review from The Age
Patrick Donovan
June 16, 2007
A DUBIOUS chapter in Australian rock history came full circle last night when US rock group Guns N' Roses returned to Melbourne after a 14 year gap.
With the crowd warmed up by energetic sets from Sydney hard rockers Rose Tattoo and Sebastian Bach from Skid Row, Guns N'Roses hit the stage in an explosion of flames with what the anthem of the night, Welcome to the Jungle.
All the old classics followed: It's So Easy, Mr Brownstone, and they dropped in a couple of new songs, including Better, which plodded at first but built into a reassuring, classic Guns N'Roses rock anthem.
The band needed eight players to replicate the sound of the four original band members, but they still oozed the sound of Los Angeles' dark seedy underbelly.
They may have lacked the old chemistry, but this was clearly Axl Rose's show.
With his braided red hair and dark sunglasses, the singer made the crowd feel like no time had passed since their last visit, as he "snake-hipped" and jived his way around the stage.
You can always expected the unexpected with Guns N' Roses, the self-appointed "most dangerous band in the world".
Usually bands playing the arena have to finish up before the 11pm curfew or face fines. For these shows, promoter Paul Dainty paid the fines upfront because Rose — a notorious night owl — refuses to start before 11pm.
Rose is the only original member of the band playing this weekend. After the band split in 1996, he became a Phil Spector-esque recluse, retreating to his Malibu mansion, filled with snakes, religious paraphernalia and weaponry, working away on the band's much-anticipated new album Chinese Democracy.
That album — reportedly 13 years and $US14 million ($A16.7 million) in the making — is yet to appear, although a couple of its songs have appeared in shows.
Guns N'Roses' last Melbourne gig was the sweltering 1993 Australia Day Calder Park show before 70,000 fans. That show was marred by controversy after fans were forced to queue for hours for water and toilets, and many were stranded without public transport.
Last night was a far more civilised affair, mainly because a sell-out crowd of about 12,000 only had to venture to the Rod Laver Arena.
Hardcore fans, many who were returning 14 years later, lined up in the dense fog from 7pm. Dave Pearce, 36, said he enjoyed the smaller queue but still fondly recalled the Calder Park experience.
"You don't care about all that when you're 21," said Pearce, who avoided the Calder traffic jams by sleeping in his car. "But it would be different now at my age and in winter."
"It was our Woodstock," added his mate Dave Ferns, 36.
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