The
Rolling Stones, The Who, Bob Dylan with Tom Petty &
The Heartbreakers, Kiss, Electric Light Orchestra, Little
Richard, Stevie Wonder, John Lennon, Wings, The Beach
Boys . . . all at the Garden; Bruce & The E Street
crew at The Palladium on 14th Street; Slash's Snakepit
at Wetlands; Rancid, Marilyn Manson, Green Day at Roseland;
Carl Wilson, Al Kooper, Flo & Eddie, Jerry Jeff Walker,
Chubby Checker at The Bottom Line; The Yardbirds, Vanilla
Fudge at The Village Theater; Chicago, Frank Sinatra at
Carnegie Hall; Frankie Valli, Johnny Maestro, Ronnie Spector,
Brian Wilson, Little Anthony And The Imperials at Radio
City Music Hall; Genesis at Philharmonic Hall; The Allman
Brothers Band, Queen, Lynyrd Skynyrd at The Beacon; James
Brown, BB King at BB Kings, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins,
Joe Ely at The Lone Star; Leslie Gore at Reno Sweeny's;
Harry Chapin, Curtis Mayfield, Bette Midler at The Bottom
Line; NOFX, The Lunachicks, Willie Nelson at Tramps, Elton
John at Central Park . . . and on and on and on. As I
write this list I realize how blessed I have been to live
in New York and afforded the opportunity to see all these
incredible artists and lots more in concert. It has been
beyond wonderful.
So
it stands to reason when I was offered a ticket to see
Guns N' Roses at The Hammerstein Ballroom I gratefully
accepted it as part of my musical destiny. The line stretched
around the long New York City block and the crowd was
mellow, festive, breezy. This was very cool; we were waiting
on line to see Axl Rose. One time long long ago it was
the line to see Frank Sinatra at the Paramount Theater
in Times Square, now in 2006 its Axl Rose.
Do
you get that? He's Sinatra now. He's Hendrix at The
Fillmore. He's that guy!
This
ain't Provo, Utah, you understand? And no offense to
the good folks of Provo, but this is Fn' IT! This is
New York City, the center of the universe, the 9/11
survivors, the heavyweight champion city of the world!
The people here have seen it all. We accept only the
best of the very best. We wait on line for no one, but
on this spring Monday evening we make an exception,
we wait on line for Axl Rose. Why? We get him that's
why. He's crazy, he takes no shit, he's sexy, he's talented,
he's got balls, he does it his way, he's Frank Sinatra!!!!
The
line moves fast, the mandatory pat down is cake, within
minutes we're inside on a much shorter line waiting
to secure a drink bracelet because no one will be served
alcohol beverages without one. No sweat, everybody knows
the drill. Here's the ID, here's your wristband, and
the bar is right over there. Mellow is the mood.
Beer
in hand, earplugs in place, everyone stakes out their
spot on the large floor. I lean against the barrier
separating the sound crew from the audience. The air
conditioning is on, the Corona is cold and all is well
with the world, just another Monday night in New York
City.
Bullet
For My Valentine is the opening act. Cool name eh? I
love it and decide, even though I've never heard of
these guys, I'm gonna love 'em cause the name is so
cool. You can read all about them at their web site
www.bulletformyvalentine.com. They were great, but nobody
cared. Two years from now scalpers will be getting 500
bucks a ticket for one of their concerts, but that's
then and this is now, and tonight somebody had to open
for Axl, it could have been a head of lettuce or an
acoustic set by surviving Beatles, McCartney and Starr,
nobody would have cared. The opening act was just a
ritual everybody, including Bullet For My Valentine,
had to go through. The crowd chanted Guns N' Roses throughout
the set.
You
can see this fantastic group at Download in Downington
Park 2006 in June. They are on the bill with Tool, Metallica,
Guns N' Roses, Cradle Of Filth, and a bunch of others.
Bullet For My Valentine are going to be big, but this
article isn't about them and the night wasn't about
them either. They, like security, beer bartenders, the
sound crew, and everybody else were just performing
their roles in support of Axl and his audience. They
went off at about 9:15 and then we all waited and listened
to a great mix played at maximum volume – You Shook
Me, Crazy, Iron Man . . . Van Halen, Zep, Queen, Mötley
Crüe – fantastic stuff. It was very enjoyable
and the crowd surprisingly mellow as we waited till
a little after eleven for the headliners.
I
mean, everyone knew the deal, Axl…doors at 7:30..opening
act done at 9:15…GNR…almost 2 hours later…no
riot, no problem, we're New Yorkers. So we had another
beer and dug Danzig at top volume.
And
then . . . there he was – Guns N' Roses . . . Axl
Rose.
I
don't know how he pulls it off. It's a different band…great,
but different…Jagger couldn't get away with this…nobody
could…except Axl Rose. See, as it was explained
to me, he is Guns N' Roses…sorry Slash, but the
fact is you weren't in the house, and nobody missed
you (too much).
Axl,
energetic, enthusiastic, crooned and snarled his way
through 20 GNR classics and new ones. No Izzy, as rumored,
but a guest shot from Sebastian Bach on "My Michelle."
You got "Welcome To The Jungle," It's So Easy,"
"Live And Let Die," with pyro that proves
when its done right everyone lives and nobody dies.
You know what I'm saying here. Axl's the crazy one?
This ain't no Rhode Island baby. God bless those fans
that died or were burned. And to Great White…you
are forgiven…nobody wanted that to go down, but
it was a major fuck up. I don't think your manager should
have gotten four years - community service would have
been fine, but compared to the 30 he could have gotten,
he did ok. The point is, shit like that don't go down
at a "crazy" Axl Rose show, dig? This man
is a professional all the way. I call it like I see
it and when I saw the pyro in this show, in this CLUB;
I tipped my hat to Mr. Rose for doing it right.
You got "Knocking On Heavens Door," "Paradise
City," and new stuff from Chinese Democracy, all
stretched over two and a half hours. Axl Rose is Guns
N' Roses and he proved it in New York City. If you can
make it here you can make it anywhere.
So what happens next? Europe, and the new CD and Axl
is the man for 2006, 7 and 8. Slash and those guys will
make noise and throw shit around. Eddie Vedder and Springsteen
will campaign for Hillary Clinton and Axl Rose will
keep rock alive for a few more years until that new
band comes along, maybe it will be Bullet For My Valentine,
who knows?
Hey Axl, you crazy diamond, thanks, and keep doing it
your way.
Set List
1. Welcome to the Jungle / 2. It's So Easy / 3. Mr.
Brownstone / 4. Better / 5. Live and Let Die /
6. Sweet Child O' Mine / 7. Knockin' On Heaven's Door
/ 8. Madagascar (Band Introductions) /
9. You Could Be Mine / 10. Dizzy Solo / 11. The Blues
/ 12. Out Ta Get Me / 13. Bumblefoot Solo /
14. November Rain / 15. My Michelle (with Sebastian
Bach) / 16. Chinese Democracy /
17. T.W.A.T. (There was a Time) / 18. Patience / 19.
I.R.S. / 20. Nightrain / 21. Robin Finck Solo /
22. Paradise City
The Band
Axl Rose - Vocals / Robin Finck - Guitar / Ron Thal
- Guitar / Richard Fortus - Guitar /
Tommy Stinson - Bass / Dizzy Reed - Keyboards / Chris
Pittman - Keyboards / Brain - Drums
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