Finally, Tickets There has found the band we’ve been looking for. After 76 MySpace Reviews, multiply that by 10 for the number of bands we’ve actually checked out as review candidates and the countless others we’ve come across in our seven or eight years as fans of Irish music. Million$Reload, in our opinion, are possibly the best Irish hard rock band that’s emerged from the emerald isle since Thin Lizzy. That might be actually be pushing it but right now, Tickets There is hard pushed to think of any other band that comes this close to perfecting one of the most exciting, hard edged sounds in modern music.
Hailing from Co. Tyrone, Million Dollar Reload formed in 2005 and released their debut album, Anthems of a Degeneration in 2007. The record seems to have received massive amounts of praise from major music publishers and critics from all across the U.K. and Ireland. They’ve toured with the likes of Alice Cooper and Gilby Clarke and some of the members were apparently involved with legendary Guns N Roses tribute band, Gunz N Rozes. This may help explain the bands incredible talent at writing four (and hopefully alot more) of the best hard rock anthems we’ve heard in many a year. Even Scottish hard rock act Wired Desire would have trouble competing with the sher perfection displayed by M$D.
Kicking things off is Livin’ In The City. What can you say? Blistering, assaulting, catchy, savage, cutting, riffage fueled monster? All the terms we’ve used before fail in the task of describing how kick ass this song is. It swaggers like Stephen Tyler in the seventies and hits harder than Lemmy would in a brawl. The song is just so full on and full of guitars and gritty street rock vocals. All this considered, it’s possibly the weakest song on the playlist. It begins!
Goodnight NewYork is everything Livin’ In The City was and more. The guitars are like something handpicked from an AC/DC anthem. The riffs are unrelenting in their power and the changes, hooks, choruses, bridges everything are just fantastic. The vocals on the chorus just pull the song up so many notches you’d swear you were in the Himalayas…the Himalayas of rock! (Jesus, seriously TT? ‘The Himalayas of rock’! Pity your writing doesn’t match the bands – Ed)
When we first ran through the tracks, third song – The Last Icon sounded a little dodgy. There’s always some element of reeking cheese with bands that try to write this sort of a song, but fear not as the band pull it off with exceptional style. The Last icon is a tribute to fallen rock legends such as Bon Scott (AC/DC), Elvis Presley (The King – Bitches!) and John Lennon (Hippie). The intro is compiled from recordings of news reports from the days of Presley and Lennon’s deaths and the song starts off far more melodic and stripped back than the previous numbers. Before you think ‘here comes another Nickelback’, the band spice things up and some added riffage and attitude turn the song from Swiss Approved Product to thoroughly enjoyable, respectable slice of hard rock balladry.
Last but certainly not least, is the hard stomping, heart beating, fist belting anthem, show closer, curtain stopped, encore bound Fire Your Guns. Gritty, dirty, nasty vocals delivered with incredible force. Singer Phil possibly has the best hard rock voice of any band Ireland’s ever produced but the talent doesn’t stop there. Bam and Andy’s guitars give the song that razor slicing edge all good hard rock bands need. Their solo’s, riffs, melodies agh, everything is just amazing. The drums are just constantly smashing the hell out of everything and a pumped up bass completes Tickets There’s current favorite Irish hard rock group’s lineup. Fire Your Guns is just so incredibly full on and as catchy as Hell’s express train. Highway to hell? More like Armageddon marching hordes on the Autobahn to hell’s centre.
Final opinion? Well, they’re alright. I mean, if you want to hear some of the best hard rock songs that have ever come out of Ireland, possibility the world, then I guess you could check them out. Every second their album isn’t in our hands we become more and more depressed. The more we realize we haven’t seen this band in their five years together we become depressed. This is a band worth checking out, loving, praising, financing, following and hyping up. Hell, these guys are so good they’re worth you heading out and building your own venue just so you can see book them.
Fresh on the heels of an extremely successful Canadian and Asian tour, legendary rock icons and Tickets There favorites Guns N’ Roses have announced a slew of tour dates in South America.
After weeks of unconfirmed rumors circulating around the net, the news is now…almost official and the current set of definite dates can be viewed below.
Rumors of a summer/Autumn US Tour have now gone into overdrive as the band steadily proves to the world that they are back with a vengeance.
Mar. 07 – Brasília, Brazil – Ginásio Nilson Nelson
Mar. 10 – Belo Horizonte, Brazil – Ginásio Jornalista Felipe Drumond (Mineirinho)
Mar. 13 – São Paulo, Brazil – Palestra Itália Stadium
Mar. 14 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Praça da Apoteose
Mar. 16 – Porto Alegre, Brazil – Ginásio Gigantinho
Mar. 18 – Montevideo, Uruguay – Estadio Centenario
Mar. 20 – Buenos Aires, Argentina – Estadio River Plate
Mar. 22 – Santiago, Chile – Club Hipico de Santiago
Mar. 25 – Lima, Peru – La Explanada Sur del Estadio Monumental
Mar. 30 – Bogotá, Colombia – Simón Bolívar Park
Apr. 01 – Quito, Ecuador – Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa
Ex-Guns N’ Roses and current (apparent) Velvet Revolver axe legend Slash is nearly ready to release his much anticipated debut solo album. The record, entitled Slash, is coming to all good music shops and, strangely enough, newsagents on May 10th in the UK (April in the States).
As well as a standard record release, Slash, Roadrunner Records and Classic Rock magazine have teamed up to release a special feature magazine dedicated to Slash’s career that will come with an bonus version of the album.
Slash has been recording the album over the last year and he’s recruited half the recording industry to make it happen. Each track features a different guest vocalist and Slash is confident it’s the best project he’s ever been involved in.
While Tickets There would like to remain confident, his recent work, namely Velvet Revolver and his first solo single, Sahara (not featured on the album thank Christ!) leave little to be desired. Hopefully this album will produce the miraculous turnaround all his fans want to see him make and restore him to his former credibility.
Tracklist
01. Ghost (Ian Astbury, feat. Izzy Stradlin) (3:34)
02. Crucify The Dead (Ozzy Osbourne) (4:04)
03. Beautiful Dangerous (Fergie) (4:35)
04. Promise (Chris Cornell) (4:41)
05. By The Sword (Andrew Stockdale) (4:50)
06. Gotten (Adam Levine) (5:05)
07. Doctor Alibi (Lemmy) (3:07)
08. Watch This Dave (Dave Grohl, Duff McKagan) (3:46)
09. I Hold On (Kid Rock) (4:10)
10. Nothing To Say (M. Shadows) (5:27)
11. Starlight (Myles Kennedy) (5:35)
12. Saint Is A Sinner Too (Rocco De Luca) (3:28)
13. We’re All Gonna Die (Iggy Pop) (4:30)
Well it isn’t difficult to judge what today’s most popular search will be. Legendary, beloved heroes of Tickets There, Guns N’ Roses are opening the first night of a thirteen date Canadian tour tonight in Winnipeg.
The tour officially opened last month when the group played a mini tour of Asia consisting of four dates in Taiwan, Japan and South Korea. The shows were rapturously well received and rather than a burnt out shell of a formerly great band, the world got to see a glimpse of the strongest GNR lineup since the golden days of the late eighties. All the shows ran close to the three hour mark with their last show in Japan reaching three hours and thirty seven minutes.
The bands latest album, Chinese Democracy was released in 2008 but to a lot of fans disappointment, it wasn’t promoted with music video’s, interviews or a tour. Rumor has it lead singer, Axl Rose was unhappy with the way the release was handled and simply disappeared, shunning all his promotional agreements.
Tickets There would like to wish Axl, Ron and all the boys the best of luck on the tour. All going well, these shows will pave the way for the much anticipated European / American shows later in the year.
It’s official, Guns N’ Roses are on stage and they’re rocking the hell out of Taipei. Follow the bands twitter page.
