back after the first postponement as the 2021 date would have clashed with something else (which also never happened), and re-bought my tickets when the shows were moved back to 2022. I opted for the second of the two nights, which happened to be a Saturday - with the band also playing on the preceding Friday - so it was with excitement, and some trepidation, that I headed up to London yesterday to catch the show. I say trepidation, as it seemed as if the Friday night was plagued with problems. Fans were not let into the stadium until around two hours after the scheduled opening time, which meant that one of the support bands had to be cancelled and Guns N' Roses went on an hour after they were supposed to - which led to a shorter set. There were also lots of complaints about the sound, too, so I was hoping that Saturday would not be a repeat of what seemed like a rather chaotic Friday.

Saturday seemed to go to plan, though, at least at first. I got the stadium at around 16:00, which was around half an hour after the main doors opened - and getting inside was easy. The stadium itself seemed really good, which is to be expected considering it is a new ground for a well-established Premier League football team, and even though I was sat at the far end of the stadium from where the stage had been erected I still had a great view of everything. I got there early as I wanted to catch the first support act - who was former Hanoi Rocks frontman Michael Monroe. He had been unable to play the night before due to the delays, so he made his 30 minutes on stage count with a powerful eight-song set that was mostly made up of songs from his recent handful of albums. The sound during his set was a bit muddy, but his punky hard rock came across well - and it looked like there were quite a few down at the front enjoying his set. Two songs from 2019's One Man Gang opened things up, with the title track and Last Train to Tokyo setting the tone for what was to come. Monroe barely came up for air throughout the whole set, and was even climbing up the rigging at the side of the stage at one point - which I also remember him doing at the High Voltage Festival back in 2011. It is good to see that some things never change, and the raucous Murder the Summer of Love from his newest album and the punk of '78 certainly showcased Monroe's ageless spirit. The slow opening of Ballad of the Lower East Side was the only chance for him and his band, which included his former Hanoi Rocks bandmate Sami Yaffa (bass guitar/vocals), to take a quick breather - but this song soon exploded into another fast-paced rocker, too. The energy throughout Monroe's set was excellent, but it was a shame that there were so few in the stadium at this point to enjoy it. Those of us who turned up early certainly did, though, and when he dipped back into the Hanoi Rocks catalogue for Malibu Beach Nightmare and their punky version of Up Around the Bend there were plenty of audible cheers from around the stadium. His short, but very sweet, came to an end with the riffy Dead, Jail or Rock 'n' Roll which ensured that everything ended on a high - and gave those who turned up early a shot of energy to take forward into the rest of the evening. The setlist was:

One Man Gang

Last Train to Tokyo

Murder the Summer of Love

'78

Ballad of the Lower East Side

Malibu Beach Nightmare [Hanoi Rocks material]

Up Around the Bend [Creedence Clearwater Revival cover]

Dead, Jail or Rock 'n' Roll

The main support act, who has been accompanying Guns N' Roses throughout much of their European tour, was blues musician/songwriter Gary Clark Jr. (vocals/guitar) - who I was familiar with in name-only prior to his set yesterday. I was not really sure what to expect, apart from that he played the blues, but I ended up enjoying much of his set - which was much more varied than I was expecting. Sometimes I can find blues acts to be a bit one-note, and there was one song that he played that was very old-school with lots of dirty slide licks and cliché blues lyrics - but much of his set was quite upbeat. Clark has a soulful voice, and that really shone through in his music, which was packed full of groove - as well as plenty of excellent guitar playing from Clark himself and fellow guitarist King Zapata. Much of the set consisted of upbeat, soulful, bluesy numbers - but as alluded to this was not representative of everything Clark played. The aforementioned true blues number aside, there was also a breezy number that very much reminded me of a yacht rock song - with lots of synths and choppy guitar rhythms, as well as a strong chorus with lots of high-pitched vocal harmonies. The set-closing number was quite different too, and had a very strong progressive rock influence. Being the final number it was stretched out with lengthy solos, with the highlight being an excellent one from keyboardist Jon Deas. This keyboard solo had a real 1970s vibe to it, and it went on for quite a while too - with lots of spacey synth textures and flashy lead runs. This was then followed up by another great solo from Clark, who impressed throughout with both his playing and his singing. His upbeat blues may seem like a strange pairing with Guns N' Roses, but Guns N' Roses have rarely taken traditional support bands out with them - and Clark's feel-good music definitely suited the sunny July day. I was largely unfamiliar with Clark prior to yesterday, but I enjoyed much of his 45 minutes on stage. He is definitely someone that I need to check out further, as his diverse set suggests that there is a lot for me to discover.

