Since we celebrated Mr Rose`s birthday, I`m going through incredible GNR 2012 gig in Austria once again.
Kid`s Pit: NO GUNS; JUST ROSES
Right before the show
was about to close and everything seemed to be heard and seen, the complete
leap occured. Axl appeared on stage to perform one another song. And yet it was
not one from Chinese Democracy nor one of the greatest GNR hits showing on MTV. It seemed as it was instead his words for saying goodbye. And
it was everything the fans wanted. The first riffs were way too much appealing
and his voice sounded just in the way Slash described him for the first time
they got to know each other. So perfectly annoying. Voice hard to fake. Late
night summer night, around 5.000 people and suddenly all we need was just a
little patience.
In Guns we trust!
After
Axl Rose, who used to be the leading force of the Guns n' roses machine, decided
to actually spend some time 'estranged', the band never got completely together
again. And their decision to decline even the reunion at conduction into the
Rock n' roll hall of fame surprised fans with such intensity, as the announcements about
band going on tour. But yet, the same year when they turned down the hall
ceremony, Seerock festival was loaded with fans of all generations, ages and
nations. Axl remained, after all this GNR thing went over, either admired or
misunderstood. Just the way he used to be. But one thing is for sure, for the
people coming all the way to Austria, he still remains undisputed king of rock
n' roll, no matter in which dimension they are about to take it. Among other
bands as Sonata arctica and also The Cult, most of the visitors were GNR by religion.
The 80's culture was everywhere, in complete Axl lookalikes wearing long hair
and must-have bandana with a cross necklace, or there were either four -membered families, wearing snake cowboy boots and a cowboy hats. And just in the way fans were
dressed up, they were expecting the same ftrom the band. All around the place the same
well-known yellow circle and bleeding-roses-decorated pair of
guns. It seemed as the new image of the old Guns didn't end
up so well for even the new band t-shirts weren't selling.
Ultimate rock show
It was
29th of June 2012 and not only the degrees were getting higher from one minute
to another, but there were also questions how everything was about to occur.
Axl, famous for confronting the riots and appearing late on shows seemed to be
dealing vocal issues and also the band he was going on tour with was debatable.
Slash's solos on guitar were, such as Axl's powerful presence on stage, vital part
of the show and since their ways parted, there was a question, who could step
into his shoes, took a picker and do it as good as he could.
Despite
an (expected) hour late which led to few bottles flying to stage, the rock n'
roll show started with such intensity, right in the moment, with no annoying
music rising the excitement and making crowd, which was already on fire, even
more nervous. One moment the lights turned on and in the next the crowd was
screaming, jumping singing and taking pictures of rock heroes taking the stage.
The same way was with Axl. 50-year old showed up with the same class and style
he was famous for. Dressed up in a t-shirt with a suit and leather jacket,
jeans, few scarves, snake boots and of course lots of shining jewelry and a bandana
with hat, he immediately bined the crowd together. The redhead seemed to change
his long hair with shorter haircut combined with short beard and moustache and
his daring, talkative and most of the time deficient clothes with more elegant
pieces, but yet suitable for a rock legend as himself. After grand opening with
Chinese democracy, same named as last album waited for a long time, band
continued in some older directions. "Welcome to the fucking jungle baby,
you're gonna die," was such a welcome everybody waited the whole night
for. Soon there was also the time for heartbreaking This I love, Street of dreams
from latest album and some older You could be mine, Live and let die
accompained with "live and let die motherfucker" in the beggining and
legendary Rocket queen of course. Axl didn't forget his moves. He's been
pushing the mic stand all over the place, leaning himself from one leg to
another and throwing his mic from left hand to right. During
"and you're a rocket queen" different pictures of girls, with image
much like the girls appearing in the Guns' videos, were showed on the screen in
the back of the stage and Axl showed how real rocket queen was supposed to look
like. With his hand he drew women's curves in the air and the crowd just loved
it. There was also the time for Civil war where Axl powerfully whistled the
first notes with no single mistake. When Estranged took place he even proved he
can still run from one side of the stage to another without losing his
breath. Chords everyone still knew were played by DJ Ashba, who seemed to be in
the right place at the right time. Even his image resembled Slash but even
more, his father-to son relation with Rose almost satisfied fans, who were
still missing the relations between Redhead and Half man half beast. After
Rose took some break, every member of the band had the opportunity to introduce
himself to the visitor. It didn`t take long before one could figure out Ashba was sure the right decision, for also his
amazing guitar skills could certainly be compared to Slash. Loyal member Dizzy Reed conquered keyboards just as on all the concerts, but he was later accompained with Axl, who could even run his own piano show without singing a
single note. In his own style, he played all over without stopping. After he
sang and played Pink Floyd's Another brick in the wall, the time for one of the
greatest hits in the history of rock came. November rain. There was some rain
in the afternoon before the show, but during the show, the only thing falling
down were some tears in the eyes of excited fans. Not long after that one,
another masterpiece was played. Axl sang Don't cry dressed up in white.
Welcome to Paradise city
Some
higher notes, which used to be Rose's speciality, combined with his raspy
colour of voice, he established, didn't come to such extension as before. Due
to his huge vocal range, he could still sing the higher tones, but the rock n'
roll lifestyle, long career and his un-friendly to vocal cords singing technique did its
way. The results are shown with less intensified vocals, but Rose combined them
with energetic moves and shorter glissandos. The speciality of the performance were
also the visuals and the pyrotechnics. In the beginning of the stage the fire
was coming out and burned up in
the air at the singgle beat. For the gig to be fulfilled, the huge closing was needed. And so it
also turned out to be. Huge and different. After guys went off the stage, they came back with some
more guns to shoot and some more fire to burn. When everybody thought
this was it and the night couldn't get a better climax, Axl started singing another
melody. Faster and older. Sweet child o' mine was necessary of the repertoar
and when Axl welcomed everybody in the Paradise city the atmosphere was about
to explode. In the middle of confetti flowing through the air suddenly he
decided to throw his mic up in the crowd and the same he did with whistle he
used for intro. Soon everybody joined him and so they waved themselves into few
minutes long Paradise city later accompained with Axl's goodbye. "We love
you, we hope to see you soon," said Axl. He once said the guns is for they
fought and the rose for their victory, when they asked for the hint about the
band's name. Axl could put down his guns now. It's time for him to get only the
flowers.