GNRDaily.com are updating their twitter page with the set list as it’s coming in so be sure to hop over there and check them out. Tickets There will have more news when the show’s over. (Setlist Below Video).
Tomorrow night, Guns N’ Roses kick of their highly anticipated Chinese Democracy tour. Finally fans will get to see Axl Roses thirteen year opus live with the musicians who helped create it.
For fans of the band dying to see what they have in store it seems you don’t have to wait as a possible set list and a picture of the stage set up have been leaked. Check out GNRDaily.com to read more (and see more pics of the stage). Video below is the GNR Sound check. Setlist is beneath it.
Possible setlist for tomorrow’s show (Taipei, Taiwan 11.12.2009)
1. Chinese Democracy 2. Scraped
3. Welcome To The Jungle
4. It’s So Easy
5. Mr. Brownstone
6. There Was A Time
Richard Fotus solo
7. Live And Let Die
8. Sorry
9. If The World/Prostitute
10. Rocket Queen/My Michelle
Dizzy Fuckin’ Reed solo
11. Street Of Dreams
12. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
13. You Could Be Mine
14. I.R.S.
DJ Ashba solo
15. Sweet Child O’Mine
16. This I Love
17. November Rain
Bumblefoot solo
18. Shackeler’s Revenge
19. Outta Get Me
20. Nightrain
So, it’s decade ending time. All the music publications, webzines, blogs, fans everyone with a computer and the ability to type has a list of their top 5, 10, 20, 50, 1,000, 1,000,000 albums of the last ten years and the great, thoughtful, original minds that drive, create, nurture and bring you Tickets There have finally decided we’ll do one to. Sher if everyone else is, why wouldn’t we? Tickets There never claimed (in the last 30 minutes) to be original or independent so we’ll follow the herd with the list thing. Not really sure what’s the point since we probably only bought 20 albums in the last ten years that were actually released in that time.
Instead of doing the 1 – 50 order, we’re putting them in chronologically. This is a basic, hastily put together history of what shaped the amazing, the incredible, the mind-bendingly stunning tastes held by all at Tickets There HQ.
(Please don’t give me hell for Testament, but that album deserves to be on this list, even though it wasn’t released in the time frame. Damn calendar counter counters!!)
Moving swiftly along from the disastrous audio spectacle that is Slash’s new single Sahara and it’s totally original B-Side, Paradise City, we can now look on to the happy, happy news that is…drum roll please….the fact that Guns N’ Roses have made the 2010 Tour Dates official.
The bands MySpace and Facebook were updated with the dates today so all eyes on are on the gunsnroses.com website for the final confirmation.
Lead singer and living rock super god, Axl Rose and the band have yet to make any comment about the dates but all’s looking good so far. With any luck the band will start to announce further dates in the US and Europe soon.
Check Tickets There’s previous post for a full list of the dates and the official tour video by Clicking Here (Dates) and Here (Video)
Tickets There knows full well we should not be reviewing this, so we’ll keep it brief. Let us tell you right now, we hate both of these songs (yes, even Paradise City. It’s not a classic anymore. Instead it’s become…well, let’s save that for a little further down).
Sahara, featuring Koshi Inaba from Japanese hard rock outfit, B’Z (who’ve actually had something like forty odd consecutive number one singles and sold 78 million albums in Japan alone!!) Is one of the worst songs Slash has ever been associated with. We say one of the worst but honestly, we can’t think of anything else as bad, as boring, as shit as this track that Slash has worked on. It’s sooo boring, it doesn’t have any trace of rock n roll about it and the whole thing just reeks of ‘Gimmie Mo Money bitches!!’. With this single, Slash has sold out almost every ounce of credibility the famous living room guitarist had left. There isn’t even that many guitar moments in the bloody song so what’s the fucking point!!
As for the B-Side!. For a man complaining and whining about being asked about Guns N Roses all the time, it’s a wonder he didn’t stop and think that a cover of Guns N Roses classic, Paradise City would stir a few more GNR relaxed questions and conversations into the mix. Then again, let’s be honest. Slash was a great guitar player in Guns N Roses when he had Izzy, Axl and Duff helping out with the song writing, the singing, the composing, the attitude, the balls to pull it off and the chemistry to make it all work. On his own, with this album and it’s 1,000 page list of ‘guest musicians’, he’s just lost the plot.
Actually, I take that back. The plot for this album all along has been ‘Cash In!’ and that’ll probably work. Unfortunately it might just push Slash out of the musical limelight only die-hards and X-Factor viewers hold him I now.
Tickets There says shite but doubtless enough there’ll be some twat complaining about how unique, special, warm hearted, diverse and spiritual these mockeries are. Let me tell you right now, Tickets There doesn’t want to hear it.
Oh and Koshi, Hard Rock singers aren’t meant to sound like a guy who just got kicked in the balls with steel toe boots. They’re meant to sound like the guy that kicked him. Ask Lemmy!
Seems things are really piling up in favor of the 2010 Guns N’ Roses tour actually going ahead. Axl Rose, Tickets There’s personal choice for greatest living rock legend and his group of guns will be hitting Canada and the world next year for a tour that looks set to be pretty massive. As long as Ticket sales and normal ranting issues don’t get in the way, the world will finally have one of hard rock’s greatest bands back on its feet.
For More detials about the tour, please Click Here and see TT’s original article with all confirmed dates listed.
Here’s a video for their show in London, Ontario on January 25th
CLICK HERE to see the latest Guns N Roses articles on Tickets There!
***UPDATED – 30/11/2010 – Guns N’ Roses: TO TOUR USA IN 2011? ***
Rumours are flying high that Guns N’ Roses will be touring the US in the spring of 2011 with the possibility of a new album (or remix album with a DVD) and…(yes, there’s more :)) some new material being played at the shows. Whether or not the new songs will be played at the bands December shows is unclear but rumours generally have some basis in the Guns business (trying our best not to shit a brick laughing at that last comment).
According to Guns N Roses News, a source, the same that leaked the lyrics to sorry a year before they were released has divulged the following information.
“From what I’ve heard through some of my band contacts, 2011 should be a very cool year for the fans. Axl really wants to get Chinese Democracy’s follow-up out there, they’d like to tour the US (unfortunately lawsuits may prevent them), and we may even get that remix CD album bundled with an official DVD release that they’re working on.
Also, don’t be surprised if you hear a previously unreleased song or 2 played live for the first time. From what I hear, Axl is wanting to test the waters. Keep your fingers crossed that it is either “Forgotten” or Atlas Shrugged”. Whatever it is, you can be sure that it will be sweeeeeeeet!”
So, if anything more comes about this, we should be in for a fun filled Guns N’ Roses 2011. It’s too soon and too little for breath holding but where there’s light..etc. When we hear more, we’ll tell ye!
***UPDATED – 22/10/2010 – Guns N’ Roses Announce Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates December Show***
No word on Israel yet (thank-god!) but Guns N’ Roses have announced a show in the United Arab Emirates capital, Abu Dhabi!. Penciled in for December 16th, the date follows Guns Australian shows earlier in the month. For a full list of confirmed 2010 dates, please see below.
Dec. 1st: Guns N’ Roses live in Townsville, QLD, Australia
Dec. 4th: Guns N’ Roses live in Sydney, NSW, Australia
Dec. 7th: Guns N’ Roses live in Adelaide, SA, Australia
Dec. 11th: Guns N’ Roses live in Perth, WA, Australia
Dec. 16th: Guns N’ Roses live in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
***UPDATED – 14/10/2010 – DUFF McKAGAN PLAYS WITH GUNS N’ ROSES IN LONDON*** Can barely believe it myself folks but original Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan got up on stage with the band tonight to play You Could Be Mine, Lies favourite Nice Boys, Knockin’ On Heavens Door (featuring Duff on Guitar) and Patience (featuring Duff on Tambourine) at the second sold out night in London’s O2 Arena.