Sadly, after Clark's set the evening started to take something of a turn - at least for a while. Guns N' Roses were supposed to hit the stage at 18:45, 30 minutes after Clark's set, but 18:45 came and went with nothing happening. Nothing happened until 20:15, two hours after Clark's set, when Guns N' Roses finally started their set - but by this point the crowd was getting annoyed and restless. Guns N' Roses used to be known for their late starts, but since the reunion this has stopped happening. Whilst no explanation was formally given for the delay, a few songs into the set it would become clear what the issue was - although it was not immediately obvious. Despite any disappointments surrounding the delay, though, the crowd went wild when the band launched into It's So Easy. The punky song worked well as a set-opener, as it has since the reunion, with Rose and McKagan singing the song in unison, and it transitioned nicely into the strutting Mr. Brownstone thanks to Frank Ferrer's (drums) groovy opening. I may be in a relative minority, but I am glad that the band still play songs from 2008's Chinese Democracy following the reunion, and the album's title track was an early highlight. Slash opened the song with the bluesier take on its main riff, before the heavy track proceeded to roar through the speakers - with Rose singing powerfully in his lower register. The solo section saw both Slash and Richard Fortus (guitar) trading leads, and it was great to briefly see the spotlight shined on Fortus - who is a great guitarist in his own right. Velvet Revolver's Slither and the mega-hit Welcome to the Jungle really got the crowd going, though, with the latter in particular seeing lots of movement from those standing down on the pitch. The band seemed to be going through the gears, although took a brief moment of respite with the jammy, bluesy Double Talkin' Jive which saw plenty of loose soloing from Slash. The spotlight was then turned on Dizzy Reed (keyboards/percussion/vocals) for the epic Estranged, but it was during this song that the reason for the delay was apparent - and that was because Rose was struggling with it vocally. He had sounded powerful on the opening few numbers, particularly those which made use of his lower register, but Estranged seemed to be beating him. After the song he apologised for his vocal problems, and said that he was going to change his approach to singing for the rest of the night - and it was clear that this also meant change up the setlist.

From this point on the band seemed to make it up as they went along. The delay meant that the band had to cut out around an hour's worth of material anyway, and the rest of the show was picked to allow Rose a chance to sing differently. Live and Let Die was one of the few that featured the classic Rose screams, whilst songs like the industrial 'new' number Absurd and the relatively slow-burning Civil War allowed him to avoid the high notes. Absurd came across really well live, and Civil War impressed as always - with lots of great wah-drenched guitar playing from Slash. A brief acoustic segment followed, during which Rose crooned the old country track Wichita Lineman and wooed with the crowd with the delicate Patience. I had never heard the band do Patience live before, surprisingly, so that was another highlight for me. Rose took a brief break afterwards during which McKagan led the band through a rousing rendition of The Stooges' I Wanna Be Your Dog, before Rose re-joined the band for You're Crazy - another song which I had not seen the band do before. All in all, the set included six songs which had not been included in either the 2012 and 2017 shows, which is pretty impressive considering the band's relatively small catalogue and the fact that this show was around an hour shorter than both of those previous gigs. You're Crazy was another highlight as they played the bluesier version of the song featured on the Live Era '87-'93 album - which is neither the original version from Appetite for Destruction nor the acoustic version from GN'R Lies. It was another track that allowed Rose to use his lower register, and it really rocked as a result. He took another break after, though, during which Slash performed his customary guitar solo - which was based around a number of riffs/licks from Albert King's classic Born Under a Bad Sign. As much as I like Slash as a guitarists, his solo spots can sometimes drag. This one was not as egregious as the lengthy solo I saw at a 2013 solo show of his, during which even his band looked bored, but it did outstay its welcome somewhat. It morphed into Knockin' On Heaven's Door, though, which woke the crowd back up - and Rose encouraged a sing-a-long during the final chorus. It was left to Nightrain to close out the main set, and it was certainly a powerful ending - with Fortus and Slash both soloing again. There was time for a couple more, though, and Rose brought out country singer Carrie Underwood, who had also guested with the band the night before, to help him sing Sweet Child O' Mine and Paradise City. She did a great job along with Rose, and the dual-vocal approach worked really well - and added depth to both songs. Slash's solo in Sweet Child O' Mine was as good as always, and the closing moments of Paradise City really kicked up the energy levels one last time. The setlist was:

It's So Easy

Mr. Brownstone

Chinese Democracy

Slither [Velvet Revolver cover]

Welcome to the Jungle

Double Talkin' Jive

Estranged

Live and Let Die [Wings cover]

Absurd

Civil War

Wichita Lineman [Glen Campbell cover]

Patience

I Wanna Be Your Dog [The Stooges cover]

You're Crazy

Guitar solo

Knockin' On Heaven's Door [Bob Dylan cover]

Nightrain

-

Sweet Child O' Mine [w/ Carrie Underwood]

Paradise City [w/ Carrie Underwood]

Whilst it is a real shame that the two London shows were hit with disruption, meaning that neither crowd were afforded the full three-hour Guns N' Roses live experience, last night's show was still very enjoyable - faults and all. Rose was clearly struggling, so it was impressive that the band still managed to put on a two-hour show - which would be considered long by many bands' standards. Both the 2012 and 2017 shows were better for different reasons, but I still really enjoyed my time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last night. All three of the bands that played put on strong sets, and it was great to hear a few songs live that I had not seen Guns N' Roses do before. It was worth the trip up to London from Devon, which is the most important thing - and I hope that Rose gets back to his usual self soon.