Apparently Axl Rose announced “There Was This Guy At The End Of My Hallway Playing All This Loud Music & Shit. Who The Fuck? Oh! It’s Duff!”. So it seems Mr. McKagan was staying at the same hotel as Axl and the two decided on giving their UK fans a little treat.
This is mega for anyone underestimating the significance. It’s the first time since 93 that Duff and Axl have played together live and might signal an end to the bitterness and rivalry at last. No-ones calling for a reunion, but it would be nice if those guys could patch things up. They did great work together and should get along. Fair play to both Axl and Duff tonight and to Tommy and the rest of the guys for standing back and letting the crowd lap it up. Christ I’d give almost anything to have been there!
Duff ain’t the only X-guns to take the stage with the new line-up. Original guitarist Izzy Stradlin played several shows with Guns in 2006.
Set-list with full Duff details (thank-you Blabbermouth)
01. Intro
02. Chinese Democracy
03. It’s So Easy
04. Mr. Brownstone
05. Sorry
06. Shackler’s Revenge
07. Richard Fortus Solo
08. Live And Let Die
09. Instrumental Jam
10. This I Love
11. Better
12. Rocket Queen
13. Dizzy Reed Solo
14. Street Of Dreams
15. You Could Be Mine (w/ Duff McKagan on bass)
16. The Ballad Of Death
17. Sweet Child O’Mine
18. Another Brick In The Wall (Part II)
19. Axl Piano Solo
20. November Rain
21. Bumblefoot Solo
22. I.R.S.
23. Nice Boys (w/ Duff McKagan on guitar)
24. Knocking On Heaven’s Door (w/ Duff McKagan on guitar)
25. Nightrain
Encore:
26. Don’t Cry
27. Madagascar
28. Patience (w/ Duff McKagan on tambourine)
29. Whole Lotta Rosie
30. Waiting On A Friend (jam)
31. Paradise City
***UPDATED – 13/10/2010 – GUNS N’ ROSES Play London O2 Arena Tonight*** Tickets There wishes Guns the best of luck tonight when they return to the UK for the first time since the whole Reading / Leeds thing. This side of Europe mistreated rock royalty in August and early September, so hopefully things will go smoothly on this leg of the tour and the UK will get to see the band in full blazing glory.
***UPDATED – 10/10/2010 – GUNS N’ ROSES to perform in Israel?***According to YNetNews, Guns N’ Roses are likely to play 2 shows in Israel this December.
The dates are slated to take place on the 18th and 19th. No city, venue or official confirmation has been announced as of yet but rumours seem to be king for this tour and Guns are stopping at every port in the sea (aside from the one over yonder). These shows follow the Australian ones taking place in Early December.
On a personal note, Tickets There isn’t delighted to see Guns break the boycott of Israel that many others have signed up to but then again, they’re musicians, not politicians. Hopefully the nukes won’t drop on The Knesset until after Guns finish up their show.
***UPDATED – 04/09/2010 – GUNS N’ ROSES ROME SHOW UNDER-WAY*** Several Twitters, forums and Mr. Del James have confirmed Guns are on-stage in Rome!!!!
We’ll let ye know how things go when we have an update.
Same set-list as always, apparently the crowd are going nuts (in a good way). Guns are Back on form!!!
Rome show is over, everything went brilliantly!!! Tomorrow night, let’s see them do it again!!
***UPDATED – 02/09/2010 – GUNS N’ ROSES Dublin & Belfast Review Now Posted***
Well, by now the entire GN’R world (and Beyond) has heard the media’s version of last nights show in Dublin, now it’s time for TT to have our final word on the subject.
***UPDATED – 29/08/2010 – GUNS N’ ROSES ARRIVE IN BELFAST***
Well folks, no word on those extra Australian shows yet but good news for Irish Gn’R fans, The band have arrived in Belfast and they’re reading and willing for tomorrow night. Please excuse Tickets There for the next few days but after tonight, we’ll be binging in some good old fashioned Gn’R!
***UPDATED – 29/08/2010 – Axl Rose – Asshole or Hero? NME Ask The Question!*** Well, seems to folks over at NME are carrying on with their typical Bullshit. They posted a piece entitled ‘Axl Roses – Asshole or Hero?‘ and Tickets There has answered.
***UPDATED – 29/08/2010 – GUNS N’ ROSES: LEEDS IS LOVIN’ IT *** Well folks, Queens of the Stone have finished and Leeds is waiting. We’ll let ye know as soon as they’re on.
***21:32 – Word is it’s Starting!!!***
***21:38 – Guns N’ Roses are on stage at Leeds. Welcome to The Jungle definitely played – more than likely Chinese Democracy aswell***
***22:04 – Best source for Leeds Festival news is GunsNRosesNews On Twitter. According to them, the following songs have been played so far,
“Chinese Democracy”, “Welcome To The Jungle”, “It’s So Easy”, “Mr. Brownstone”, “Sorry”, Richard Fortus Guitar Solo (James Bond Theme) & “Live And Let Die”, “This I Love”, “Rocket Queen”, Dizzy Reed Piano Solo (Ziggy Stardust) & “Street Of Dreams”, “You Could Be Mine”. “DJ” Ashba Guitar Solo (Ballad Of Death) & “Sweet Child O’ Mine”, “November Rain”, “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”, “Nightrain”played so far!
***23:11 – Right, crack time. Curfew for Leeds was 23:00 and we’re 12 minutes past. Let’s see what happens!***
***23:22 – According to GunsNRosesNews On Twitter, the Leeds organizers have told the band the show must end now. Waiting for an update.
**23:30 – Here Today Gone To Hell have confirmed the Leeds show is now over. Standing by to hear how it ended.***
***23:32 – According to GunsNRosesNews On Twitter, Axl made the following comment on stage “Coppers & Organisers Want To Fuck With Us & You. I Mean We’re In The Middle Of Nowhere In A Field“. Dead right, it’s a fucking festival for christs sake, leave them be!***
***UPDATED – 29/08/2010 – GUNS N’ ROSES: AXL CONFIRMS LEEDS APPEARANCE *** Good news Leeds fans, Axl Rose has updated his twitter account to confirm the band will be playing Leeds tonight and they’re in negotiations to ensure that fans attending the show get their moneys worth.
He has also stated that fans deserve an apology from the Reading organizers, or to not mis-quote the legend “from those responsible” for ‘this nonsense’ (the way the last show was cut short). See both tweets below,
“We r in constant talks to ensure the fans attending Leeds get what they paid for w/out undue bureaucratic interference. We thank you for your understanding. Peace!! ”
“In regard to Reading we feel at the very least the fans deserve an apology from those responsible for the nonsense. We’d also like to thank the fans for being so great, singing along n’ not tearing the place apart!!”
These updates will come as a sense of relief to the thousands of fans at Leeds today hoping to see Guns N’ Roses close the festival tonight.
***UPDATED – 28/08/2010 – GUNS N’ ROSES: LEEDS FESTIVAL APPEARANCE STILL GOING AHEAD DESPITE AXL’s SPEECH ***Photo Taken From BBC.co.UK!
Well folks, if the word of NME and the Reading/Leeds organizers is anything to go by, Guns N’ Roses will still play their headlining slot tomorrow.
So far, none of the band has commented on Axl’s speech at last nights Reading show but Guitarist DJ Ashba has posted a twitter message branding the organizer, Melvin Benn a “money grubbing prick” and rightly pointed out that Melvin knows guns n roses show and if he wasn’t prepared to take them as they come, he shouldn’t have booked them.
We’ll post an update as soon as we hear it.
***UPDATED – 28/08/2010 – GUNS N’ ROSES: LEEDS FESTIVAL APPEARANCE CANCELLED?*** Photo Taken From BBC.co.UK!
Not many reports about this so far, but Tickets There was just watching a video of Axl speaking to the crowd at Reading last night after the bands sound had been cut by festival organizers and Axl clearly says (0.21 seconds in)
“…so unfortunately due to tonight, WE WILL NOT BE AT LEEDS”
This was followed by the crowd chanting ‘Fuck You Reading‘. No-one from Leeds, Reading or Guns N’ Roses has commented on Axl’s speech so far leaving things very much up in the air for tomorrows headlining appearance. Watch the video below.
Good news for fans around Europe, Axl Rose has updated his twitter account for the first time in three months to announce,
‘Bkstage at Reading. Tour’s ON! Our apologies 4 any inconvenience. Peace!‘
He has also removed the previous hacked comment about the tour cancellation.
***UPDATED – 28/08/2010 – GUNS N’ ROSES: READING FESTIVAL ENDS***
Well folks – I’m sorry. Went for after work pint…ended up as cocktails, pints and shots and low n behold, a full blown session but, I was watching GN’R updates the whole time and finally it’s 100% official – Guns N’ Fucking Roses are in Europe!!!!
Tonight,the Guns played Reading and in typical, Rock ‘N’ Roll fashion, they turned up late, giving a two finger salute to the so called ‘11.30pm’ curfew bullshit. Axl and co played until 00:00 and the pulled was literally pulled. Not liking this, the band did a sit in with the crowd chanting ‘Let Them Play‘ when finally, drummer Frank Ferrer led the crowd into a massive sing along for Paradise City with Axl-The Legend-Rose signing vocals through a megaphone!
There were reports that due to the band arriving an hour late on stage (an hour, BIG FUCKING DEAL!!), the crowd turned pretty hostile but in all fairness, people are sacks and half the audience is an NME crowd out for blood. Pass no heed and look at the positive notes. The Reading audience wouldn’t know rock N Rill if it jumped up and beat the living hell out of them!
No riots, no cancellation, no no-shows, Guns N’ Roses played, time for Reading to appreciate that. Their set was as follows,
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’
‘Night Train’
***UPDATED – 27/08/2010 – GUNS N’ ROSES: READING FESTIVAL BEGINS***
Tonight is the night and Tickets There is giving up our Friday evening relaxation time to being you live highlights from Guns N’ Roses headlining slot at the Reading Festival. We won’t be there in person but god damn it we’ll bring you the updates one way or another!
Keep an eye on this post for the go ahead. Stage Time: 21:30 GMT
And remember, it’s not too late to get tickets for their Irish shows next week (Belfast Aug:31st / Dublin Sept. 1st). Banner below.
***UPDATED – 27/08/2010 – GUNS N’ ROSES: More Australian Shows Announced?***
Well, rumour seems to be fact rather than fiction these days in the Guns N’ Roses camp so an announcment from AMP – Andrew McManus Productions that GN’R are set to play two extra dates in Australia with KoRn as special guests may come true.
In a posting on AMP Presents Official Website, they’ve announced Guns and KoRn will play shows in Townsville (December 1st) and Adelaide (December 7th). Tickets go on sale September 7th.
These shows will happen around Guns already confirmed show at the Sydney 500 V8 Supercars street race on December 4th. No official confirmation has come from Official Facebook Page but we’ll let ye know when it does.
***UPDATED – 25/08/2010 – GUNS N’ ROSES: 2nd London Date Official*** Yep it’s true, Guns N’ Roses have confirmed a second date at London’s O2 Arena on October 14th on their Official Facebook Page. Sebastian Bach of Skid Row is set to support the band on all October UK dates.
The band are currently in the UK preparing for their European tour which kicks off at the Reading Festival this Friday. Twitter updates from several band members have confirmed their safe arrival and pre-tour tour activities starting. To follow the guys, check out a list we made on Twitter that follows most of the main GN’R players,
By the looks of things, CD.com also have word there’ll be another date announced for Oct.29th, although there’s no country mentioned. Also, HTGTH have just posted on Twitter that Sebastian Bach will support GN’R on their October UK Tour. This would tie in with a recent re-tweet on SB’s Twitter.
***UPDATED – 19/08/2010 – GUNS N’ ROSES TOUR STILL ON***
Well folks, looks like every things A-ok! Guns N’ Roses guitarist Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal has confirmed on his Facebook Page that the band are leaving for the U.K. on Monday.
“Leaving for the UK on Monday, for the GNR TOUR. NOT quitting GNR, don’t listen
to any trolls and dweebs pretending they have a clue.”
Once we hear they’ve arrived, we’ll let you know!
***UPDATED – 16/08/2010 – (Even More official) AXL ROSE TWITTER ACCOUNT WAS HACKED***
More reports are flooding in that this whole thing is the result of some prick arse hacker. Official sources are still contacting the world to confirm this was a hack but no-ones updated the official GN’R Facebook or websites yet and no band members have commented. Some of the sources that have confirmed this was a hack are as follows,
***UPDATED – 16/08/2010 – (Almost official) AXL ROSE TWITTER ACCOUNT WAS HACKED***
News that will come as a relief to thousands, it appears Official sources are desperatly trying to contact all press and booking agents to inform them the scheduled Guns N’ Roses dates are not cancelled and Axl Roses Twitter account has been hacked.
***UPDATED – 16/08/2010 – ALL GUNS N’ ROSES TOUR DATES CANCELLED?***
According to Axl Rose’s Twitter Account – “All upcoming Guns N’ Roses dates are officially cancelled”.
Is this true? Tickets There is hoping not. All other entries were made via IPhone and this one has been made via MobileWeb so with any luck it’s a hacker (bastard if it is).No official announcment has come from MCD or the Guns N’ Roses camp so stay tunned for updates as we have them.
TT has fingers crossed left right andf centre that this is a hack. Belfast and Dublin were so close :(.
**UPDATED – 03/08/2010 – UK TOUR CONFIRMED – Zaragoza & Barcelona Dates Re-Scheduled**
It’s official, Guns N Roses have confirmed the UK Tour dates on their Facebook Page. The date’s in Spain have been re-scheduled for the 22nd/23rd of October. Guns N’ Roses Official Facebook Page has added the three UK dates to their touring schedule.
October 13th – The O2, London
October 17th – LG Arena Birmingham
October 18th – MEN Arena, Manchester
Updated list of tour dates is below,
08.31 – Belfast, Northern Ireland @ The Odyssey Arena
09.01 – Dublin, Ireland @ O2 Arena
09.04 – Rome, Italy @ Palalottomatica
09.05 – Milan, Italy @ Mediolanum Forum
09.08 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Hallenstadion
09.10 – Amneville, France @ Le Galaxie Arena
09.13 – Paris, France @ Bercy Arena
09.16 – Genebra, Switzerland @ Arena Geneva
09.18 – Vienna, Austria @ Wiener Stadthalle Arena
09.21 – Bucharest, Romania @ Romexpo
09.23 – Belgrade, Serbia @ Belgrade Arena
09.24 – Zagreb, Crotia @ Arena Hall
09.30 – Antwerpen, Belgium @ Sportpaleis
10.02 – Lille, France @ Zenith
10.03 – Arnhem, Netherlands @ GelreDome XS
10.06 – Lisbon, Portugal @ Pavilhao Atlantico
10.09 – Madrid, Spain @ Palacio de Vistalegre
10.10 – San Sebastian, Spain @ Velódromo de Anoeta 10.13 – London, England @ The O2
10.17 – Birmingham, England @ LG Arena
10.18 – Manchester, England @The MEN Arena
10.22 – Zaragoza, Spain @ Pabellón Príncipe Felipe
10.23 – Barcelona, Spain @ Palau Olímpic de Badalonagland
**UPDATED – 03/08/2010 – European Tour Expanded to included UK**
Guns N’ Roses have expanded their European tour in include three dates in England, with the possibility of more to come. So far shows have been announced in London, Manchester and Birmingham for this October. Please see date sbelow,
October 13th – The O2, London (TBC – Conflicts with Spanish Dates)
October 17th – LG Arena Birmingham
October 18th – MEN Arena, Manchester
08.31 – Belfast, Northern Ireland @ The Odyssey Arena
09.01 – Dublin, Ireland @ O2 Arena
09.04 – Rome, Italy @ Palalottomatica
09.05 – Milan, Italy @ Mediolanum Forum
09.08 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Hallenstadion
09.10 – Amneville, France @ Le Galaxie Arena
09.13 – Paris, France @ Bercy Arena
09.16 – Genebra, Switzerland @ Arena Geneva
09.18 – Vienna, Austria @ Wiener Stadthalle Arena
09.21 – Bucharest, Romania @ Romexpo
09.23 – Belgrade, Serbia @ Belgrade Arena
09.24 – Zagreb, Crotia @ Arena Hall
09.30 – Antwerpen, Belgium @ Sportpaleis
10.02 – Lille, France @ Zenith
10.03 – Arnhem, Netherlands @ GelreDome XS
10.09 – Madrid, Spain @ Palacio de Vistalegre
10.10 – San Sebastian, Spain @ Velódromo de Anoeta 10.13 – Zaragoza, Spain @ Pabellón Príncipe Felipe / London, England @ The O2 (Clashing Dates)
10.14 – Barcelona, Spain @ Palau Olímpic de Badalona
10.17 – Birmingham, England @ LG Arena
10.18 – Manchester, England @The MEN Arena
NME now have the story and they’ve missed the fact that the 13th is a conflicting date. Still no official word from the GN’R camp but since the date appear in Ticketmaster, there’s a good chance there’s something behind them.
**UPDATED – 20/07/2010 – USA – Rock N’ Rev Show Announced** Guns N’ Roses are going stateside!! They’ve announced an American show for August 13th at the Rock ‘N Rev Festival in South Dakota.
**UPDATED – 14/07/2010 – Australia – Sydney 500 V8 show announced**
Guns N’ Roses are heading down under. The band have announced they’ll play the Sydney 500 V8 Supercars street race on December 4, at ANZ Stadium.
Axl Rose himself has been quoted by The Daily Telegraph announcing his excitement of the prospect of Guns playing the show,
**UPDATED – 04/07/2010 – Romania and Rock In Rio 2011 shows announced**
September 21st, Guns N’ Roses are going to Romania. Last week, the band confirmed yet another date for their growing European tour so if you’re about, Bucharest, Romania September 21st 🙂
Also in the news, today I’ve seen all the members have been pushing the tag #GNRROCKINRIOBRAZIL2011 on Twitter meaning the band have plans to appear at next years Rock In Rio festival in Brazil. No further details yet.
Also, Dublin and Belfast shows haven’t sold out yet so to all you douche bags sitting on your arse thinking abut it, hurry the f**k up and get your tickets!!! If it sells out fast enough, they might announce another show 🙂
That’s right folks, EURO 2010 LEG OF THE TOUR IS almost CONFIRMED
08.31 – Belfast, Northern Ireland @ The Odyssey Arena
09.01 – Dublin, Ireland @ O2 Arena
09.04 – Rome, Italy @ Palalottomatica
09.05 – Milan, Italy @ Mediolanum Forum
09.08 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Hallenstadion
09.10 – Amneville, France @ Le Galaxie Arena
09.13 – Paris, France @ Bercy Arena
09.16 – Genebra, Switzerland @ Arena Geneva
09.18 – Vienna, Austria @ Wiener Stadthalle Arena
09.21 – Bucharest, Romania @ Romexpo
09.23 – Belgrade, Serbia @ Belgrade Arena
09.24 – Zagreb, Crotia @ Arena Hall
09.30 – Antwerpen, Belgium @ Sportpaleis
10.02 – Lille, France @ Zenith
03.10 – Arnhem, Netherlands @ GelreDome XS
10.09 – Madrid, Spain @ Palacio de Vistalegre
10.10 – San Sebastian, Spain @ Velódromo de Anoeta
10.13 – Zaragoza, Spain @ Pabellón Príncipe Felipe
10.14 – Barcelona, Spain @ Palau Olímpic de Badalona
Oh yeah baby!!!
**UPDATED – 04/06/2010 **
GUNS N’ ROSES have announced two Irish shows. The legendary hard rock band will bring their Chinese Democracy World Tour to Belfast and Dublin, August 31st and September 1st respectively. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 11th
This is the moment Tickets There has been waiting for, for about 18 years!!!! Read more by Clicking Here
** UPDATED -013/ 06 / 2010 **
Guns N’ Roses have confirmed a date in Austria for September 18th. Vienna – Stadthalle. Detials @ GNRDaily.com.
This is more than likely the first of a string of European dates that are sure to include inclusions for Germany, Italy, France and hopefully Ireland :).
** UPDATED -01/ 06 / 2010 **
They’ve done it, Guns have completed the first show of the Chinese Democracy Tour, European Leg in Norway. Setlist below!
1. Chinese Democracy
2. Welcome To The Jungle
3. It’s So Easy
4. Mr. Brownstone
5. Live And Let Die (Paul McCartney cover)
6. Sorry
7. This I Love
8. Rocket Queen
9. Street Of Dreams
10. You Could Be Mine
11. Sweet Child O’ Mine
12. November Rain
13. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)
14. Nightrain
Encore:
15. Madagascar
16. Better
17. Paradise City
** UPDATED -31/ 05 / 2010 **
Today’s the day folks. Guns N Roses kick off their European Tour tonight in Norway. off course Tickets There has posted a wee piece about it and we’ll be updating the post later with the set-list, notes and any pics we can find (steal, ahem).
Rumors of Guns N Roses European Tour being canceled have been branded as false by the Guns Tour Manager, Rod MscSween. A few days ago it seemed the dates that have been announced so far were all in jeopardy but a mail from Rod to GNRDaily.com has confirmed all is well and Guns are kicking off their European tour on May 31st as scheduled.
The dates fully confirmed are as follows,
May 31 – Bergen, Norway
June 2 – Oslo, Norway
June 5 – Helsinki, Finland
June 6 – St. Petersburg, Russia
June 8 – Moscow, Russia
June 12 – Norje, Sweden
June 14 – Aalborg, Denmark
August 27 – Reading, UK
August 29 – Leeds, UK
** UPDATED -21/ 04 / 2010 **
The legends @ GnrDaily.com have confirmed Guns N Roses European Tour plans for 2010.
May 31 – Bergen, Norway
June 2 – Oslo, Norway
June 5 – Helsinki, Finland
June 6 – St. Petersburg, Russia
June 8 – Moscow, Russia
June 12 – Norje, Sweden
June 13 – Aalborg, Denmark
June 15 – Berlin, Germany
June 16 – Arnhem, Netherlands
June 18 – Vienna, Austria
June 20 – Zagreb, Croatia
June 21 – Belgrade, Serbia
June 23 – Prague, Czech Republic
June 26 – Dessel, Belgium
June 28 – Zurich, Switzerland
June 29 – Milan, Italy
August 27 – Reading, UK
August 29 – Leeds, UK
** UPDATED -20/ 04 / 2010 **
Looks like Guns are heading to Moscow on June 8 to play the city for the very first time. Venue – Olympiysky Stadium. More details @ Blabbermouth.
Also on the radar for European fans, it;s being strongly rumored that GNR will headline Graspop Nothing definite it yet but it’s more than likely they’ll join already confirmed names Aerosmith and KISS to celebrate Grasp[op’s 15th anniversary.
** UPDATED -04/ 04 / 2010 **
The owner of Slane Castle in Ireland has confirmed there will be No Slane Festival in 2010 as they were unable to secure an appropriate headliner. This means the guessing game continues for a Guns N’ Roses show in Ireland in 2010. A date in the RDS or O2 Arena now seems likely for either June or August.
Also, ChineseDemocracy.com have removed the refrence to the Italian God’s of Metal Festival from their website.
** UPDATED -31 / 03 / 2010 **
According to ChineseDemocracy.com, these are the latest dates for GNR’s European Tour,
June 5th, 2010: Helsinki, Finland @ Käpylän Urheilupuisto (Helsinki Live 2010)
June 6th 2010: New Ice Arena, St.Petersburg, Russia
Јune 22th 2010: Belgrade Arena, Belgrade, Serbia
June 12th, 2010: Sweden Rock Festival
June 13th, 2010: Aaborg Denmark
Aug 27th, 2010: Reading Festival
Aug 29th, 2010: Leeds Festival
With a possible appearances ay the Italian Gods of Metal and Ireland’s Slane Castle
** UPDATED – 29 / 03 / 2010 **
Guns N’ Roses have been confirmed as this years headliners of the 2010 Reading and Leeds Festivals. Click the orange text for more details!
** UPDATED – 25 / 03 / 2010 **
English Fans, get ready! It seems the Guns are tipped as favorites to land the coveted Reading / Leeds Festivals Headlining spots.
Axl Rose has just confirmed new South American dates via his Twitter Account. Please find them below,
Apr 4 – Rio De Janeiro, Brazil Apoteose
Apr 7 – Panama City, Panama, Estadio Figali
Apr 9 – San Jose, Costa Rica, Estadio Ricardo Saprissa
Apr 11 – San Salvador, El Salvador Estadio Cuscatlan
Apr 13 – Guatemala City, Guatemala Estadio Del Ejercito
Apr 15 – San Juan, Puerto Rico Roberto Clemente Coliseum
*UPDATED – 23 / 12 / 2009*
Rolling Stone Magazine have announced that Guns N Roses will play Five Dates in Brazil in March 2010. Guns N Roses website shows space allocated fror South American in October 2010. Which one will turn out to be true?? Who knows, now go and read some of the other stuff on Tickets There. This fecking article!!!
The dates are rumored to take place on the following dates, (Venues TBC)
March 07 – Brasilia
March 10 – Belo Horizonte
March 13 – Sao Paulo
March 14 – Rio de Janeiro
March 16 – Porto Alegre
** Original Post **
I’m sure we’re all very familiar with the long history Guns N’ Roses have of bogus announcements. Well, this might be another one for the pile but word on the net is Guns N’ Roses will tour in 2010. Not only that but a string of Asian and Canadian dates have already been announced.
A few weeks ago, four concerts were announced in Taipei, Seoul, Osaka and Tokyo. Without any official confirmation it seemed these shows, like the Indian ones reported earlier this year were bullshit. Now, thirteen more dates have been announced starting in January 2010 and ending in early February with many, many more expected to be announced in the coming weeks and throughout 2010.
Axl Rose, the only remaining member of the original Guns line-up, has taken some serious flogging over the last few years but Tickets There hopes the band make the comeback his loyal fans all hope they do. If he doesn’t??? Changes nothing. Axl Roses is a fucking legend. Deal with it, Boi!!
December 11 – Taipei
December 13 – Seoul
December 16 – Osaka
December 19 – Tokyo
January 13 – Winnipeg
January 16 – Calagary
January 17 – Edmonton
January 19 – Saskatoon
January 20 – Regina
January 24 – Hamilton
January 25 – London
January 27 – Montreal
January 28 – Toronto
January 31 – Ottawa
February 1 – Quebec City
February 3 – Moncton
February 4 – Halifax
Want to be in a good mood today? The Rock Clock will sort that out for ye all. Get your coffee, smokes and kick back with five upbeat, good time, no bullshit Rock N Roll folks!!!
Gotta Love KISS. No other band in the world would have the balls to make this video!
Terrible Video – Might try and find a better recording!
What happened folks? In the mid 50’s, Mr. Elvis A. Presley walked into Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee and became the very first, the best, the symbol, legend, embodiment and icon of rock n roll. Like Sid Vicious to Punk, Frank Sinatra to big band, Johnny Cash to country and western or even Dana to lunatics, Elvis was the total hero, founder and creator of rock n roll. Don’t listen to music nerds, geeks and critics (ahem), Elvis started everything. Forget who influenced him, forget who wrote for him and forget who marketed him, Elvis was it.
Ever since the Kings death, music has flourished through the efforts, talents and hard work, creativity of various people and constant changes in popular culture. From Elvis, Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis in the fifties, rock expanded and produced the likes of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks and many others throughout the early sixties. Before long Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, The Yardbirds, Jimi Hendrix, Cream and many more appeared. The Doors came out of the west coast.The Who went rock, Led Zeppelin were formed and Jefferson Airplane stayed touring after Woodstock. Just before things could get civilized, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple came out. Queen, Clapton, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Stooges, Alice Cooper, T-Rex, KISS,…the list is endless people. Then came the 80’s, when pop reached a true peak before the ever looming wave of commercialism took it’s firm grip and strangled the genre, until it’s credibility was lower than Gary Glitters. On the other hand you had Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Guns N Roses, Def Leppard, Whitesnake, U2, Judas Priest, OZZY, Slayer, Sepultura, before the end of the decade when Nirvana, The Chilli Peppers, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Blur, Oasis, The Stone Roses, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Smiths, The Pixies, Joy Division, The Happy Mondays, New Order (yes the 24 lot), Faith No More, Nine Inch Nails and then (phew this is a long one) onto Marilyn Manson, The Foo Fighters, Weezer, Korn and so on before the late nineties and boom…nothing happened……funnily enough, fuck all has happened since. How in the hell did almost five decades of amazing, astonishing and diverse creation suddenly grind to an almost complete stop?
Things seemed to fall completely off course. Metal bands suddenly merged rapidly with dance music and rap. Korn had dabbled but so did Aersomith and nothing happened to them. Instead of Angus Young and the D belting out solid, hard hitting blues rock anthems you had fat ugly guys in costumes roaring at you about being bullied and still being virgins living in their mothers houses. Metro sexual, stylish geeks whining on about falling and crying about some girl next door that Lemmy would probably kidnap and turn into a hooker on sun-set before the night’s out. These guys in fitted suits, wearing ties with spiky hair, tattoos and dog collars were mixing Kraftwork with the eighties glam rockers like Twisted Sister, Poison and the likes while wearing their hair like girls. And I don’t mean the old style of hairy bikers drooling over a bar counter girly style, I mean a female hairdresser on a night out style. Like they were trying to keep disobeying the nagging disapproval from generations past and pushing things to some ridiculous limit that nearly goes full circle.
As for Pop music, that fell into the hands of TV companies, dance got old and turned into some demented, hindered state of destruction while indie music became overwhelmed by a horde of Eco-Friendly, Voices of poverty, injustice, animal cruelty and environmentally conscious millennium hippies. Voices that turned away from Indies recreational drug use, love and loss, party image and transformed it into a voice for all the issues in the world rock stars shouldn’t give two shits about, at least not on stage. The likes of Tom Yorke, Chris Martin, Bono, Snow Patrol, Kings of Leon, Kasabian and all that other horse shit. Their songs were so impotent, corpses of tax attorneys could laugh at them. Complaining, moaning and whining about the poverty and cruelty in the world they wouldn’t think of donating their profits to. Bands that appeal to societies total dregs. Bored children, housewife’s, grandparents, indie fans, jocks and just about every member of the heard the western world boasts. Droning brought to extremes of the human soul to a point it becomes so bogged down in ego, insincerity and boredom it would fail to shock a timid kitten.
Metal fell even more of the pits as the old genres piled up with hopeless hack impersonators before bursting at the seems into millions of decaying breakaways. Nu-Metal even buckled (not a bad thing, pile of shite aswell) as Emo broke through their last stand along with nu-punk and metal became even more appealing to the ugly, fat rejects of social society and the fashionable, jock culture more than ever before. After Radiohead’sCreep on the jukebox American Idiot and the Killers would follow and all the trendy’s and Goths alike would bop along. Metal was again infiltrated by main stream culture and unlike before the last ‘icons’ weren’t strong enough to tear it right back for the people of society who used the music as it should be used. Not for pusses crying and ugly nerds to find shelter. Metal is the music for the angry soul (sounds gay I know but hey, I am smoking in case you hadn’t noticed), the serious partiers, the ‘dangerous’ people of society.
Rock N roll lost it’s fight much earlier. After the Guns N Roses era came to a close, few rock bands ever managed to reach those heights again. Don’t even bother with the Killers and The Kings of Leon…or The Strokes bitch. I’m talking about real fucking n roll. The kind of rock n roll that made all the bad things bands these days demonize like drinking, sex, destruction, rebellion and a good hearty message of Fuck You to anyone who bothered them, fun!. Elvis shock things up, the Stones defined it, Aerosmith brought it miles higher while AC/DC put the fucking boots on before Guns N Roses perfected it in every single sense of the word.
The world is losing it’s icons. Right now I can’t think of any that have come out since the early nineties. I mean a true icon of rebellion. Pete Doherty, and Amy Winehouse make a mockery of drug addicted musicians which, throughout the history of music, have written some of the most amazing music ever created. The Beatles, Jim Morrison, The Grateful Dead, Hendrix, Keith Richards, Janis Joplin, Kobain etc. Bono, Yorke and Martin take the places of people like Neil Young with his stories, Springsteen and his zest for life and Bowies ever changing persona, image and style only to replace it with gilt tripping, giver of life wannabe humanitarian ideologist façade while they doge taxes and pontificate to fans what they should do, wear, believe in, live and breath. Forget ‘think for yourself’, the message was spelled out in bold impact lettering and strangely enough, a discontented mass fell for it, hook line and sinker.
That’s pretty much where we are in my eyes. I’ve forgotten many of the previous generation’s true greats but there’s only so much you can write in an hour and keep semi-coherent. I’ve also neglected some of the better talents to emerge on the international scene and some of the worse ones. Arcade Fire and MGMT to name a couple. But that’s how I see things, pretty much that black and white. Most of the old styles got confused, disjointed, lost in translation and overwhelmed in image, style and forced restrictions and beliefs and turned them into uninspired shells of their former selves. I’m not saying charity is bad, I’m not saying there’s no credibility in any of the new bands these days and I’m not saying looking after the environment is wrong, animals should be mistreated, people shouldn’t be nice to each other and drugs are good. I believe the exact opposite of each one and a conscious attitude is essential to the basic fabrication of mankind’s cohabitation together and civilized society. What I’m saying is people should learn this from other sources like parents and a proper education rather than one of mankind’s forms of entertainment. Aren’t we allowed to relax, switch totally off and dream sometimes with the horrors of some societies and the worlds problems being shoved in our face at every fucking turn?
Maybe there was one message spelt out by one of the golden age icons that we should listen to is the words of Jim Morrison.
“When the music’s over, turn out the lights, turn out the lights,”
There is one band in the world that has always come close to beating Def Leppard to the top spot in my all time favorites. A band that I consider to be the greatest hard rock band of all time. I first discovered Guns N Roses in 1992, just a couple of months after Def Leppard when an older brother of one of my friends leant me the Use Your Illusion 1I& II albums in boarding school. Knowing that I was a Leppard and Meatloaf fan, I think he wanted someone else to share the mighty Guns with since everyone else had never heard of any rock bands. I remember trying Use Your Illusion I first because I preferred the cover and was instantly blown away by the sher force of the Axl’s voice and the guitars. I’d never heard anything like this and all of a sudden Leppard didn’t hold the holier than though pedestal I’d placed them on. Shortly after I managed to get copies of the alums from a traveller outside Mullingar at a wee market at some roadside restaurant like the covert and Guns were firmly brought into my life.
Aside from Adrenalize, I don’t think I’ve ever listened to an album so much in my life. Use Your Illusion I oozes sleazy Rock N Roll and as I got older, I understood more and more of the ands lyrics an hidden connotations. It was like an album that grew more and more mature with age and that’s the prime reason it never got left on the shelf when new bands came into my life. Despite being as big of a fan as I was, I’d never even heard about Appetite for Destruction or Lies and wouldn’t discover them for another eight or nine years. Even when Appetite did come along, it’s never managed to replace Illusion 1 as my favorites; even now I can listen to that album and enjoy it as much as I ever did.
Before getting into the songs (and honestly, I don’t write these to try and review the greatest songs in my life. If you don’t know them there isn’t much point in you reading these), I should say that to appreciate the Guns, you really need to look at their career rather than just their music. Think of them like The Sex Pistols and you will understand Rock N Roll like the Pistols make you understand the true meaning of punk. Rock n Roll is meant to be an attitude more than the music. It’s that attitude that defines real rock n roll rebellion. It’s not anarchy, it’s lazy. It’s about doing what ever you like and not letting anyone tell you otherwise. Yeah it sounds cliché but that’s what it’s all about and if there is one man in rock who lives up to every single word of that, it’s W. Axl Rose.
Axl has never and will never do what record companies, fans, and mates, family or the press expect, pressure or beg him to do. Yes I’m sure there are all these underground guys who do the same but I’m sorry, Axl is the one with the millions under his belt and he still does what he likes and makes it work at his level. He didn’t give up after the Illusion and release one watered down alum after another for the following twenty years. He also didn’t go out of his way to keep the classic line-up happy and he continued Guns N Roses in his own way with the whole world laughing at him. Even the rock press and diehard fans failed to see the brilliance behind his methods and still today the fans that claimed to stand behind him still bitch log and beg for tours, special edition albums and music videos all the while their forgetting that none of these things will make the bands latest album Chinese Democracy any better. Axl is a musician who’s quite happy to let the music speak for its’ self. If anyone else did it and said that’s what they were doing, the world would cherish them and praise their musical integrity but unfortunately for Axl, they lampoon him.
Well I hope you will read this and look on Axl more favorably. He is not a front man interested in keeping old fans happy by travelling the world selling a decaying shell of a once great line-up, who’s former members have gone on to destroy their legacy’s and tarnished their images as the rocks leading hell raisers (except Izzy). He’s doing what he wants, how he wants to do it and any fan of rock n roll out there who criticizes, laughs or attacks him for this hasn’t got fucking clue what rock n roll is all about. You’d be better of buying your Motorhead t-shirts in Top Shop and singing along with Summer of 69 when it’s one and leave it at that because Rock has enough posers already.
Anyways, Use Your Illusion I eh, great album. What else can I say?
20 years ago, Guns N’ Roses were one of the most exciting bands in the world. Although they originated in the midst of the hair/glam rock scene in L.A., the band seemed to possess a quality that bands like Poison, Motley Crue and RATT..etc just didn’t have. Within three years, Guns had become the biggest band in the world. The massive selling Use Your Illusion albums saw the band grow from clubs and support shows to full blown arena jaunts. For almost three years, they toured the globe, bringing their massive stage show to every corner of the earth. Band members Axl Rose, Slash and Duff became icons, figure heads if every thing rock in roll about the nineties.
Within months, Nirvana, Pearl Jam and the grunge scene had erupted and destroyed the status of Rock stars like Axl and Guns. It suddenly became un-cool to live the infamous hell raising lifestyle set down by the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Zeppelin, the Stones and all the classic ‘TV out a hotel window’ groups. For the remainder of the decade, hard rock bands from the 80’s struggled to keep up with the times. Some of the groups like Metallica, Bon Jovi and AC/DC managed to retain their respect to a certain extent, while others like Def Leppard, Whitesnake and … became the butts of jokes to a new generation, who could no longer connect with the ideals these bands represented. Guns N’ Roses however, managed to fall of the face of the earth, as personal conflicts and legal issues tore the band to pieces. In the mid nineties, five years after the illusions, Slash and Duff Mckagan left the group causing fans to scream out in protest against Axl Rose’s increasing control of the band. For the remainder of the decade, there was little or no communication from the group, even when rumors of an album, entitled Chinese Democracy, that was already four years in the making, started surfacing. It wasn’t until 1999 that Axl finally broke his silence and Guns N’ Roses released their first original song in almost a decade. The track, Oh My God, appeared on the sound track to End of Days. It appeared the album was finally ready.
Despite the commotion in the late 90’s with Oh My God’s release and a handful of comeback shows in early 2001, the band failed to make the comeback fans had been dreaming off and instead, retreated back too the studio to continue working on Axl’s masterpiece. The new millennium saw occasional attempts by the band to comeback, all of which ended disastrously with cancelled tour dates, riots, broken promises and repeated disappointments. Although the band was relatively quiet for most of the decade, they were still a major focus point for the media and fans alike. Rumors about the original band, Axl and Chinese Democracy itself, circulated non-stop with everyone looking to contribute their two cents to the great Guns N’ Roses mystery that the majority of people had started to lampoon and dismiss as an album lost forever in Axl’s madness.
Fast forward to 2008 and Chinese Democracy has finally seen the light of day. After a reported fourteen years in the making, an estimated cost of $15,000,000 (in 2006), a never ending cast of musicians, studio’s and engineer’s used, Axl Rose has done the impossible and released the most highly anticipated album of all time.
The album itself has entered the world in much the same fashion that’s always surrounded it. It’s reported that as soon as Axl handed the album into label bosses at Geffen records, he fell of the radar completely, refusing to answer calls about promoting the album, arranging a tour or any other PR tasks normally undertaken by other bands for the release of the album. As a result, the album failed to achieve the coveted US Billboard 100, Number one spot that so many had seen for it. Although there are talks of promotion in the coming weeks, Chinese Democracy stands to Axl’s credit that Guns N’ Roses stand by everything they did when they formed, despite the lack of any other founding members.
Personally, I find describing the music on Chinese Democracy a challenge. There is enough material, both lyrically and instrumental, to fill an encyclopaedia. Fans that have been waiting since the Use Your Illusions’ for this record will no doubt approach the album looking for answers to fourteen years worth of constant speculation and questions or simply reassurance that, without the original line-up, Guns N’ Roses can still make the music they love. Unfortunately for those unwilling to change with the times, they could be faced with disappointment as many of those familiar traits have vanished, only to be replaced by a more mature, layered sound. Instead of Slash’s trademark blues lead guitar and Duff’s crunching bass, Chinese Democracy offers orchestral arrangements, walled in by polished guitars, all held together by a monumental production job that leaves no stone unturned. It’s very obvious that every second of the album has been planned out to the point of exhaustion and any questions about where all the time has gone, have been answered.
The grandeur and scope of the album are a credit to Axl’s perseverance and determination. Instead of releasing an album of Appetite carbon copies, Axl has completely rejuvenated the Guns style, building new levels of sound onto the original ideals. Epic ballads, such as Street of Dreams, Prostitute, Madagascar, This I Love, Sorry and There Was a Time show the Gun’s at their finest. While heavier tracks like Scraped, Riad and the Bedouins, Shackler’s Revenge, Better and Chinese Democracy are delivered in thundering bursts throughout the record, showing Axl can still deliver inexcusably heavy rock anthems without the aid of his former band mates.
Lyrically, Chinese Democracy is every bit a Guns N’ Roses record. Axl’s trademark defiance and passion is present in every verse, chorus and blood curdling scream. Fans are given an insight into one of the most talked about minds in music history, as your taken on a journey through themes that deal with love, control, anger, resentment and full frontal rock n roll. In contrast to previous work on Appetite, the Illusions and Lies, vocals play a more prominent roll as lead guitar intros are replaced by blunt starts and harmonies. It’s obvious from several of the lyrics on the album that Axl hasn’t been oblivious to the desperation of fans for this record’s release or the media’s increasing speculation about his personal habits. ‘I bet you think I’m doing this all for my health’, (I.R.S.), ‘You don’t know why I won’t give in, To hell with the pressure I’m not caving in’ (Sorry) and ‘I won’t be told anymore, That I’ve been brought back in this storm, And left so far out from the shore, That I can’t find my way back, my way anymore’ (Madagascar) being just a few.
There’s even more surprises in store as If The World, Catcher in the Rye and I.R.S. make a distinct jump from any of the bands previous work. Spanish guitars, RN’B/drum and bass and aggressive pop rock are all incorporated to make these songs a sound of their own. Despite several of the tracks being leaked over the last few years, all of them sound rejuvenated and fresh when heard in their true environment.
It was Axl’s dream for this album to be his masterpiece and despite the initial sales figures, fans continued cries for the original members return and media criticism, he has delivered. Although the albums release may end hopes for other rock stars receiving the same blind faith from their record companies, Axl has given the world a truly epic album that will stand forever as iconic symbol of persistence, hard work, vision and Rock ‘N’ Roll.
Velvet Revolver landed in Ireland this month to play two sold out nights at the Ambassador Theatre in Dublin and Tickets There decided that Slash’s presence in Ireland deserved a mention (personal favourite ya see).
We wouldn’t really call ourselves Velvet Revolver fans. Their first album was half decent and we remember being pretty excited buying it just before heading to Alice Cooper in the Olympia a few years ago. The first full length collaboration with Slash, Duff Makagan and Matt Sorum, since the last Guns N’ Roses album (The Spaghetti Incident). The excitement managed to cover up the obvious flaws in the album for a few months. By the time their second album came out we’d had lost much of the original interest. We’d spent months following the silent goings on in the Guns N’ Roses world and the new Velvet Revolver album was the enemy, another barrier between the new Guns N Roses and the former band mates.
Liberty turned out to be one of the most over hyped pieces of rubbish we have ever had the displeasure of buying. Every song was a repetition of the track listing from the first album. Big Machine became She Builds Quick Machines whileFall to Pieces became Gravedancer’. It was so bad, it promoted us to write one of our first pieces, a short but scathing attack……and here we go again (thankyou Mr. Coverdale)
The gig was sold out, but there was no atmosphere. The crowd was at least 70% male and made up of ageing Guns N Roses rockers, extreme studiers (you know what we mean, the kind of guys who paid E175 to meet the band pre-show and get every album cover signed), Emo’s (four really annoying ones in particular) and kids…lots of kids.
Support was provided by Year long Disaster. At first they seemed like…well we don’t know what, just another post millennium metal band. Slow, meaningful lyrics, backed up hard, slow and BORING riffs. However, halfway through their set they really kicked things off, spiralling into classic Les Paul jams and spur off’s. ‘Y.L.D. proved to be pretty good considering…..considering they leave the nonsense metal out of it. Slayer did it as well as it can be done already so what’s the point?
VR came on stage about 9.30 hammering straight into Let it Roll, the first track from the last album. Let It Roll had all the trademarks of an incredible fast paced, slap in the face, rock anthem except it fails to deliver, much like the rest of the their catalogue.
I wouldn’t even bother describing the rest of the set song by song as it was all the same. Slash managed to get the loudest cheers every time he’d come to the front of the stage, Duff a close second, Then Scott. Rhythm guitarist Dave Kushner was seen occasionally hanging around while Matt tried desperately to perform strong enough so Slash and Duff wouldn’t wake up and realize their not in Guns N Roses anymore. Each song was delivered exactly the same except a quiet moment or two for the acoustics to be brought out. Even renditions of Guns N’ Roses classics It’s so Easy, Mr Brownstone and Patience didn’t manage to impress (us anyway, lots of other people were having a great time). We felt more disgusted that Slash and Duff would let Scott sing three of their greatest works.
There were a few highlights of the night. Firstly the presence of Slash and Duff McKagan (have I mentioned them yet?), Slash playing a double neck guitar during patience, The Ambassador’s smoking area and …..well, I’m sure there was any more.
Even the final song of the night Slither, their classic first single, was too far into the set to save the night. We’d already visited the cloak room before they had left the stage.
Set List: Velvet Revolver, Dublin, March 12th/2008,
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